I had one coworker sign up for Stitch Fix several months ago, and she's raved about it so much that at this point half my office is using the service. For anyone who doesn't know, Stitch Fix is an online personal-stylist service. You complete a comprehensive questionnaire detailing your sizes and style preferences, and Stitch Fix will mail you a box with five items. You keep what you like and mail back what you don't. The styling fee is $20, but that's applied toward the price of anything you end up buying. It sounded good to me, so I signed myself up. The box came on Friday, and I felt like a kid on Christmas morning when I got to open it up and see what they sent me.
That excitement was short-lived, though, because I hated every item in the box. There was a purse, a cardigan, a skirt, a dress, and a shirt--a nice variety of items, to be sure, and to Stitch Fix's credit, they were spot on with the sizing. But every item was either navy blue or black, which to me was just totally boring. And it wasn't just the colors (or lack thereof) that were off: everything was super preppy, which was the one look I'd indicated on my style profile that I really don't like. The only somewhat acceptable item was a knit skirt that fit well and was really comfortable, but I couldn't stand the pattern--it was black with a white pseudo-rope-like, semi-nautical print, which isn't my thing. Also, at $108, it was the most expensive item in the box. If I'm going to pay a hundred bucks for a skirt, it'd better be the skirt to end all skirts, which this one absolutely was not.
My first inclination was to blame myself, because I figured I must not have filled out my style profile well enough or been clear enough about what I like and don't like. But I logged into the website and reviewed my profile, and it was pretty thorough. I feel like the stylist just didn't pay attention to it. What was disappointing, too, is that the box included a set of cards with outfit ideas for wearing each of the items included--and the outfits contained other pieces that I would have loved to receive.
I complained about this to two of my coworkers who love Stitch Fix, and they both said that as much as they love the service, sometimes a whole box ends up being a bust. A number of other bloggers I've come across have said the same thing. I understand that not everything is going to be a winner, and some orders will of course be better than others. But to pay $20 and end up with nothing isn't fun or economical, so I won't be taking the chance on a second Fix.
I signed up for Stitch Fix because I thought it would be a fun way to treat myself to some new pieces and to maybe break out of my comfort zone a little bit--I'm all for trying out clothes that I might not necessarily pick out myself in the store. But I still want those clothes to fit with my sense of style. I've been doing some serious purging and overhauling of my wardrobe in the past few months, and I've gotten a lot pickier about both what I keep and what I bring home--if I don't really feel great about something, I don't want it in my closet. I guess if I want to continue my work of both keeping my wardrobe to a minimum but also bringing in some new, different pieces, I need to be more adventurous about what I try on in the store, but keep going to the store myself instead of trusting a stranger to dress me. I just wish that lesson hadn't cost me twenty bucks!
Have you tried Stitch Fix? If so, what have your experiences been like?
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