I find myself not hugely motivated to shop during these cold winter months, and my daughter, not being a fan of shopping herself, doesn’t get me out there to the mall either. Stitch Fix had always been suggested by some friends, so I signed my daughter up for a gift, figuring between the two of us, we’d get a few items in the shipments that we could use. Then, after a while, I decided to see if there was a better option. Here’s what I found out…
Stitchfix
With this styling service, you can choose to receive a shipment every 2-3 weeks, every month, every other month, or every three months. You can also choose not to receive automatic shipments but rather to go on and request a box when you have the cash or when you are constantly battling that “I have nothing to wear!” feeling. A $20 deposit is charged to your form of payment on file, which is then credited towards anything you purchase. You are only out money if you buy nothing at all.
When the box arrives you have several days to try on the items and decide what to keep and what to send back in the prepaid shipping envelope. You receive a 25% discount if you keep all items, or pay the full price listed if only keeping part of the shipment (don’t forget that your $20 deposit will be credited…) You mark online the reasons for keeping or sending back items, so hopefully the stylist can learn from that feedback and continue picking things that work for you or (hopefully) do better next time.
With each shipment you receive a card suggesting how to wear the items that were sent to you. Which is great- except many times you don’t own the suggested items and are in the same predicament as before- needing to shop but not able or not wanting to. In the box above, there were three shirts, a jumpsuit, and a jacket, but no pants or skirts to pair with the tops. Another drawback I’ve found is that you start receiving items that are too similar to what you’ve received in the past, rather than the stylist sending new and unique items. For example, we had already received an olive colored denim jacket previously and didn’t need another.
Overall, Stitchfix is worth a try, but you may want to order sparingly after your first box to avoid duplicates. The prices are a bit high- especially for simple items which you might want to purchase close to home for better pricing. Look to this service for a unique item or two here and there.
Wantable
Wantable was the most high-end of the services I tried. They sent brands like Liverpool Denim, Kut from the Kloth, and though I didn’t recognize the brands on several other items, the fabrics were clearly of superior quality- substantial and smooth and soft/silky to the touch.
It was similar to StitchFix in that you go through a style matching questionnaire and then pay a $20 styling fee which would be applied to any items kept. After trying on your shipment you check out online and return items you aren’t keeping in the prepaid shipping envelope. Shipments can be “ongoing,” monthly, every other month, every three months, or at will.
As you can see, the prices on this one are quite high. You need to buy 5 or more items to receive a 20% discount, but even with, I’d have to forgo groceries for the month to pay for what was in that box! I suffered the loss of my styling fee because I couldn’t justify the high prices on my teacher salary. However, I reallllly wanted the Kut from the Kloth corduroys from this shipment, and so found them online for a MUCH better price! Even with the $20 that went to Wantable, I still saved $24 from their price of $69. It always pays to do a little research when you find an item you really like.
Trendsend by Evereve
The first styling fee for trying Trendsend was only $1 through a Facebook offer, so with little to lose, I signed up. I found this box to have the most interesting and unique items of the four styling services I tried, though like Wantable, the prices were high.
There were a lot of items packed into the shipment that were actually fun to consider. I even tried my trick from the corduroys in the Wantable shipment for those jeans and plaid leggings with the racing stripe- something I would never pick out for myself, but which I ended up LOVING on! No luck this time though- if I wanted them, I’d have to pay the $79.99 Trendsend was asking, and alas, I couldn’t do it.
There was a momentary snag when the company emailed me that I was being billed for one of the items I sent back in my prepaid envelope. Apparently the store erroneously marked the item erroneously as missing when they were checking the return back into inventory. Customer service was polite and helpful though, and the error was fixed the next day. All’s well that ends well.
Overall, if you can get the $1 styling fee to try it, give it a shot and maybe you’ll have better luck than I in finding the items you love online for a better deal. I may also check out their brick and mortar store- hoping for a clearance rack- if I ever get out that way.
Nadine West
This is the last of the four styling services I tried, and turned out to be the most reasonable. Their styling fee is less than half of the others– $9.78 which similarly is applied to any items that you decide to keep. Another unique feature was that they ship in bright pink padded envelopes, and you use the same envelope to ship back your return with a new shipping label placed over the original one. That way you don’t have boxes and boxes to get rid of and there is less waste, thereby helping the environment. They really want to connect with customers, and sent several emails and even called to say they appreciate my giving their service a try. A final thing that stood out to me about this company, was that they make a donation through their NadineCares.org foundation everytime a customer keeps their entire shipment. The current month’s charity is Ben’s Friends which is a “network of safe and supportive patient communities for anyone affected by a rare disease or chronic condition.” ❤
Shipments from this company can be every two weeks or every four weeks and you can cancel at any time. Their style quiz is a bit simpler than the others, so I wasn’t sure how they’d do with picking out things that I’d like.
I did like each piece, though I kept only the pleated navy pants and bracelet set this time. I could tell that with the lower prices came thinner materials, and though I loved the black moto legging, I figured they’d have a hole after a few wearings and washings. The burgundy top had a decent weight and draped well, but was a bit too big, and the floral shirt, while really cute, just didn’t hit right on my tall frame.
Overall, this would be my pick of the litter because of the reasonable pricing, cute pieces, and concern for the community (donations to charity) and environment (reusable packaging). Here’s a link for you to receive $10 off:
Whatever you end up doing, whether ordering from a service or running out to TJMaxx or Macy’s when you’re in need of something to wear, I hope you find what you’re looking for! -A
thMUGlife 