In another thread, Stitch Fix came up. It’s an online clothing retailer where you fill out your sizes, body type and preferences, and they send you five pieces of clothing/jewelry. You keep and pay for the ones you like, and send back the rest. They charge $20, but you can apply it to the first piece you keep.
What have been your experiences with Stitch Fix? I just ordered a Fix, but then I started Googling around for reviews, and my finger has been hovering over the Cancel button. The photos I’ve seen of the clothing make it look cheap-- poorly cut, low quality fabric, not durable. On the one hand, the fee is only $20, but on the other hand, I’d be annoyed if they sent me five things I didn’t like.
The four people I know who use it absolutely love it. But truly, these are people who just don’t have time to go into multiple stores to update their wardrobes (including work).
The $20 is the fee - not the cost of the clothing. You give them a range for cost of the pieces you’d be willing to pay. As the OP says, you can apply that to the first piece you keep.
Most people I know start off choosing most of the pieces they are sent, then as they fill in their wardrobe, in future shipments, they may only keep half or less of what was sent; but they are generally very happy with what is sent - it’s a matter of… I already have two blue skirts in my wardrobe - I don’t need another one. One of the people I know who uses it is my hair stylist (I think I already mentioned her in another thread today regarding Blue Apron), so it is someone who needs to look professional, while somewhat current. She’s been very happy with her shipments, and I suspect has given up her personal shopper at Macy’s.
I’m tempted to try it but I’m concerned that some of the outfits are too contemporary. I have to dress very conservatively, but some conservative clothing is too boxy and generic. So, I’m kind of picky on my clothes.
As I mentioned on that other thread, I tried it once and will give it one more shot. I asked for casual but put together and they sent 2 pair of elastic waist pants (doesn’t work for me), 2 tops and a blazer. To be fair, they considered one of the pants a skinny jean (it was more like a jegging) and the other was a loose pinstripe. I just limit elastic waists to yoga pants and running shorts. One top and the jacket, although totally on point style-wise, were too snug across the back in my usual sizes, and the second top was way too boxy. I don’t hate shopping, it’s just not my favorite thing to do, so I thought I’d give this a chance. The products are not of the highest quality, nor the worst. If pushed, I’d say they are closer to Loft than Nordstrom, for a mass market comparison. I did think the pieces were a little pricey for that quality and for all the reasons above, I returned the entire box.
I’ve now looked at dozens of Fixes from people’s blogs. And I disliked almost every piece: the fabric is almost always sleazy and skimpy looking, and the hems are a mess. And if it looks wrinkly out of the Stitch Fix box, as many of the pieces do, it’ll look wrinkly out of my dresser drawer too-- there’s no way I’m ironing casual tops.
Cancel. But the Pinterest exercise was useful. Now that I know what I like, I’ll go and buy it.
Why not make an appointment with a personal shopper at Nordstrom or Saks? It’s free and you get to try on a lot more than 5 pieces. Everyone seems to have very positive experiences with that approach. It is like a more personalized version of Stitch Fix without the fee and with more choice.
I have done it and liked it. I had fallen into a rut of wearing the same things all the time and of not knowing what new things to buy. I told my Stitch Fix stylist what I liked but also to take me out of my comfort zone. I had become too conservative and predictable.
Stitch Fix is a great resource for fashion-challenged people who are afraid to step foot into a department store. For folks who are willing to go to the mall, personal shopper is a much more efficient solution. Plus, Nordstom’s return policy is super flexible!
I have to think that a lot of the appeal of Stitchfix, Blue Apron and other similar services is the severe reduction in choice. The psychologist Barry Schwartz (among others) has studied the psychological effects of having a plethora of options and has found that having a multitude of choices can paralyze some people and likely leads to a greater sense of unhappiness. These services that reduce, limit or eliminate choice may be playing into that.
Okay, so I used to be able to shop, used to like to shop, but over the last four years or so I just don’t seem to go out and do it. I didn’t get fat, I just fell out of the habit and now I am too set in my ways. I didn’t have time to shop, let alone the inclination. I enjoyed getting a surprise in the mail from Stitch Fix.
Agree that the lack of abundant choices is an important part of the Stitchfix business model, and it works. I have gotten 2 shipments from them. From the first shipment I kept a really cute dress that I wear to work, also a cute pair of black cropped pants. The latter fit well but cost more than I would normally have even looked at in a store, and they turned out to have a poor-quality wide band elastic waist that rides down constantly.
They seem thave a formula - clothes are synthetic and either loose-fitting or else fitted with elastic, based on what they have sent me so far. Makes sense as they are trying to appeal to a broad range of body types and sell clothes that look OK out of a tiny box. However, they have sent a few cute pieces that are outside of my usual rut without me having to make time to go shopping, which I hate to do.
I figured it was a bad sign when I wasn’t crazy about any of the items pictured that they wanted comments on when you sent innyour profile. The process of applying might be useful, for folks to start to think about what they do and don’t like and WHY.
My wardrobe is in decent shape and I really like to try things in and see how they fit AND get a great price to decide I will buy.
It is helpful for me to browse when there’s no particular pressure to buy so I can get awesome surprise finds for good value. Buying things out of season helps. For example, I just bought a washable wool fitted vest and slacks in this crazy 90° plus heat. I know we will travel in cooler weather and I’ll be glad to stay warm. It was 65% off because who buys wool when its so dang hot!?!?!
I’ve always wanted some wool slacks but couldn’t find any that were washable or reasonably a priced. At the recommendation of customer service, I bought the 2 sizes they recommended and kept the one that fit while returning the other–free shipping both ways!
More power to those who like it ( I’ve heard good things). As for me, I tend to prefer to go shopping with specific items to buy or specific occasions to dress for - I don’t want to buy just to buy, but that’s just me. I too would be concerned over getting the right fit, esp as I have broad shoulders and solid arms!
