StitchFix review - in which I feel like a lazy rock star with a personal stylist.

It's no secret that I hate shopping. It's also no secret that my "style" has always been: jeans + t-shirt+  boots. If I'm on-stage, change to dress + boots. I can't stand the magazines, and I'm just honestly not interested in fashion.

That said, I've felt like a slob lately. I teach preschool and toddler music classes and piano lessons, and I walk everywhere. That combination makes yoga pants or leggings so comfortably acceptable that, unless I'm onstage, that's all I wear anymore. I know it's unhealthy to compare myself to the moms who show up to my classes, but they really truly all look like they are so put together. I mean, they even have accessories on!

Recently my friend and favorite blogger, Joy, wrote about a personal shopping service on her blog. I loved the clothes they chose for her so much that I decided to try out StitchFix for myself. I'd heard about it before, but I wasn't ready.

You see, I don't spend money on clothes. I just don't. My clothes all come from Goodwill or my fashionable friend's hand-me-down bags. I've always felt that new clothes are wasteful for the environment and also for my budget. I've got "friends" who tell me it must be nice that I go to Europe every year I wish I had that kind of money. And I bite my lip and don't say what I'm thinking, which is: you spend more on clothes every year than I do on plane tickets. (Or substitute "clothes" for all the other things I go without: a car, haircuts, hair color, random Target trips, etc) Anyway, the point is that I've always made a conscious choice not to buy new clothes, so this StitchFix thing is a real leap for me.

My review? It was super fun, and my stylist did a great job. I don't think I would have picked out any of the pieces that "Grace" chose for me, but her choices weren't off-the-wall or anything. She browsed my Pinterest style board, which consists mostly of dresses I long for and a few boots and sweaters images I threw on there to show her that I sometimes wear things besides dresses. She also paid attention to my career -- the fact that I need nice clothing to wear both on stage (meaning I can get away with some sparkle or flash) and in the classroom setting or on a date night. She also worked in my request for comfort above all.

The box arrived on a Friday afternoon, when both my husband and I were working from home. This meant drop everything and have an immediate dress-up party! Between the two of us, he is the stylish one. He pulled each piece out of the box and had me try it on while he scratched his chin, nodding, and deciding which items I would keep and which would go back. (Not everyday is like a 7th grade sleepover at our house, I assure you.)

My favorite piece was a pink and navy shirt dress with some funky geometric designs. Had you said those exact words to me, I would never have believed I would like it. But a shirt dress? Perfect combination of slightly dressy, but super comfortable. I wore it on Friday night with some cowboy boots to the Loretta Lynn concert with my husband.


Black pants: These are the pants I have been looking for my whole life. I live in jeans or leggings. These are casual enough to wear anytime, but they have just enough design/interesting cut to make them look waaaaay nicer than leggings. It'll be an easy way to dress up my go-to casual outfits, and help me out of my leggings rut. KEPT.

Thicker than leggings, but servers similar purpose.
This detail is what differentiates them from leggings.




Burgundy shirt: I would not have noticed this shirt at all in a store. It's dull, to be honest. But it's both casual and nice enough to wear out with the right accessories. The color is neutral, so it goes with everything. And the fit is super flattering -- it hides my cookie stomach, which is probably a good thing. Out of the box, it was my least favorite thing, but having owned it a week now, I've already worn it twice. So I guess I like it.
















Paisley kimono: I love that it goes with the burgundy shirt and the trousers. I love that it's lightweight and has a pretty pattern that is just spicy enough to spruce up my otherwise boring outfit choices. I'm still experimenting with how to wear it (do I let it drape and keep it open? do I put a belt around it? I just don't know!), but it's a winner.









Brown tunic: I'm going to have to fight hard to keep this from becoming my new uniform. The color choice is great (despite my lifelong desire to be a "winter," I am most definitely an "autumn.") and it goes with everything. It's long enough to wear with leggings if I really wanted to, but also looks great over jeans. I also really like that the front is slightly shorter than the back. That detail keeps it from looking like a frumpy 1980s bad knitting job.









When asked about my budget for clothes, I definitely said that I would prefer "the cheaper, the better," so I'm assuming they could have sent me much more expensive items. Still, the five pieces were a total of $214 (I got a 25% discount because I kept all the pieces.), which is so much more money than I ever spend on clothes that I am shuddering and having major buyer's remorse as I sit here and type those numbers to you. But I also know that I am 36 years old, and maybe I should actually own some clothes that were chosen just for me and didn't come from my friend's closet. I have put my StitchFix on hold because there is just no way I can justify spending that much on clothes several times a year. I may be a once-or-twice-at-the-most-a-year customer because, again, I'd rather buy a plane ticket... But it is a really useful, helpful, and good service. I'm hard to shop for, so I was pretty impressed.

Anyway, you are under no obligation to keep any of the clothes they send you -- they even include a self-addressed stamped package envelope to mail anything back that you don't want. David said they all looked great on me, so I kept it all. I'm not sure what I would have done had he not been there to prod me towards buying something nice for myself. I think the guilt would have won over, and I would have sent it all back. Well, I might have kept that shirt-dress. But anyway, it's a cool service, and I will likely use it again.

For the record, StitchFix didn't ask me to write about this, and I didn't get anything for free, I assure you. I do get a referral perk, however, if you click on my StitchFix link. So maybe if enough of you sign up, I'd get enough of a discount to try another box ... and next time I might actually put pictures of me in the clothes rather than just hanging on the door. But, hey, I don't own a full-length mirror, and I'm terrible at selfies. Next time?

1 comments

  1. I am so excited you loved everything in your box. I only wish we had photos of you wearing the clothes! They look like great items. The black pants in my first box were also the pants I had been waiting for all my life. Yay!!!!!

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