Happy holidays to me: my 21st Stitch Fix arrived on Friday evening! I couldn’t take photos on Saturday because we got our first snow of the season that day and the light in the apartment was too dreary. I enlisted my husband to photograph me on Sunday, so he gets photo credit. 🙂
You may remember that my last Stitch Fix was a bust, but the colors in my stack of clothing were promising this time: some jewel tones, a metallic, and a floral print!
Before I jump in too deep, let me briefly explain Stitch Fix: it’s a subscription-based personal styling service for women and men (my husband uses it too!). After you create a free account, complete your style profile, and schedule a Fix, you’re assigned a stylist who selects five pieces of clothing, accessories, or shoes for you. Once you receive your Fix, you have three days to try the pieces on at home and decide which items you want to purchase. Want to learn more and sign up to receive your own Fixes? You’ll find more info at the bottom of this post.
Back to my Fix…I got even more excited when I pulled out the note from my stylist and the styling cards:
My stylist this time around, Cara, definitely paid attention to my Pinterest style board, which I always appreciate. She also honored my request for a dress or two (she actually sent three!) for upcoming holiday parties. I had noted in my request that I really loved a metallic tee that I had Pinned, and while she couldn’t find the exact tee, she sent me a similar item: the Dantelle Hanna Metallic Bell Sleeve Knit Top ($44). Cara noted that the shirt would be perfect with the black skinny jeans from my January 2015 fix (pre-dating my blog), and she was right! The top is cute and the bronzy metallic effect is just the right amount of festive for more casual holiday gatherings, but I’m not sold on the bell sleeves. I feel like I’d wear this top once or twice and then the sleeves would go out of style and I’d never touch it again. So while I liked the top, I didn’t love it. The verdict on this piece is RETURNED.
Next I tried on the TRULY POPPY Arachna Lace Detail Blouse ($58). We had to step out into the natural light on our deck to really capture the gorgeous purple color of this top—it’s my absolute FAVORITE shade of purple! The top is super pretty and I loved the lace and crochet detailing around the neckline and bottom hemline. However, the top didn’t fit me all that well. It was a little baggy under the arms and seemed like it would work better on someone with a larger bust. The blouse was also lacking shape overall.
Here you’ll find me Blair Witch-ing into the corner of our deck to show off the back details on this pretty top (also, the purple in this photo is more true to real life than the one above):
Although I truly loved the color and details of this blouse, the verdict is RETURNED due to the not-very-flattering fit.
On to the dresses: the first one I tried on was the Kaileigh Cornelia Knit Dress ($44). YES to everything about this dress! The color, the style, the fit, the price—all of it is just right for me. My husband remarked that I looked like I was halfway toward some type of cosplay in this outfit, what with the boots and leaf earrings and all. We’ve been playing Zelda on our new Nintendo Switch, so maybe that’s what made him think that. 😛 Also, we’ve recently been watching The Handmaid’s Tale (a show that my husband refers to as “the depressing one”) and, no joke, during every episode I comment on how much I love Serena Joy’s clothing. Literally the only part of Gilead that I’d be cool with would be her wardrobe full of dresses in those rich teals and dark emeralds…throw in some of that purple from the TRULY POPPY blouse and I’d be in style heaven. Anyway, the color of this dress reminded me of those outfits, but in the best way possible. The verdict on this dress, clearly, is KEPT.
Next I tried on a dress that my stylist said she spied Pinned several times…you know you like something a lot when you Pin it more than once without even realizing it! It’s the 41Hawthorn Cristen Shirt Dress ($78), and—no surprise here—I totally love it. Everything about this dress is 100% up my alley, especially this particular floral print. I also love the sort of half-sleeves with popover tabs or whatever you call that style. So duh, the verdict is KEPT!
I do have one very minor quibble with this dress. There is a thin loop on each side of the dress to keep the belt attached. The loop on the left side of the dress is broken, and instead of re-attaching it to the dress, someone used one of those plastic tag thingies (clearly I have no idea what they’re called) to secure the belt itself to the dress. You can kind of see what I’m talking about in the below photo—the black plastic thingie runs directly through the belt. It’s odd because someone, presumably at Stitch Fix, noticed that the loop was broken but did a half-ass fix before sending the dress out. It’s not a big deal, though—it’s barely noticeable and I can probably just fix it myself.
UPDATED 12/12/17: Stitch Fix customer service emailed me to follow up on the issue with the belt loop because my stylist passed my comments on to them (thanks, Cara, for doing so!). They apologized for the dress not being up to their standards and offered either an exchange or a 15% discount refunded to my credit card. Seeing as how the broken belt loop is hardly noticeable, I decided to take the 15% discount. I wanted to make sure to update my post to reflect the fact that Stitch Fix reached out to make it right, which I very much appreciate. 🙂
My fifth and final piece this month was the Papermoon Oleta Pleated Dress ($58), another item that I had Pinned. You really can’t go wrong with an LBD that has lace details! Except…you can go wrong when the dress doesn’t fit all that well. The waistline didn’t fall in the right place on me—it was too high, therefore it wasn’t very flattering. The fit wasn’t terrible, but it was unflattering enough that I didn’t think I’d wear the dress much. I bought a pleated dress with a similar fit a few years back and every time I put it on I feel like it looks just a little…off. I guess I’m learning that pleated dresses aren’t ideal for my figure. This dress was very cute but considering the not-great fit, I decided that the verdict had to be RETURNED.
Though I only kept two of five pieces from this Fix, I am very pleased with it overall! My stylist really paid attention to my requests and Pins and I feel like everything she sent was right in line with my style. I was too gun-shy to spend money on the top with of-the-moment bell sleeves, and it’s certainly not my stylist’s fault that a couple pieces didn’t fit me very well. Spending $129.02 $116.64 (including tax) after the 15% discount for the belt loop issue on two new dresses that I love is totally worth it!
New to my Stitch Fix reviews? You can read my past reviews here.
Stitch Fix assigns a personal stylist to hand pick five items for you, including clothing, accessories, and shoes—and ships them right to your door.
Sign up at Stitch Fix and complete a style profile by filling out your clothing and shoe sizes, what sort of styles you like, color preferences, and more. You can even specify a price range you’re willing to spend per piece. The style profile is comprehensive, and you’re encourage to include a link to your Pinterest style board (here’s mine) to help guide your stylist. You can request specific items via your Pinterest board or by leaving a note for your stylist on the Stitch Fix website, though there’s no guarantee you’ll get them.
Then you schedule a Fix (you can get one as often as you’d like). When the appointed date arrives, you get a box filled with five items picked just for you, along with a note from your stylist and cards with outfit ideas for each piece. You have three days to try everything on and decide what to keep or return. If you keep any items (even just one), they’ll deduct a $20 styling fee from the total cost. Even better? If you keep all five items, you get a 25% discount on everything! You only pay the $20 styling fee if you send everything back. What happens if you don’t like some of the items? Stitch Fix makes it simple for you to return whatever you don’t want to keep. Each Fix includes a pre-addressed, USPS postage-paid envelope for easy returns. Schedule your first Fix today!
