A few weeks ago I shared my issues with clothes and how I am trying to do better at paring down my wardrobe. I want to be more intentional about the few items I keep and any new things I buy. I shared a little in that article about my experience with what is arguably the most well-known personal stylist service: Stitch Fix.
Today I want to share what I have learned about several Stylist Services in case you are considering something like this for yourself. I didn’t realize there were so many services out there, but special thanks to the cookie technology on the Internet, these services all started popping up on my social media feeds and the ads on websites once I clicked on Stitch Fix. Naturally, I was curious. How did they compare?
First of all, there was no way I was going to try every single one. I needed to set some parameters. I decided if I want to pay more than $75 per item, I would want more of a say in what those items are. My preference would be from a company like ABLE, Indigenous or Everlane who focus on sustainability and promote fair wages for the women in their factories. I don’t want to pay what I consider to be a lot of money for an item of clothing only to learn that it was produced in a sweat shop. That’s not cool. I also recently learned that the fashion industry is the third largest cause of pollution in the world. It’s really given me some things to think about with my responsibility when I make a purchase, especially a substantial one. You know? (In researching further, I discovered another similar new program from Frank and Oak–a Montreal clothing company that is offering their own monthly subscription box. They are charging a $25 styling fee and they send up to three items. You can approve the items in advance and they are ethically sourced and sustainably made. Their prices range from $29-$149 per item, though that includes accessories, so I’m assuming their accessories are starting on the $29 end. I may try them out in the future. If I do, I will let you know!)
So I knocked off a few of the Stylist Services right off the bat:
Goodbye DAILYLOOK Box (They charged a $40 styling fee and each item was at least $75–If you are interested, I received a coupon code “GETSTYLED10” to receive $10 off the styling fee) and FrontDoor Fashion (They don’t charge a styling fee, but they do require a $100 refundable deposit. Each clothing item starts at $100 and jewelry starts at $25. They send bigger boxes, so this is a great option if you are looking to rebuild your wardrobe quickly. The coolest feature I noticed with their service was the option to choose your stylist. They have a whole page with descriptions and pictures of each stylist so you can choose one who seems to be what you are looking for. I wouldn’t know who to choose! I mean, it’s hard enough to choose outfits, right?).
Nordstrom’s Trunk Club seems worth considering and I may still try it in the future. Their average pieces were about $100, but as I looked into it more, that is because prices can range from $40 to $300 per item. The most appealing things to me about their service was the fact that you actually speak to your stylist and have a real conversation before they send out your first box. Then you see online what items they will send you and you can approve to have them sent or not before they even go out. And if you get an item that needs alterations, Nordstrom stores will do them for free. Also, if you are have a Nordstrom Card, your $25 styling fee is waived. If you don’t, the styling fee is applied to the clothes you decide to keep. The other major drawback related to pricing that I noticed was there is never a discount if you order a certain number of items. In most of the other services, if you order 5 or more items, you receive a 20% discount. Not with Trunk Club. It may or may not be a deal breaker, but it definitely means you’ll pay more if you get a box full of things you want to keep.
I looked into Material World as well. They are a similar styling service, but they specialize in pre-owned luxury items. Their styling fee was $29 and could be applied to the purchase of items in your box. Since I am not particularly concerned with the labels I wear, I didn’t feel too inclined to try this, but if you would LOVE some very high-end pieces chosen by a stylist at more affordable prices, this might be the service for you.
Here are the services I did try.
If you read my article about clothes, you already know I tried Stitch Fix. I also tried a box from Wantable and a box from Nadine West.
I’ll start with my experience with Stitch Fix and then compare the other two. I hope it will help you make a decision if you’re considering one of these services.
Stitch Fix
I ordered my box on September 1 and received it on September 8. I was so excited! I am really sorry that I didn’t have the foresight to record myself opening the box. I do have photos of the inserts that came in my box, though. I felt like their communication was fantastic. They gave clear step-by-step instructions, included a personalized message from my stylist that made it obvious that she had read my comments. I liked the style cards. If you can’t tell from the pictures, the paper is perforated, so you could tear them off and keep them as inspiration when you are trying to figure out what would go nicely with your new items.
Everything in my Stitch Fix order fit me perfectly and I was beyond excited about that because post-babies, I have been so much less confident about clothes. This experience really helped build my courage. There are clothes out there that will fit me–just not the same clothes I wore pre-babies. And that is OK! The feel of every item I received from Stitch Fix felt high quality and I seriously considered keeping everything in my “Fix.” I had to remind myself of my goal: to pare down my wardrobe and only keep things I really loved. I liked the pants a lot and they fit me surprisingly well (pants and I have had a love-hate relationship that seemed to have gotten worse after each c-section). But I noticed a tiny snag on them. These pants were $78. I wasn’t going to pay so much for a pair of pants (even if they fit perfectly) if they would snag easily. I have five young kids. Easy-snagging clothes are not practical in my life right now. I also almost kept the gorgeous navy floral dress. It fit perfectly and was super flattering. But I had just gotten a cute navy floral and striped dress for my birthday (thanks, Mom!). It seemed silly for me to own two navy floral dresses.
I liked that the style of the clothes was very similar to items I had pinned on my Pinterest board: the style of a sleeve or the color schemes. I felt like these picks were put together with intention.
Ultimately, I kept nothing from my first “Fix.” But I didn’t feel like my experience was a waste of $20 (I still had to pay the styling fee). It gave the courage and confidence to go out into a mall or a store and try on clothes I would not have had the guts to try on before. Because I’m not looking to own a ton of clothes, I scheduled my Stitch Fix boxes to come every other month. I like that this less-frequent shipping is an option. It gives time for the seasons to change and for me to take more of the style quizzes on the Stitch Fix website and to add more pins of clothes I like to my Pinterest board.
Nadine West
I received my Nadine West box about a week after I requested it. A shiny pink shipping envelope was delivered to my doorstep. I recorded the moment I opened it. You can watch the video here to see what items I received.
I was underwhelmed by the items in my package. The necklace was a tangled mess. The earrings were far from my style. The bracelet set was (I’m pretty sure) 100% plastic and felt like it would break if I even tried it on. I didn’t. Nothing in my package resembled my style and I was very disappointed. I think maybe I am too old for their target market. I mean, I felt old trying on a pair of leggings that were labeled “capris” that had a big tag hanging from them that read “PHONE,” pointing out the convenient pockets built into the sides of the leggings to hold your phone. The clothes were definitely less expensive because they were of a lesser quality and for the quality, I found them to be overpriced. I could find those same styles and quality if I walked into a Forever XXI or one of those “Everything Under $10” stores at the mall.
On a positive note, Nadine West waived my first stylist fee, so I paid nothing for this initial (and only) package.
My takeaway: If you are looking for something new every two weeks (and you don’t plan to keep any of it long term), and you hate shopping, you may enjoy receiving these packages. If you, like me, are looking to pare down and build a smaller, more functional set of quality pieces, skip Nadine West.
Wantable
I ordered my Wantable box the day after I ordered the Nadine West box, but I received it 4 days later. It was supposed to arrive on a Monday, but it did not arrive until Wednesday. I was worried that this would affect the number of days I would have to make my decision. Fortunately, they are tracking the box on their end, too, so I got an email Wednesday evening confirming that my box had been delivered and that I had 5 days to decide which items I would like to keep. You can see a video of when I opened that package here.
Overall, I was much happier about the items in my “Style Edit” (their term) than I was about my Nadine West package. The clothes were definitely of a higher quality but the price tags reflected that, too. Wantable sent 2 more items than Stitch Fix, but they offer the 20% off discount if you keep 5 things or more. The styling fee was $20 and it would be applied to any clothes I chose to keep.
Wantable is also trying a new exchange program. So you can request to exchange for a different size and the item will still apply toward your 5 things for the discount and your styling fee can still be applied toward that item. I seriously considered this when they sent me a super cute shirt that seemed a little too big. I wondered if I would love it in a smaller size, but I wasn’t totally sure it would be worth the hassle, so I ended up just sending it back instead. The problem, though, was the fact that I am a size 6 (I hate putting that out there because everyone wearing a smaller size is snickering and everyone wearing a larger size is rolling her eyes and/or plotting my death right now. Look, it’s nothing but a number and it doesn’t reflect my worth in any way. But there is a reason why I am sharing this uncomfortable piece of information…) and so sometimes companies group that into their “small” size and sometimes they group it into their “medium” size. The problem is, when you fill out your size information when you first sign up with Wantable, they ask you to identify your shirt size and they group “mediums” as sizes 6-8. So I chose “medium.” If they had provided a place for me to put the actual number (like Stitch Fix did), I may have gotten a shirt with a better fit. And I may have a new shirt in my closet right now. But they didn’t, and I don’t. Oh well.
My takeaway: If you are looking for 7 pieces instead of 5, your sizes are pretty straightforward and you want higher-quality, trendy pieces, you will love Wantable. If you are indecisive and need to spend a couple more days with your clothes, Wantable gives you more time right off the bat for making your decision. With the others, you could always go in and request an extension. If you don’t already have a Pinterest board or maybe you want to completely reinvent your style, Wantable could be a great fit. Hee-hee get it: great fit (yes, you can roll your eyes I can’t see you anyway)!
ThredUp
As I was putting this article together, I received an email from ThredUp announcing a brand-new curated service they are offering similar to the others, only with pre-owned items. Naturally, I requested a box! They charge a $10 non-refundable deposit that can be applied toward your purchases. Their “Goody Box” contains 12-15 pre-owned items curated by a stylist based on your choices. ThredUp advertises that each item averages about $20 and if you buy $100 worth of items from your goody box, you will receive a $10 credit toward your next purchase. Based on the few questions they asked, I could already tell that their boxes would not be as personalized to my sizes and preferences as Stitch Fix. ThredUp’s follow-up email after initially ordering my “Goody Box” encourages me to favorite items on their site so my stylist “Treasure Hunter” can get a sense for my style. I did that a few different times. Sadly, the box was a pretty big miss for me and the prices really weren’t any better than buying new. The pants they sent were nice and I may have considered keeping them–if I could have pulled them over my hips! They were waaaaayyyy too small. ThredUp offers more days than any of the other services: a whole week! But if you try this service, beware: the extra days just make it easier to forget! To see the video of me opening my ThredUP “Goody Box,” click here.
Based on My Experiences…
As far as personalized service goes, I felt like Stitch Fix made the best efforts at trying to find clothes for ME. The note from my stylist was personal and obviously written directly to me. The items in my box all worked very well with my request, even though they weren’t items I kept. I could tell that my stylist had seen my Pinterest page and tried to send items that were similar. Even though the Wantable clothes were cute, they were not quite what I was looking for. If my stylist read my comments, she didn’t respond to them in the generic note that was included or in the items she picked out. Wantable doesn’t look at your social media, but instead relies heavily on a “style quiz” and your optional responses to what they call “the Stream, Wantable’s exclusive feature that lets you browse hundreds of featured items.” I found it to be much less effective, though if they had styles you loved, you could request them for your box.
My favorite of the services I tried was Stitch Fix. I felt like I received quality service and quality items specifically selected for me. In the past decade, I have NEVER gotten 5 items in a dressing room that all fit me right. Finding that in my “fix” was an impressive feat in and of itself. I look forward to seeing what my stylist will choose next.
{Note: I am not an affiliate for any of the companies or services mentioned in this post. Some of the links provided are referral links, though, which means if you use them to make a purchase, I may get a credit toward a future purchase with that same company (assuming I did it right and they offer referral credits). These opinions are 100% my own and not influenced in any way by the companies’ different referral programs.}
