Those of you who have known me for a while know that I’ve never had much fashion sense. I’ve always valued comfort over cuteness, and for most of my life you were more likely to find me in jeans (or sweatpants!) and a t-shirt than anything else. But then I started teaching, and I realized I would have to look at least somewhat different than my students. Over the past few years I’ve slowly been upgrading my wardrobe, but I’ve pretty much stayed within my comfort zone. It’s gotten a bit stale, to say the least. It was time to try something new.

I’d been hearing about Stitch Fix for a few months (though apparently I was still way behind the rest of the Internet), and after seeing some friends have positive experiences, I thought I’d give it a try. I figured I didn’t have much to lose.

For those who, like me a few months ago, might be unfamiliar, the basic premise is this: you sign up for Stitch Fix, fill out an extensive style profile, set a date for your box to come, and you wait. While you’re waiting, a stylist goes through your profile (and your Pinterest style board, if you have one) and chooses five articles of clothing and accessories for you, puts together a handy style cheat sheet, and ships it to you. Then you try on the clothes in your own home, pairing them with your own wardrobe to see how they work, and you send back (free of charge) anything you don’t want. They charge you $20 for the box, but if you choose to keep anything, that money goes toward your order. You also give them feedback on what you liked and didn’t, and why you did and did not like those things, and they use that to improve your next fix, if you choose to get one.

My first box came today. I was pretty excited for it, and also a bit nervous, but it turns out I had nothing to be nervous about. My stylist somehow understood the hodgepodge of information I’d given her and knew just what to send me. Some things I loved, some I didn’t. Some thing I would have picked out for myself, and others I would have passed over so far (and, perhaps not-so-strangely, the things I didn’t like were not the things I would have passed over). In the end, though, I can understand why she picked out each piece she did. I’ve never though of myself as having a style, but apparently I do, and she nailed it.

So without further ado, here’s what my stylist sent me, and what I thought of each piece.

Spencer Striped Jersey Dress

I love stripes, and I especially love that this dress had different patterns of stripes. I loved the fit and the feel of the dress against my skin. I could teach in this dress, and I think I could even toss some leggings on underneath it in the fall and wear it then (if I owned leggings, anyway). But. But. I think this dress might look better on someone bustier than me. And I think it needs a necklace, but I didn’t have one that looked awesome with it. One that was okay, but nothing that was awesome. Decision: undecided.

Alexa Embroidery Detailed Tank

I thought I would hate this top. I never, ever would have picked it out myself. The material, the pattern, the cut… But I swore I would try on everything in the box and give it a fair chance at winning my heart, and I’m so glad I did. I absolutely love this top. The material, the pattern, the cut… I don’t even mind that it has special washing instructions. Decision: keeping.

Abrianna Longsleeve Knit Cardigan

I tried this cardigan over the things I’d been sent in the box, and I didn’t love it with any of the pieces. I was getting a bit sad, because I wanted to love it. I like that it’s long-sleeved but lightweight enough to wear in early fall and late spring (and even cooler summer evenings). I love the color. But I’ve bought too many tops over the years that I never ended up wearing because they didn’t go with anything. I was ready to send this back, but then I tossed it on over what I’d been wearing before playing dressup and, yup. It’s a winner. Decision: keeping.

Kacie Half Flap Crossbody Bag

For some reason, I only photographed this purse with the dress (can you tell I am really torn about the dress?), but I did try it with a few other things, too. Which is good, because while I don’t love it with the dress—it’s all right—I did love it with some jeans. Decision: keeping.

Bixby Dot Print 3/4 Tab Sleeve Blouse

And we come to it. The piece that is causing me even more trouble than the dress. I don’t love this blouse. I like it (when I first tried it on I really didn’t like it). I know if I keep this, I won’t wear it all that often. The polyester won’t breathe well, and it’s a bit constricting (especially when I move my arms like I’m writing on a whiteboard). But I would wear it sometimes, and I wouldn’t be freaking out that I looked ridiculous. So why am I even considering this top? Because if I end up getting the dress, it would in fact be cheaper to also get this blouse than to just get four things—you get a 25% discount for ordering all five pieces, and mine are priced such that getting all five would be a better deal than any four. What this means, in short, is that this top is clouding my judgement. So I’m going to sleep on it. Decision: undecided.

I’ll probably decide tomorrow, but I do have three days to make my choices. And I can already tell you, I’ll be ordering myself another box soon. I love that Stitch Fix isn’t a subscription service (you can get boxes as often as once a month or as rarely as you’d like), but for now, I’m hooked and in desperate enough need of clothing that I’ll be getting boxes more regularly than not.

If this all sounds cool to you, I’d encourage you to check Stitch Fix out. I’ve been incredibly happy with them so far (even if they do make me make hard decisions). And if you do decide to sign up—and you feel like helping me out—you can use my personal referral link. Doing so will get me $25 in credit when you sign up to receive your first box. Obviously you can just sign up through the website without using any referral link, but I thought I’d still put the option out there! The link at the top of the post is the regular one that just takes you to the website.

* Sorry the pictures are horrible. I was lazy, and it was raining like crazy outside, so there wasn’t any good natural light. Also, pictures in the mirror never look all that awesome.
** I am not being compensated in any way from Stitch Fix for writing this review. The only way I’ll get anything is if you use my referral link to get a box, and I left a non-referral link at the top of the post for anyone who is uncomfortable with that.

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