Clothing Subscriptions

[Deleted]

I talked my sister into trying one a couple years ago and she is still using it and loves it! Can't remember which one now.

[justme]

I've heard the subscription stuff is over priced. I haven't done it because if you like nothing that month you're still out the fee.

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

The young professionals in my extended family like M. Lafleur, but I found their selection to be somewhat limited.

I'm not personally interested in a shipment of clothing allegedly "curated" for me.  I know what fits and looks best on me.  My challenge is to find it at a price I am willing to pay.  I lean toward classic looks but they often get pushed aside by retailers in favor of trends with short lives.  IF I found a subscription service that would do the searching for me, I might be inclined to try them.  

[Pants]

Jan 19, 2017 12:12:26 GMT -5 @sroo4 said:

Has anyone used one?  What did you think?

How about a personal stylist from a department store?


I'm feeling like I need to refresh my style a bit.  I've gotten lazy and I want to refresh my look a little bit.   I really don't want to be bothered with shopping and or trying to figure out what I should buy.   

I found this place. www.trunkclub.com/womens   (I think they are affiliated with Nordstroms)

And I like that it's not a subscription service.  They do have places where you can go to be styled (Chicago is closest to me),  otherwise they send stuff to your house.   Before they ship you approve items and prices.  

I'm thinking of giving it a shot.. but wanted to see if anyone had other ideas or experience with this. 

I got a subscription to gwynnie bee last year for christmas - it's a rental service more than a buying service. I was losing weight and needed a way to keep my wardrobe refreshed vs. buying a whole new wardrobe at every size on the way down. (Going up in sizes I was pregnant, so different story.) Gwynnie bee is size 12 & up and I'm sad that I've pretty much shrunk out of it now. So I'm canceling this month. I'm trying out le tote and ms. collection to replace it, which are both rental services again vs. purchase. 

I love these services for many reasons: 
- You pay a fixed price every month and you can return and get new things about once a week. 
- You can try trends or pieces that you probably would not try normally because there's no downside. I'm a lot more expansive in the things I'm willing to try in a rental service vs. purchasing online or in a store because the question is - can I wear this once vs. can I wear this enough to get my money's worth out of it. There's very little opportunity cost to trying something you're not sure about but you think you could maybe like. I've worn floofy ballet skirts and skinny dress leggings with leather patches and so on. Stuff I wouldn't normally purchase for myself but it's fun to try.  
- I feel like it really helped me get a sense of what looked good on me and what didn't. When I do purchase things now, I pick from a wider selection of silhouettes and patterns because I play it safe less. 
- If you do find something that you just love, you can buy it, usually at a discount. I just bought a killer dress (that I most likely would not have even tried in a store) for $11. Original price? $398. 
- They clean and iron the clothes. Ironing is the bane of my existence, so this is a definite plus. 
- They have you rate what they've sent you so they know what you loved and what you didn't. 

Some things that I found were important: 
- Know what you will not wear and/or what you don't want them to send you. For me that's turtlenecks, the color orange, shorts, cold-shoulder tops and scarves. I may like those things in theory but they just don't work out for me in reality. 
- Not everything will fit, and that's ok. 
- If you have a problem wearing clothes other people have worn, this is not for you. Not all the clothes are in perfect condition. I've never gotten anything that was unclean, but I have gotten something that had a hole in it, etc. 
- You need to have a decent selection of basics to maximize what you get sent. Meaning leggings/tights/stockings in a few different colors, business-appropriate tops you can match with pants, business-appropriate pants you can match with tops, nude/black/brown shoes etc. Nothing was more frustrating to me than getting a gorgeous top that I loved but not having pants in a decent color to wear with it. 

I'm hoping I love either le tote or ms. collection as much as I loved gwynnie bee because I really feel like I can't go back to having a wardrobe limited by the size of my actual closet! 

[Green Eyed Lady]

The only thing I've ever subscribed to were shipments of Pro-Active. I have a friend who's teenaged son had severe acne. She couldn't afford the stuff on a regular basis so I wanted to help. He is SUCH a great kid and all most kids his age saw was terrible skin. I mean terrible. She would reimburse me every other month and I paid for the other months. The catch was that it was a case of them charging your card first and shipping afterwards.  There was no option to pay as you go.

Long story short. After about a year with not a ton of improvement, his grandmother paid for some treatment by a dermatologist that did finally give him some relief.  It took me TONS of phone calls to cancel this subscription. If I recall correctly, I received 3 shipments after cancelling the first time. It was a nightmare to get it stopped until I finally had to bring out the "angry woman".  Even the bank wouldn't help me since I had signed up for auto-deduct.  Said I had to straighten it out with the company.

Never again.

No more subscriptions for me. It's tempting because I do hate shopping, but nope. Never again.

[Pants]

Jan 19, 2017 13:00:30 GMT -5 @sroo4 said:

I know what you guys are saying.  I've looked at a few of the different ones, like stitch fix and I thought to myself ugg,  it's overpriced department store brands of stuff I wouldn't wear. 

I'm just in a bit of a fashion rut and I think I'm getting into one of those transition periods in life both age and career wise.  In other words it may be time to start dressing like a grown up 

GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl  I just looked at the one you mentioned.   That is what I'm looking for!   Something to help me figure out what my style is in dressier end of business  wear. 

Thanks!

If you're looking for fancy business wear to purchase vs. rent, I've definitely heard good things about m.m. lafleur.

[Pants]

Jan 19, 2017 13:07:06 GMT -5 Green Eyed Lady said:

The only thing I've ever subscribed to were shipments of Pro-Active. I have a friend who's teenaged son had severe acne. She couldn't afford the stuff on a regular basis so I wanted to help. He is SUCH a great kid and all most kids his age saw was terrible skin. I mean terrible. She would reimburse me every other month and I paid for the other months. The catch was that it was a case of them charging your card first and shipping afterwards.  There was no option to pay as you go.

Long story short. After about a year with not a ton of improvement, his grandmother paid for some treatment by a dermatologist that did finally give him some relief.  It took me TONS of phone calls to cancel this subscription. If I recall correctly, I received 3 shipments after cancelling the first time. It was a nightmare to get it stopped until I finally had to bring out the "angry woman".  Even the bank wouldn't help me since I had signed up for auto-deduct.  Said I had to straighten it out with the company.

Never again.

No more subscriptions for me. It's tempting because I do hate shopping, but nope. Never again.

Proactive is notorious for this. 

[Deleted]

I have subscribed to Stitch Fix before. There is a questionnaire about your style preference, size, and price range. It is fun coming home and a box of clothes picked for you is waiting. It's like Christmas (except you have to pay for it)!

I don't think I ever kept everything in the box. If you do decide to keep something, the $20 subscription fee is deducted from the total. I have a couple of pairs of jeans that I would never had found without Stitch Fix. I also have some sweaters and jewelry from there. If you send something back, you tell them what you didn't like about it so your stylist will get a better idea of your preferences.

With Stitch Fix, you don't have to get a box every month. You can chose how often you want one. You can also do one-time-only. You can also tell them what you are looking for. For example, I never wear dresses but I needed one for a wedding last summer. They sent me three or four to try on and I did keep one.

[Deleted]

Jan 19, 2017 15:29:20 GMT -5 @sroo4 said:

Jan 19, 2017 15:04:51 GMT -5 @bluester said:

I have subscribed to Stitch Fix before. There is a questionnaire about your style preference, size, and price range. It is fun coming home and a box of clothes picked for you is waiting. It's like Christmas (except you have to pay for it)!

I don't think I ever kept everything in the box. If you do decide to keep something, the $20 subscription fee is deducted from the total. I have a couple of pairs of jeans that I would never had found without Stitch Fix. I also have some sweaters and jewelry from there. If you send something back, you tell them what you didn't like about it so your stylist will get a better idea of your preferences.

With Stitch Fix, you don't have to get a box every month. You can chose how often you want one. You can also do one-time-only. You can also tell them what you are looking for. For example, I never wear dresses but I needed one for a wedding last summer. They sent me three or four to try on and I did keep one.

What was the quality like on the clothes? 

The clothes I got were good quality. I am a person that choses quality over quantity.

[Deleted]

When my sister graduated graduate school she hired a woman who came in, inventoried her closet, took her measurements, coloring, definite yes and no preferences, and went shopping for my sister. The emphasis was on pieces that had more than one outfit they worked with, accent pieces, etc. sis loved it. She updated her wardrobe, but only kept what she liked, and said there were things she never would have tried herself but through this process did and loved.

Maybe some one time thing like that instead?

[Deleted]

I can ask her. She is in Seattle.