I decided to give StitchFix a try a few weeks ago.  I’d been thinking about using this service a while and when I saw American Express had a spend $50, get $25 back deal, I had to pull the trigger.

For those who don’t know what StitchFix is, I’ll give you a quick summary. Basically, it’s is an online service where you complete a style/clothing/sizing survey on their website and they send you a box of clothes.  You can choose casual or professional clothes.  The service costs $20 for the styling and if you choose to keep any of the clothes they send you, this $20 is credited back to the cost of your clothes.

The clothes are moderately priced. $100 pair of jeans, $50 casual shirts for men, $150 blazers.  If you buy all five items in your box, you get an additional 25% discount.

The StitchFix contents come wrapped in fancy butcher paper.

I don’t need any professional clothes.  I’ve got a tailor in Hong Kong that makes all my suits and dress shirts and I find that Banana Republic pants work perfectly for me – and they are almost always having a 40% off sale.  I just don’t have many casual clothes.  In the summer, I live in BR linen shirts.  If you’ve followed me on other social media (and here), you’ll see that I am often wearing a casual blue shirt from BR – it often ends up as my travel shirt.  It’s comfortable, inexpensive and has a pattern that can hide a stain should we hit turbulence and I spill on myself.  I need more casual clothes.

How did it work out for me?

I signed up and anxiously awaited my first box.  It included:

• Unstructured Navy Blue Blazer
  • Sleeves were way too short on me. I liked the style and wished it fit properly. Pass.
• Blue Polo Shirt
  • Standard Blue Polo – I have too many of these as it is. Plus the mid-section didn’t fit properly and it was quite long.  Pass.
• Black Mavi Jeans
  • The pants fit well and the color looked nice, but there was so much stretch to the pants, I felt like I was wearing spandex or pajamas.  Pass.
• Two Pair of Socks
  • The stitching was great and the pattern was fun. Two pairs were $28. That’s too expensive for me. Pass.
• Performance Fleece
  • A basic grey fleece, with long sleeves.  Nothing stellar, but with the AmEx credit, it was totally worth the net $35 cost. Keep.

So the first box didn’t do it for me.  When you checkout online with StitchFix, you have the opportunity to tell them why you are returning.  You answer questions on fit, cost, color, general style, etc – plus there is a freeform section that allows you to include a narrative as to what you want to change.

I decided to give StitchFix another try – especially since I had a second AmEx card with this spend $50 get $25 back credit.  I reviewed my style profile, made some minor changes and then waited for my next box.

My second box arrived a couple days ago and it included:

The winning box – I kept all of these items!

• Heavy Twill Shirt
  • This long sleeve burgundy shirt was a little big in the mid-section, but fit well otherwise and I thought it was a nice casual weekend shirt for cool weather.  The $68 price tag gave me pause though. Keep.
• Printed Poplin Shirt
  • I really liked this short sleeve casual shirt from the second I opened the box and it fit well in both the sleeves and the waist – two areas where I struggle in shirts.  For some reason many designers have arm holes that are way too small for me, and I don’t have big arms and the mid-section is either too tight (for my big belly??) or way to big (for my lean stomach???).  Keep.
• Poplin Shirt
  • This grey long sleeve shirt immediately made the mental rotation for a great travel shirt. It was a light heather grey, so when we hit turbulence and my red wine goes flying, I won’t be able to hide the stain, but the shirt is so comfortable and soft. For $44, it was a no brainer – although I have switched to drinking white wine or prosecco whilst wearing this shirt. Keep.
• Joe’s Jeans
  • A simple, straight legged pair of jeans that fit almost perfectly.  Honestly they were a little baggy in the seat, but very comfortable in every other part.  $138 and they made it into my closet.  Keep.
• Jersey Tipped Pocket Polo
  • A burgundy polo, with slightly tighter arms than I like, but a good fit everywhere else.  I wasn’t a big fan of the pocket on this shirt, as the material was a bit thicker, so if the pocket isn’t laying perfectly flat, it enhances your bosom in a very unflattering way.  For $59, I was going to send it back, but I remembered that if I buy all five items, I get 25% the total price. Basically, if I spent $49 on this shirt, I’d save $93.50 on the whole order. Keep.

The total price of this box was $374.00, minus the 25% savings for buying all items, minus the $25 AmEx credit for spending $50 with StitchFix.  I’m pleased with this box.

While it isn’t cheap, that’s for sure and it isn’t a solid win on the selections, I think I’ll continue to try StitchFix from time to time.  I’ll get one more box and see how that turns out and then I’ll likely turn off the subscription for a while.

Do you use StitchFix?  Have you thought about trying it?  Feel free to use my referral code,  Full disclosure, if you follow that link, I’ll get $25 off my next order.  If you love StitchFix, I’d love to hear about your experiences and definitely leave your referral code in the comments.