My Stitchfix | Box 1

YAY! It came ! It came! My first StitchFix box arrived last week and I couldn't be more excited!

If you haven't heard of Stitchfix here are the deets:

1) Go the link, sign up and fill out all the info they ask for about your personal tastes, they will hook you up with a stylist who will send you a box with 5 items that they think will look great on you, based on what you tell them.
2) Pay a $20 styling fee which includes the box shipped to you and goes toward your purchase should you choose to keep anything in the box.
3) Get your box (which you can set up on auto for once a month or schedule them as you wish) and try on your items! You have 3 days to decide and there's a free shipping bag included to send back what you don't want.

Easy as 1-2-3!

Oh yeah, where were we? Clothes! YAY!!!!!

Now, you'll have to excuse my pics. I totally left my Canon Rebel at a friends house so until I get it back I am stuck taking pics with my iPhone. BOO!

In the box there are 5 things for you to try on. As you can see they even include with each item outfit suggestions/style cards, so you have some ideas on how to wear it all. They really know we need help, friends.

I really think my stylist Nancy did a great job of listening to my requests and viewing my Pinterest board because most of what she sent was right in line with what I asked for. I have a strange style of rocker girl meets bohemeian. I love black and greys and hardware. But I also love a flowy maxi dresses, silver and turquoise and a 1970s retro vibe. Seems to me that Nancy tapped right into my style. Here is what she selected for me:

BAY TO BAUBLES
RANDY CRYSTAL CHAIN STATEMENT NECKLACE

I told Nancy that I love bold accessories but didn't have many and she sent me this. I actually fell in love with it immediately. I love statement necklaces. This one has the perfect balance of girly and rocker, which is totally my zoosh. It has a nice weight to it so it falls nicely on the neck. Much better quality than similar ones found at Charming Charlies or Forever 21.

VERDICT: Kept it!

41HAWTHORN
CORALINE MESH DETAIL CROSS-FRONT BLOUSE

When this first came out of the box, I was a bit excited. It was black and it had mesh! YAY for my inner rocker girl. I saw where another blogger mentioned that the fabric was low quality. But in actuality, it's a really nice crepe de chine. Maybe what that blogger meant is she didn't like that it was lightweight. I find it to be quite lovely and incredibly comfortable.

VERDICT: Kept it!

LEVEL 99
LANI DISTRESSED CROPPED SKINNY JEAN

Once again, Nancy came through for me. I told her I owned two pair of completely destroyed jeans and really needed to replace them. I LOVED LOVED LOVED the buttery softness of these jeans. Loved the color and the distressed details. But I am a McShorty and these cropped jeans were more ankle on me. This could have been resolved by folding the hem. Also for these to be skinny jeans they were pretty loose in the legs and the other issue was the gap between the waist and the small of my back. I think this is more of a fit issue than anything. I totally need to adjust my sizes in my profile.

VERDICT: Sadly... sent back

SKIES ARE BLUE
FERDINAND LACE AND PLEAT DETAIL BLOUSE

This blouse is made really well and the fabric is high quality. A little heavier than the other, which makes it a nice sleeveless top under a blazer in cooler weather. However, I am not a fan of the cut of this blouse. It's boxy and I am not big on lace. Plus, as soon as babygirl saw me in this she said "Mom, it looks like an old lady... Ummm... yeah that would be a huge NO!" 

VERDICT: Sent back

ALTERNATIVE APPAREL
GALVIN SHORT SLEEVE FRENCH TERRY DRESS

When I first tried this one on, I was torn between liking it and hating it. It's super comfy and it fits well. But I wasn't sure if I liked that it had little form. Maybe with a pair of leggings and booties it could be adorbs. Love that it has pockets. Babygirl saw this one on me and immediately and excitedly nodded her head yes.

VERDICT: Kept it and will be wearing it in Oakland for Thanksgiving at my sister's place with a pair of leggings, a long sleeve thermal top underneath and booties.

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I really want to take pics of myself with the items on but until I renovate my wardrobe a bit more and add more things, I will probably hold off on it. In the meantime, I decided to use my Stylebook App to style and showcase the items.

One of the things I love about Stitch Fix is that it introduces new brands to me that probably would have never come across. And I also love that my stylist sent both things that I love and things I may not have selected for myself but that I may end up liking. Both the dress and the statement necklace are things I probably wouldn't have picked up for myself but ended up liking.

Overall I really liked the experience. It is fun. Plus, I really liked the style suggestions. They were really helpful when I was trying to put things together with what I already had. I decided to ramp up my efforts to increase my wardrobe by having a new Stitch Fix box arrive every 2-3 weeks. Plus, it will be fun to have a package like this arrive at my door. You can schedule your boxes to come less frequently or manage your shipments by prompting for one only when you are ready. Gotta love having that option!

So what do you think? Which items do you like best on me?

Want to give StitchFix a try? There's nothing to lose, even if you only do it once, it's a super fun experience. GO HERE to read more and sign up!

(And a little FYI- this is totally not a sponsored post. I just really love the service/experience and want to share it with you all!)

Stylebook App Review

*My post does not contain a referral link.  This post is not sponsored by Stylebook App and all opinions are my own.

DILEMMA: When it's time to go somewhere, I enter my closet and then stare at everything. Then I try on item after item in front of the mirror, mixing things up to see what looks best. This is such a time suck! There has to be an easier way! What's a girl to do?

SOLUTION: There is an app for that!

Enter Stylebook ($3.99), an iPhone app I’d read about and been too lazy to try. (Taking pictures of every piece of clothing I owned seemed exhausting.) But the inconvenience of cataloging my closet seemed less frustrating than the hours I spend trying to find an outfit, so I dug in my heels and got busy. As I began the painstaking process of photographing my clothing, I realized that I actually did have a definable style but I was also keeping things that I didn't love so much... for what? UGH! So I made a decision: if I couldn't motivate myself to photograph and catalog the item, it went in the donation pile.

Stylebook has over 90 features that helps you organize your clothes completely, including a virtual calendar, packing list, style stats and inspiration. The first step is to add all your clothes to the app. This can get quite tedious and may take a while if your wardrobe is large, but it's a one-time thing. And besides, who says you have to do it all at once? I preferred to get it out of the way and just took an afternoon one Saturday and made it happen. After you're done, you can just add new clothes as you buy them. (I have some tips for this stage at the end of the post.)

The app has different categories: Closet, Looks, Inspiration, Calendar, etc. You take pictures and sort them into the different Categories/Sub-Categories. You can also search for them on your favorite shopping sites, right within the app. You can add or remove Categories and Sub-Categories to fit your needs. For example, I've added sub-categories under Tops for tanks, long sleeves and short sleeves.

From your closet you can then create various looks, very similar to Polyvore. You can then add the look to a calendar. Admittedly, this is one of my FAVORITE parts.

The calendar allows you to keep track of what you've worn and when. These looks can be added to the calendar so you can see exactly how often you are wearing one item of clothing, or exactly what you wore on x day. Another part of this app called 'style stats' allows you to see what you wear the most, what you've never wore, what clothing was the best value and more. And you can see if you frequently repeat certain items. I'm the type of person that prefers not to wear the same combination of items very often, so this is great for helping me pace out when I will wear a certain outfit again and in what situation I want to be seen in it.

You can shop or save items to a wish list from your favorite sites (all powered by ShopStyle).

Two of my other FAVORITE things about this App is that you can:

1) Add information about your closet item, including size, color, brand and price and
2) See your Cost Per Wear for your item! Oh I love that part.

There is also a packing list feature in this app. This allows you to add looks and items of clothing to trips which can really help with packing! This is perfect to aid with minimal packing. YAY! I travel often and I notoriously over pack!

You simply tap the “packing” icon and you’ll find four lists — New York, Los Angeles, Paris, London — though you can create your own by tapping “+ packing list.” To use a list, open it, tap “+clothing” or “+look,” and begin adding items from your virtual closet, which is divided into categories  (like tops, bottoms, shoes, bags) as well as types of looks (work, evening, formal, vacation). I prefer to use the “looks” section, because it allows me to group my clothes and accessories into outfits, creating combinations that save space in my bag yet allow me to still look great on my trip.

Could I do this by laying clothes out on my bed and trying them on? Obviously. But the app enables me to do so on the subway or when I'm waiting for the TV commercial breaks to end on Shonda Rhimes night. I can share my edits with friends and see clothes that may otherwise be hidden in my closet or storage without pulling them off hangers and shelves.

I have been adding items each time I make a purchase. I usually try to save the stock photo of every item I purchase. Then I'll add the details for each item. I know that my CPW will be lower than is shown because I have some items that I've worn in the past but won't be able to account for on the Calendar. But being able to keep track of that now is so awesome!

I really love this app. I have it on my iPad and iPhone; I mostly use it on iPad simply because of the bigger screen. The 'wifi accept' feature allows you to transfer items of clothing between devices so you can use more than one device, however I think having an online account and wireless and automatic syncing would be a more efficient way of doing this.

Overall I would say this is a really great app and definitely worth having. The only improvement I think this app could benefit from is better syncing, but other than that its near perfect! The features of this app are great and there are no similar apps of the same quality. Fantastic app, easy to use and nice design.

Tips for adding clothes on the app:

+ Find basics in the shop section of the app, as the photos will be better and it's easier to add them in. I added jeans, t-shirts, tanks and other basic clothes this way.

+ When photographing your own clothes, use a better quality camera if you can, then import the photos to your device because your clothes will look better. Use good lighting.

+ Use a contrasting background to your clothes so adding them is quicker as the background is removed instantly.

+ If you have an iPad, use this when adding clothes because it's so much easier with a bigger screen!

+ For new clothes, try and find a picture online and import that. Polyvore.com can be useful for this.

I have been looking for something like this for a while. I can't believe it took me so long to find but YAY! Stylebook is my new bestie!

xoxo