After my whole research paper on the persuasive qualities of personalized shopping services, I had nearly convinced myself that Stitch Fix would be a fun experience. As it turned out, the personalization was hit or miss.
This past December, a YouTuber shared a link for $100 Stitch Fix credit. I jumped at the opportunity for free clothes and told several friends about it as well. I received a box of free clothes in the mail, tried them on, and kept one shirt. I was not disappointed in the fairly random assortment of clothes because it was only the first box.
When I received my first “Fix,” I was also able to share a $100 credit link with friends. I shared it briefly on my Instagram story, and a few friends used the link. This gave my Stitch Fix account $100 per new order, which gave me a grand total of $300 worth of credit to use. I was excited to see what my next Fixes had in store.
What I didn’t realize what that my frugal, thrift-store loving self would recoil at every ludicrous price. A blouse should not cost $50 in my humble opinion, nor should a pair of jeans cost $98. Maybe I was just raised to pay attention to prices and buy things on sale, but it went against my nature to accept the cost even using store credit. The clothes were of a nice quality, but it didn’t equate with the high prices to me.
My frustration was mainly due to the prices, but also due to the annoyingly baggy, loose tops that couldn’t technically be ruled as “not fitting” because they were oversized and one-size-fits-most. I am a very petite person, and I prefer more fitted formal clothes rather than oversized garments draping over me. No matter how many customizations I made to my customer account, I kept receiving baggy suit jackets in Fixes. Even when I asked my stylist to look at the notes I had left to explain what clothes I already had in my closet, I received more of the same – either clothes that absolutely didn’t fit, weren’t my style, or were things I already owned.
I learned throughout this process that a personalized shopping service was not meant for me. I vastly prefer picking out my own purchases and getting to feel the fabric or try on clothes before purchasing them. I love the treasure-hunt aspect of browsing a thrift store. I understand that part of the Stitch Fix experience is to have a stylist pick out new clothes to complement your wardrobe, but I would have skipped the majority of what my stylists sent to me.
What you may not know if you are not a Stitch Fix customer is that each box has a styling fee – $20 per box, applicable to any items you purchase from that box. However, if you decide to return the box without keeping any clothes, you lose that $20 fee. This meant I felt forced to purchase a baggy sweater in order to not lose $20 of my credit. To be fair, it is a luxuriously soft sweater, and I might even wear it one day, but it isn’t really my style.
Finally, my Fix reviews had been poor enough that the system offered me another Fix without a styling fee.
“Excellent,” I thought, “If it’s all stuff I don’t want again, I can just return it and be done.”
Surprise: that is exactly what happened.
Somehow, the time I requested dresses and jumpsuits, they were completely out of stock in my size. The stylist for that Fix (they were different every time) recommended that I shop on the online Stitch Fix store to find dresses or jumpsuits when they were back in stock. With this advice, I used up the rest of my store credit on one dress and one jumpsuit. I ended up spending $2 of my own money to buy the $54 dress. Not a bad deal considering I had gotten what was listed as $300 worth of Stitch Fix merchandise.
Was Stitch Fix worth it? To me, with the free credit, it was an interesting experience. I got some nice clothes, and realized that the customization and personalization sales pitch didn’t always live up to reality. Some of my friends got a few articles of clothing for free as well, which was nice. I have since gone back to my ways of buying clothes on sale, at thrift stores, and at garage sales. Just a day before writing this blog post, I bought a dress for fifty cents and altered it in about half an hour to fit me. That is much more my style (both fashion-wise and economically) than getting expensive clothes just for a specific brand or logo.
I can still see the persuasive appeals of Stitch Fix, but it’s just not aimed at me. I am not the target demographic because my spending habits don’t match their prices. Still, there are plenty of happy customers out there so the stylists must be doing something right.
Sarah Turek Productions 