August 8, 2014: My Fix

As Garrett and I sat in a work meeting, he noticed my top. One he hadn't seen before.

"Is that new?" was his question.

"Yes", I said excitedly. "It came in the mail yesterday!"

After remembering that I had the same response regarding a maxi-dress the night before, he answered as any male would.

"You have a problem."

I then asked the obvious question every female would ask.

"Do you like it?"

His answer was a smiling "yes". Affirmation. No problem noted.

I discovered something called Stitch Fix on FaceBook. Someone liked it and the concept peaked my interest. An on-line personal stylist. The tag line advertised was "your partner in personal style". The more I read, the more I wanted to try it out.

As I have indicated in prior blogs, I love clothes and fashion, but I hate shopping. I find large stores and large inventories overwhelming. I don't even like on-line shopping. Although this is my preferred method of item delivery, I don't enjoy surfing the net through endless volumes of inventory selections.

The idea of being assigned a stylist to pick random outfits was very alluring. As I perused the website, I noted cute outfits that appeared to be transposed straight out of Vogue. Return policy seemed as easy and user friendly as Zappo's. I couldn't resist. Curiosity was killing the cat. Could such a service really exist producing such attractive results?  

So on my iPad in the dead of night, I signed up.......

As I laid in my dark bedroom, I flipped through the stylist pictorial clothing selections on my iPad. I was asked to provide my feelings on wardrobe collection displayed with an answer of "Love", "Would never wear" or "Would be willing to try". Exercises like these and similar question sets provided my soon-to-be assigned stylist needed details to make her surprise selections for me.

When my first box arrived, I felt like a little girl on Christmas Day. Carefully opening my aqua embellished box, I oohed and awed over the bright colors, sleek designs and varying materials that greeted me. Whipping off my casual running attire, I tried on each piece one by one. Even with a disheveled ponied hair and lack of fashionable heels, I was happy with what I saw in the mirror. My stylist, Hannah, had my number.

And so the addiction began.

Since I have received two more shipments. A jacket in a style and color I would never had picked on my own. A bracelet made by African women and turquoise dangling earrings. And why have I avoided floral and grays all these years? It is amazing the new looks Hannah has convinced me to try out. A pen pal with purpose.

The best test of my satisfaction as a customer? I have yet to send anything back.

Being the good wife, I decided to meet Garrett halfway. I have opted to skip the August shipment. But September is a must. I am sure Hannah will have some great must-have fall picks. Thanks, Garrett, for being so understanding :)