Tinder for Clothing

The other day I had to attend a meeting for work.  As always, I sat next to my job partner.  We are wired the same way so meetings can be a struggle after a while for us.  She will often doodle and I'll go through my photos or update my apps.  

I noticed she was looking at photos of outfits on her phone and she was swiping them away.  I watched for a minute to see if was a game or an app until I finally asked what it was.   She laughed and said she had signed up for stitchfix.  Then she showed me how it worked and how they identify your style.  Her style was something like Active BoHo.  

I asked her if it was expensive and she said it depended on if you kept anything and what exactly was kept.  She said it was free to try so I was a little intrigued. More intrigued like wanting to do buzzfeed quiz to see which television character I am than wanting to buy any clothing. 

Then I forgot about it, like I do.  Clearly, not a clothes kind of a person or a priority for me, I should say.  Then an ad appeared for it weeks later, like it does now if you simply think about a thing.  I did a search and went to the site.

It was easy to register and kind of fun to swipe through clothing.  They take a lot of information so it's definitely not one-size-fits-all.  There is even a price range option and I opted for "Under $50"

At the end there is an option to write any expectations or needs.  I wrote "Black. purple, blue and green color preferences in that order" and soft fabrics only.

This could be great or not but I thought this might be a good way to supplement my leggings, tshirt, hoodie wardrobe.  And: I didn't have to leave the house.

Then a week later the order was delivered.  They used a sketchy delivery service so that was a first strike.  They left it on our deck, just short of  out of the rain.  They could have put it a foot closer to the door and guaranteed it wouldn't get wet.  But this delivery service has left packages in the MIDDLE OF THE DRIVEWAY ON THE GROUND so this was an improvement.

I admit, I was a little excited.  Kind of like when you shop for school clothes. I set my expectations low, all the same.

The firs thing that I took out of the box was a sweater. I didn't even unwrap it.  It was "burnt orange" but more of an ugly rust color.  It was how I would describe as "pilly" fabric.  It was an Immediate No. 

The rest of the clothing was wrapped together like an outfit and I appreciated that detail.

The first from the outfit group was a black, short sleeved shirt.  Just my thing.  It has lace shoulders and sleeves. Nope.  It fit fine, a little loose but it felt more like aging mom trying to be cool.

Second was a green sweater.  I don't wear sweaters anymore but thought "Maybe I will though, if I have one"  It was...meh.  It didn't have any definition, really.  It felt sloppy.  I prefer v-neck or scoop neck and this hit at the high part of my collar bones.  And it had random buttons for detail.  So: Maybe but probably not.

Third was a green tunic.   Army green, not Kevin's favorite color on me and not really mine either.  I like the fabric and it fit...fine. A little too big.  It went onto the maybe pile as well. The determining factor for that was going to be the price.

Finally was a pair of jeans.  I'm on Team No Hard Pants but it's going to be winter soon so I kept an open mind.  Again, they fit fine.  The legs were pegged and I hate that.  They weren't stitched though so I could unroll them and that was an improvement.  These also went into the Maybe pile, depending on price.

I gathered the clothing up with the box and brought it back to my office. I was going to look at the invoice and check out right away so I didn't forget.  Then Kevin got home after a visit with his dad so there was a long discussion to be had.  

After that, I was exhausted and it was time for dinner so I left it to deal with this morning. But curiosity got to me so I peeked at the invoice.  Any guesses?

$189...with a  $20 discount for a total of $169 if I kept everything.

So, that felt like a lot.  Certainly much more than I would pay for clothing.  If I had LOVED everything, I could trick myself into "It's only $34 a piece" and "It will be a one time splurge."

But I was AT BEST shoulder-shrugging "meh" about it.  I felt that stupid obligatory feeling of "Well, I could keep something at least" which is silly and more than I want to spend.

This morning I sat down to see how it works to return everything.  This is where I spot the "Return by 10/21" deadline.  Did you just glance at a calendar?  Today is the 19th.  Today is a SATURDAY and it's already mid-day.  I received the box late Friday afternoon.

To use a quote we use often as a joke "That's how they get you..."  At least, that's what it felt like.

Needless to say, I logged in and found the "Delay my return date" and set it for Wednesday.  Whew.  Now I'm trying to figure out how to cancel the service but all I can find is a temporary hold; even though it says there's a "On Demand Only" setting.  (figured it out...I think. We'll see in a month)

Back to the beginning.  Remember I said that I clicked the "Everything under $50" button.  Here's how THAT broke down:

Cardigan $49 - technically under $50.  

Black lace top - $35.  That feels like a lot for a glorified t-shirt but I could be wrong. I don't shop.

Tunic - $58 - NOT under $50

Sweater - $48

Jeans - $62

So now that feels manipulative.  Averaged out, like I mentioned, each piece is "only" $34.  When I clicked "Under  $50" though, I expect  everything to be "Under $50" like I clicked. Not an average.

To be fair, I don't buy clothing often and if I do, it's from shamazon or a big box store.  My perception of what a good price is might not be accurate. It comes down to: it was more expensive than I wanted.  

Then we'll mention again the stated color preferences, in order: black, purple, blue, green.  I got black, green and rust. So that was kind of on the mark, other than the rust abomination.  I stated "soft textures" and got jeans.  Albeit, they were soft fabric, they're still hard pants.

It was a fun experiment and I am a little disappointed that it didn't turn out better.  Normally I would look at reviews before doing something like this but needed something impulsive and fun.  I looked at the reviews just now and it's predominately the same as I wrote above.  It sounds like as a start-up, it was really good but now it's fallen to profit over quality and customer services.

In case you think I'm exaggerating the clothing.  Here's the screenshot: