I hate shopping.  I love having new things!  But I hate the actual act of shopping.  This stems from two problems I face, and more recently, as a direct result from dealing with infertility, a third problem has appeared.

1.  I hate crowds – I hate sharing a shop with another person as the bimble in front of me or push past me.  I have my personal space….keep out of it!!!! I get quite antsy when I am unable to walk away freely and it ruins the whole shopping experience for me
2. I have terrible fashion sense and an awkward sized body – small boobs, small waist, tall, big hips and fat ass!  I’m not quite pear shaped, but the majority of clothes do not fit my lower half of body unless they are stretchy or super baggy.  Therefore buying some of the simplest things can take me more than one shopping trip.
3. More recently, I have noticed how much I hate walking past baby clothes stores, pregnant women and women pushing buggies without looking where they are going.  they are everywhere.  Really I had never noticed just how many baby clothes stores there were, until now.

So why don’t I just internet shop?  I remind you of problem 2.  I have never bought clothes form the internet – that is until now.  I discovered a service call Stitch Fix*.  Several months ago, I noticed my friend wearing a beautiful skirt, after complimenting her on it she told me it was from stitch fix.  So I looked into it some more…basically this is a service where clothes and accessories are selected by a stylist just for you and delivered direct to you.  No shops!! No wasting time sifting through lots of pictures on the internet!!!  No worries.

So how do they know what to send you?  Well you answer a questionnaire that includes your likes and dislikes….you are shown some photos of styles and you rate them, you provide them with all your different sizes (boobs, waist, hips, height etc), you also give them your price points, i.e. how much you would spend on a jacket, jeans, top, trousers, earrings etc.  They use data science modeling techniques to figure out what type of clothes would work best for you.  You also have a chance to write what you are looking for in your shipment of 5 items – may be a special occasion, or a holiday is coming up….or just in general the type of thing you want  A stylist reads any of your requests and selects 5 items based on all this.  And it is a surprise what you get!  Your box arrives beautifully wrapped.

You also receive a personal note from your stylist describing why they chose the items they have sent you, then they include little cards to show you how to accessorize each item they have sent you.  It is very neat.

My very first box I kept all 5 items –  a handbag, a maxi dress (I have had so many random strangers compliment me on this one), a pair of jeans (that actually fit me!! How risky was that putting in a pair of jeans in the first box?!), and two blouses that worked for both casual and work.  I was very impressed.  I probably wouldn’t have picked half of these off of the shelf in the shop, but when I tried them on I really loved them!  Chris also helped me decide what to keep/not keep -so he can give his input without having to suffer being dragged around the shops!

(Another thing I generally dislike is shopping with other people, including Chris, because I feel pressured not to spend too long browsing or not try things on – I feel guilty – except with my mum and my friend E, I don’t feel so guilty with them :-p)

You have several days to try the clothes on and if you don’t like them you send them back in the prepaid packaging.  If you buy all 5 items you get a 25% discount.  You can choose how often you receive a package and can schedule one any time you fancy it – may be if you are feeling down!

Today my second package arrived (I chose to have a parcel once every 3 months)….I am very pleased with the stylists choices – again!  Unfortunately, one of the tops was damaged so I will have to send that back.  But I like what they chose for me and will be keeping them!

I will not lie, I am a bargain hunter…and this service is not the cheapest.  Basically I calculated they add onto the price of the items a premium I probably wouldn’t pay for in a store if I picked it up from the rack.   But when we added up the cost of fuel and the saving of hassle, I figured it was worth that ‘premium’.  Another of my friends who tried Stitch Fix after I told her about the success of my first package.  She kept one item – some jewellery.  But the rest she sent back as it either didn’t fit her or was just not to her taste.  She says she won’t be ordering any more from them. So they don’t always get it right!!!  My friend who referred me to Stitch Fix originally has never received a package where she kept all 5 items, but she is happy to just receive a few good things every so often.

So I now get to avoid the ‘crowded’* shops and all those baby stores, but still get the feeling of having new things!  Plus, I get to wear more fashionable clothes that actually fit and suit me!!!

Happy Friday everyone….so excited it is finally the weekend!!

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*I am not being paid or receiving any reward to write this blog – this is just my personal thoughts on a service I have found useful after realising that shopping can be quite depressing for me at times.  BUT if you are interested in it, then there is a referral system, let me know – but this is not why I am writing this blog post, there are other similar services out there which do a similar job!!

**Crowded for me is more than one other person in the store!!!