In a fit of desperation after failing at maternity shopping (see previous post), I signed up to get a Stitch Fix box. For those who aren’t familiar with Stitch Fix, they’re a personal styling service that will send you five items based on a style profile and any specific requests you have for that box (e.g. “I need a special occasion outfit for an upcoming family wedding”).
This sounded great to me, since I tend to be set in my ways when it comes to clothes shopping. I hesitate to branch out from the tried-and-true, so a personal styling service that might nudge me out of my comfort zone and show me things I wouldn’t find on my own sounded awesome.
After the first box I was absolutely in love with the service. I asked for business casual maternity clothes. Everything they sent me was cute and in line with my style profile; the items I sent back got sent back because of fit problems or fabric issues. My five items were:
- A darling silver necklace that I loved the minute I put it on.
- A cute navy maternity dress that I considered keeping, but decided against because of the overly generous back pleating (hello, bubble butt!).
- A coral-colored blouse that I liked a lot but that wrinkled almost from the moment I pulled it out of the box — I knew if I kept it I’d never wear it because I’d have to iron it every time I did.
- A gorgeous teal blouse that was, alas, way too tight through the shoulders.
- Comfy, trendy maternity leggings at exactly the right price point — perfect for fall weekends.
One thing I did notice was that the box had a very West Coast interpretation of business casual — see this comic by The Oatmeal for a handy primer on the difference between East Coast and West Coast sartorial philosophy. For example, I have never seen a single pair of stretch leggings at my workplace and I would never, ever teach in such tight pants, but the stylist specifically said that the leggings would be “perfect for work.” I decided I’d mention that my workplace is fairly conservative in my next note and eagerly signed up for my next Fix.
Alas, my second box was kind of a wreck. I might have gotten too specific in my styling note — I asked for sleeveless or short-sleeved work tops and business casual dresses (mentioning the bit about being on the more formal end of business casual), and also said I didn’t need any more pants. These requests went more or less ignored. Instead, I got:
- Bright purple long-sleeved blouse with a missing button and fraying seams at the cuffs (yikes!).
- Blue flowered maternity tunic with long sleeves and smocking across the chest — sort of Little House on the Prairie meets 70s flower child.
- A pair of black maternity “jeggings” that were so tight I couldn’t get them over my bump, which I think was the baby’s way of expressing his displeasure with the entire concept of “jeggings.”
- A mock wrap dress that actually fit quite well, although I worried that the geometric pattern was making me look even bigger.
- A bumblebee costume.
Oh, you think I’m kidding about the bumblebee costume? BEHOLD:
See? I was so not kidding about the bumblebee costume. What is WITH maternity clothes and horizontal stripes?!
So our score so far is one excellent box, one poor one. I’m considering a third box as a tiebreaker but I’m actually fairly happy with my maternity wardrobe right now — I may wait until I a) start the semester and b) get more pregnant to see if I really need more/different items.
In the meantime, if you’re on the fence about Stitch Fix I say give it a try! The $20 styling fee is (IMO) pretty reasonable, returns are free and low-maintenance, and if all else fails you’ll have your own bumblebee costume to giggle over for hours at a time!
Awww. I love stripes. I don’t know how I would feel about stripes if I were pregnant but still. I don’t think you look bumble bee-ish at all
I usually like stripes too Jesselyn! Stitch Fix has a section on your style profile where you can tell them not to send you certain patterns. It never occurred to me to check “stripes”–but there’s just something about the round belly plus high-contrast stripes that made me feel like this: