A wardrobe malfunction, a confession and a Stitch Fix review

Today, I thought I’d share the following (completely true) personal story in case, for some crazy reason, you think I’ve got it all together. 😉

One evening, during a week-long business trip to the Washington, D.C. area, I was excitedly getting ready in my hotel room to attend a Broadway show at the Kennedy Center. The designated attire for the evening was formal, which meant I could wear the gorgeous, mermaid-style gown I’d picked up on final clearance at one of my favorite discount stores, Gabriel Brothers. The dress was $15. (Yes, you read that right. It was $15, people!)

Here’s a photo of said dress:

So far, so good, right? Well, little did I know that things were about to take a nasty turn …

This dress was right on the verge of being too tight. (You know what I’m talking about, right ladies?) So I was alone in my hotel room, trying to figure out how to get the dress on my body and also zip it all the way up in the back by myself. Hmmm.

“I’ll just zip it first, then slip it over my head …” This was my not-so-brilliant plan.

I began executing the plan, only to discover – with my arms pinned over my head and the dress only halfway on – that I was stuck.

I was so trapped, in fact, that after five minutes of desperate struggling and sweating, I began stumbling around my hotel room, blindly searching for something to now cut myself out of the dress. Fingernail clippers? The sharp edge of a drawer? A disposable razor? No luck.

After another five minutes of struggling (holding back tears at this point), I arrive at the final, humiliating conclusion that I will need to stumble out into the (very public) hotel hallway, cry out for help, and wait for the next unfortunate guest to walk by and rescue me from my plight.

Thank God, as I stepped outside my room, I heard the familiar voice of a friend who was traveling with our group.

“Oh my!” She exclaimed, as she ran down the hall toward me to help fix the situation. To this day, I have no idea how she kept from bursting into laughter at that sad, sad scene. Stacy, you are a gracious woman to whom I am forever indebted. 😉

Needless to say, I learned a few key lessons that day about fashion – and humility.

Speaking of fashion, I have another Stitch Fix review for you today! (If you’re like, what in the world is Stitch Fix? I explain it here.) So let’s take a peek, shall we?

The first piece is this Layla Striped Elbow Patch Detail Cardigan. I absolutely adore this cardigan! I had specifically asked my Stitch Fix stylist for something with a longer length and elbow patches. I also pinned something very similar on my Pinterest board. The Stitch Fix stylists rely heavily on your Pinterest board to help pick out your items. This piece hit the mark dead on! It was $48. Keep!

The second piece was this gray, chevron dress. I apologize, I don’t remember the price. #bloggerfail I think it was around $60. I actually liked it, especially the fit and the fact that it was super comfy. But I didn’t love it. And neither did my husband, so I returned it.

Next up were the Queensland Dolman Jersey Top and the Emer Printed Straight Leg Pant.

I loved everything about these two pieces except the price of the pants. The shirt was $48 and the pants were $98. I have never in my life spent that much on a pair of pants. Ultimately, I decided to keep both of these pieces because I had not bought a pair of dress pants in, like, five years. Plus I shopped and shopped and could not find any pants that even came close to fitting as well as these!

But, I confess, I still feel bad about paying that much for a pair of pants. Granted, I had some referral money in my Stitch Fix account that helped offset the price, so I didn’t actually pay the full $98 out of my own pocket. But still … let that be a warning to you. If you are not comfortable with the price of a Stitch Fix item, don’t try it on, or you might be tempted to keep it. 😉

The final piece was this zippered-sleeve cream sweater.

Again, I forget the exact price. (I believe it was in the $60 range.) It was a little baggy for my taste and was a tad itchy. And I thought the price was a little steep. Didn’t love it, so it got returned.

I also just recently received another Stitch Fix box. Although the items were cute and I could tell my stylist had taken great care to match many of my requests, I returned all five pieces. The main reason was that the shirts were not long enough to flatter my lower half. I am super picky about the length of my shirts. Unless I’m pairing them with shorts or a skirt, I like them to fully cover my hips yet still maintain a fitted, feminine shape.

I am still in love with Stitch Fix and will continue sharing with you my pieces. If you’re unfamiliar, here’s how Stitch Fix works:

1. Sign up for a Stitch Fix account.
2. Fill out your style profile. You’ll give very specific details on your budget preference (I chose “the cheaper, the better”), sizes you wear, styles you like, colors you like, types of clothes you like, and what clothing pieces you need/want. It’s encouraged to be very detailed in your descriptions and share a Pinterest board to give the Stitch Fix stylists a good feel for your tastes in clothing. (I did this and it helped them tremendously. They nailed my style!)
3. Choose when and how often you’d like to receive a Stitch Fix. Then go to checkout and pay a $20 styling fee (this is then applied as a credit toward anything you choose to keep from what they send).
4. One of the Stitch Fix stylists will look in-depth at your style profile, sizes and preferences and put together a box of five items based upon what they think you’ll like and what they think will work for you.
5. You’ll receive your Stitch Fix in the mail. You have three business days to go through everything and choose what to keep and what to ship back in the postage-paid shipping bag they include in the box. Stitch Fix does not require a membership fee or a monthly subscription and you can cancel or change how often your fix ships at any time.

If you decide to try Stitch Fix, I hope you’ll use one of the referral links to Stitch Fix that I’ve provided in this post. It will give me a small discount on my next fix. And if you refer your friends, be sure to give them your referral link, so you can get a discount, too. 🙂