Stitch Fix #1 (of infinity)

So, I know I have to do some posts to catch back up, but in the meantime I have to share my excitement from receiving my first stitch fix in the mail this past weekend.  If you don't know what Stitch Fix is you have either been A) living under a rock or B) raising crazy young 'uns.  Here is the link to the site if you want to check it out Stitch Fix. A friend from work, who knows I struggle in the fashion and style department, told me about it after I had Isaac.  After having E, I knew one of my weight goals was to lose enough to even fit in the sizes that they provide.  Once I reached that size, I kept stalling for a few reasons.

1. If you have ever had a weight problem, you may have the same fears that I always had about receiving clothes from anyone or anything that you didn't try on first or pick out yourself.  Being chubby my whole life, I hated receiving clothes for Christmas for fear of the "Oh go try it on and show all fifty family members how it looks" only to find I couldn't get the fabric above my knees.  It has happened...more than once.  Then you have to do the walk of shame wearing the same thing you had on before you left the room with the ole' shoulder shrug that it didn't fit.  It was more so about my own disappointment than anyone elses, but still.  Even the few interspersed times of being less chubby my mind set was automatically that any clothes that arrived to me in that fashion would be too small, regardless of the actual size.  Maybe its just me.... So anyway, the first fear was that I would be so excited, tell my friends I was doing it, get it in the mail, and nothing would fit.
2. I am a habitual buyer of clothes that do not fit under the assumption that once I buy them I will magically lose the weight necessary to wear them appropriately.  ESPECIALLY if its on sale.
3. I never buy an item of clothes that is over $29.99 (and the 1 cent does matter to me).  Well, there was this one time I went into the Buckle store (where store attendants are definitely paid by sales commissions and ended up buying two pairs of $100 jeans that I now realize give me muffin top no matter what size I am. I got too many "oh girl, you can definitely rock that" and my self esteem made me do it).
4. I am still on the diet from hell and losing weight so I have no idea what size I actually am (see reason number #1) 

Here are the reasons I ultimately did it.

1. Ever since I can remember being in control of my own wardrobe, I have had no idea what my "style" is.  I am all over the place - feminine and flirty, casual, vintage, traditional, classy, country, grunge....  My closet definitely needs to go to rehab for having multiple personalities.  And because I only buy clothes that are cheap - they don't necessarily fit or do anything for me.  Not only do I not wear most of the clothes in my closet, I don't even LIKE half of them.  I have dreamed of wiping the slate clean and actually spending the necessary money on having wardrobe staples that I could feel good about wearing.
2. The need to stop waiting until I was the perfect size that I am never gonna be.  For my entire life I have wanted to be a size 10.  Not skinny, but healthy.  I have only been there once.  Lets face it, even if I get there this time the probability of staying there based on historical performance is really small.  Not to hate on myself, just trying to be realistic.  So does that mean I wait forever and possible never to have a nice wardrobe?  Clinton and Hillary from What not to Wear say "NO!".   I need to stop being ridiculous.
3. I feel a deep seated need to buy,have,and wear new clothes.  I feel better when I am wearing new clothes and then the new wears off and I don't ever wear it again.  Hence why it has to be cheap.  To me, there is nothing like wearing a brand new anything.  But because they are cheap and I was never really loving them anyway I always need more.  This is also ridiculous.
4. If nothing fit or I didn't like any of it, I could just send it back!

So once I grew a set and decided to do it, I went to the site and started filling in my personal style profile.  Like I said, I didn't know my style so at first this was a little daunting, but it was so easy once I started going through it.  They show you several sets of clothes and you say whether you love it, like it, don't like it or hate it.  That was helpful.  The size parts I was afraid of, but you have to be honest or you will get stuff that looks terrible.  The site suggests that you create a pinterest board of different outfits that you like to help the stylist, so went a little crazy one afternoon and did that too.  I was a little worried that every style I picked had a skinny girl wearing something and the stylist would get the wrong idea of what I could wear, but somehow he didn't....And yes I said HE.  I would like to refer to him by his name - Chris(topher).  I do have to say I was surprised to see that a guy did my styling but Chris obviously knows what he is doing.  Here is why I already love him:

1. He picked things for me that fit.  A couple items were a little snug for one reason or another, but for the most part the fit was great.
2. He picked things I would never have picked off of the shelf.
3. He showed me how to pair the items with different things for completely different looks - this is what I struggle with the most.
4. He made me step out of my cheap comfort zone, but not so far out of it that I had a meltdown and sent everything back.

Here is my cheat cards that will help me to look like I know what the heck I am doing with the items that he sent me.  This is actually really helpful.

So you are probably saying, "shut up already and show me the goods".  Taking pictures of myself created a little (a lot) a bit of anxiety, but fortunately I was overcome by the exhaustion of the whole "Paci Fairy" debacle that I decided not to care (long story for another day).  I won't say that I didn't take a thousand shots and weeded out the best I could find, but still.  Its better than the first option of not including my face in any of them.  So here we go - the good, bad and the ugly.  I'll start with the good so we can work up to the ugly.

1.  

 You will have to forgive the shotty camera work.  I had already had three cups of coffee and I still have no clue where to look when I take the picture.  This blouse was the first I put on.  The fit isn't exactly perfect, but it works I think.  I would have never picked this shirt off of a rack, but I do like it, and BONUS, it is orange and white and navy so could pass for a good Clemson football game shirt.  I like the feminine details and the lines down the sleeves.  Looks professional enough for work, but not too uptight, and manages to be pretty without showing too much cleavage.  I wouldn't have thought to pair it with white pants, but since Chris suggested it, I went ahead and tried it and I actually liked it better than my usual.  I had to search for them in the back of my closet because white pants are laughable in my house (if I don't mess them up with my sloppy eating and clumsiness, my two kids will see to it that they don't make it through a day) but I think I will keep this one. 

2. 

 
 Chris must have read my mind on this one, although they were the scariest to take out of the box and actually put on.  I avoid trying on jeans at all costs, hence why I still have a pair from my freshman year of high school.  Lately, I have become obsessed with finding a really cool pair of cowboy boots.  Problem is, to pull off the look I imagine I need some sort of skinny jeans.  Skinny jeans scare me to death.  I have seen skinny people look bad in skinny jeans, much less someone who has a lot more to shove in them.  I actually liked these when I put them on.  I was trying not to be encumbered by the ether of just being able to get them on, and judge them objectively, but I liked them a lot.  I'm not impressed with the full frontal view but I do think they help out in the butt department.  Chris totally helped me out by suggesting that I roll them up, which I thought could work with all the flats I wear to work.  Now I know I don't look particularly stellar, but in the whole skinny jean realm I would actually feel comfortable in them?  Now for some really awesome cowboy boots.

3. 

Okay now, I know you are thinking this shirt is too tight, and it is, but I loved it.  So here I am breaking the cardinal rule of buying clothes that "will fit in ten pounds".  But I really really liked it.  Chris must have been stalking me, because this is exactly the type of stuff I want.  I could wear this to work (in 10lbs) and look polished, but also wear it to a kids birthday party (and just not eat any cake).  The color is my fav and I like the weird sleeves.  I think I am liking the two blouses the best because I feel like one of my best features is my decolletage, or as my 2.5 year old calls it - "the chicken bones that poke out of my neck".  I think I'll keep it and maybe make myself wear it for the embarrassment and punishment if I don't actually lose the 10 lbs.

So those were the good things I thought. The bad thing, well, its not really bad, its just too bad for me.  I am not an accessories girl.  I put in a pair of target dangly earrings until they lose a part or turn colors and then I buy another pair and leave them in indefinitely.  I only really wear my wedding band and ring, and hardly ever wear a necklace unless it is so tiny you could barely see it.  I don't know, its just not my thing.  And I certainly wouldn't ever spend more than $20 on any one piece.  This is why the only "real" jewelry I own is my wedding rings and a overstocked Pandora bracelet.  I realize this whole theory is probably because I don't own nice things, but at this point, I would just rather spend my money on clothes.

 So here is the bangle that Chris selected for me.  When I saw it in the box, I was a little disappointed since I wanted it to be all clothes, although I didn't say that on the survey.  I would like to be surprised by a piece every now and then, but this was $34, and unless its just a really good deal on 14k gold, I don't want it.  I didn't even want to put it on, because the more I looked at it the more I liked it, and then when I did put it on I was thinking maybe I would keep it.....but  I stuck to my guns and sent it back.

Okay for the ugly.  Let me preface this by saying when I saw this garment, I immediately thought of tapestry on the walls of the Biltmore House.  Not a look I could pull off.  But, I wanted to keep an open mind and maybe the fit would just blow my socks off.   Not so much.

This dress ended up accentuating everything that I would like to hide or forget I have.  From the arms, to the thighs to the post baby belly.  You can even tell I am sucking it in uncomfortably in the last picture.  It's so bad I didn't even want to post it.  Not your fault Chris, it could have worked better on someone with different coloring and flat tummy.  But I am gonna go with a big no on this one.

So all in all the bracelet and the dress went back.  I kept the two shirts and the jeans for a total of $150.  I know that was high, especially when one of the shirts is a tad too tight, but I really liked them and felt like they would be staples in my wardrobe for a while.  And with the help of the suggestions could get a few other pieces and use them for totally different looks (would have never thought about the yellow skirt with the blue top but I bet is would look great together). 

If you are interested in stitch fix, please use my referral link - http://www.stitchfix.com/referral/3970713 .  My husband will thank you for the discount I will get on my next fix :).

Oh, and thank you Chris - where ever you are I hope we can be friends.

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