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Anyone that knows me, or has read previous blog posts of mine, knows that I am a shopping fanatic. I love nothing more than checking out the latest fashion trends and finding that perfect dress or cardigan that gives me just a little bit of a boost in confidence.
With the latest developments of the Coronavirus,however, my shopping has been significantly restricted to browsing online boutiques and scrolling through my favorite go-to store chains’ websites. As you know this presents some difficulties for us members of the blind and visually impaired community. Oftentimes when we order something online we have to go based solely on the item description written on the product details page and hope that the item is what we envisioned. Sure, we can use Aira or Be My eyes, but nothing replaces seeing and trying on an item IRL (in real life) risk free.
Given the difficulties that I encountered shopping online and the added complexity of not always knowing what is “in style” each season I decided to finally give Stitch Fix a try. If you are curious what exactly Stitch Fix is and find yourself wondering if this may be a good fit for your clothing needs read on to get an honest review from a blindness perspective.
What is Stitch Fix?
Stitch Fix is an online shopping retailer with one major benefit – you get access to your very own personal stylist. They offer a variety of clothing including pieces for exercising, lounging around the house, date night or even rocking your next job interview. They offer clothing for men, women and even kids.
To get started you take a style quiz to provide your stylist with your preferences including your proportions, how you like your clothing to fit, colors and patterns that you like/dislike, budget preferences and most importantly outfits that you like/dislike. You can choose to receive a fix on a regular schedule or you can schedule fixes on-demand for special occasions, wardrobe refreshes or seasonal fixes as needed.
Once you complete your style quiz and request your first fix your stylist will pick out 5 items for you and send them to you. Stitch Fix charges a $20 styling fee, however this fee is taken off of any items that you purchase in your fix. Additionally, if you purchase all 5 items you will receive 25% off of your entire fix. Shipping and returns are always free without any hassles.
Signing Up For Stitch Fix
Signing up for Stitch Fix was extremely easy and straightforward. I opted to use my iPhone running Voice Over and Safari to complete the signup process. I was able to independently take the style quiz and set up all of my preferences including my payment method. I was pleasantly surprised that all of the outfit pictures had sufficient alternative text provided to allow for me to make an informed choice on my outfit preferences.
Unboxing the Stitch Fix
As a result of the Coronavirus I had to patiently wait for approximately 3 weeks for my fix to arrive. I was told that this is abnormal, however, and that fixes normally take approximately one week to be styled and shipped to customers.
My fix package contained 5 total items with three shirts, one maxi dress and one pair of jeans. I requested budget friendly items in my profile with the exception of dresses, which I am willing to pay a little bit more for good quality pieces. I found that all of the items were good quality and comparable to the price points that I am accustomed to paying at my local boutiques and online retailers.
My box also contained an invoice, personalized style note from my stylist (shout out to Nicole!) and style cards that provided ideas for styling the pieces that were sent. I was able to read the note from my stylist with the use of Envision AI without any difficulty, however the style cards were very difficult to read. Although I was not able to read the style cards the note that my stylist wrote had tips for styling in it as well.
The box also contained a very large plastic bag for returning any unwanted items with pre-paid postage. If you decide not to keep any items all you have to do is place them in the bag along with the invoice and send back via USPS. If needed you can even schedule a time for your postal carrier to pick up the package right from your doorstep and receive an email confirmation with a tracking number.
Checking Out
Stitch Fix gives you 3 days to try on the items and determine which items you would like to keep. If you need extra time all you have to do is reach out to their super friendly customer service team or select the option for more time in their app.
After trying on all of my items I decided to keep everything because I absolutely loved 4 of the 5 items and as a result of the 25% discount it was actually cheaper to keep all 5 items.
I opted to use the iOS Stitch Fix app to complete my check out process. I did not encounter any difficulty checking out on the Stitch Fix app. There were basic descriptions for each piece that was sent to me so it was easy to tell which item was which when providing feedback about each piece. When checking out I highly recommend leaving feedback for every single item including what you loved and did not love so that your stylist can get to know you.
The Bottom Line
Overall I found the Stitch Fix service to be very helpful. The items I received were in my opinion budget friendly and on point with my style. There are some minor accessibility difficulties with the iOS app including some unlabeled buttons with the new on-demand Shop Your Style feature, however I have sent in a bug report and I would imagine that these will get resolved as this feature evolves.
I was definitely skeptical before I decided to give Stitch Fix a try, but I decided to take the plunge because I was lucky enough to receive a $25 free credit (shout out to Michelle!) which made trying out the service completely risk-free. Now that I have had a taste of this wonderful and convenient service I find myself wishing I had tried it sooner. I have already scheduled my next fix to arrive in June and I can’t wait to see what my stylist selects for me.
If you would like to have an expert stylist take a crack at making you feel polished and put together, or comfy and cozy, use my referral link to snag your $25 credit today!
Have you given Stitch Fix a try? Let me know in the comments what you think of the service.