Love Yourself with Stitch Fix + Giveaway Winner

Everyone has their issues. One of mine is the guilt associated with shopping for…anything for myself. Especially if it is nice or what I consider expensive. I know many women feel the same way. While this isn’t groundbreaking or a life-threatening issue, it is the topic for today’s Stitch Fix post. 

I grew up with not a whole lot of money. My parents divorced when I was young and as most of those situations go, both parents are left with a little less money and maybe more stress living in separate households. This is not a sob story, although you may disagree in a moment, more like a background of how I grew up thinking about shopping for clothes.

Most of what us kids wore were hand-me-downs from family friends, so when there was an opportunity to buy clothes at a store, it was a pretty big deal. So much so that some of these specific shopping trips stick out in my mind. I got a new outfit and backpack for kindergarten. I’m pretty sure it included stirrup pants. I remember being at Kohl’s once and I really wanted this t-shirt that said “Chicks Rule.” I somehow ended up talking my mom into buying it and I probably wore it once a week for a couple of years. 

Another memorable moment came about in junior high. A girl who rode the bus with me (and who as I look back was my bully on the bus–thankfully I didn’t really realize it at the time) pointed out my pants that were “flooding.” This must have been the one growth spurt I ever had (I’m 5’2″ on a good day), so my pants had gotten a little short. I remember being shocked anyone cared what my pants looked like. The next couple of weeks I spent tugging at my pants every time I sat down so they wouldn’t look so short. It was embarrassing. All of a sudden, I felt like everyone was looking at me and my short pants.

After much internal debate, I decided to ask my dad if he could buy me some new jeans. As these divorce situations go, he was already paying child support and was probably hurting a little bit financially. I could tell he really didn’t have the money, but we went shopping anyways. I felt a little better with pants that fit, but oh so guilty! Did I really need new pants? Should I have asked mom? Why did I have to be so selfish??

From that point on, I bought clothes with money from my savings account to avoid ever having to ask for clothes again. There was an internal battle every time I withdrew the money. A debate as to whether I needed these new clothes or not. I would still withdraw the money and feel so guilty for not saving this money for college. I slowly drained my life savings..especially in high school until I got a job (and spent all my money on clothes and other important teenage girl things). Again I felt guilty for not saving the money from my job (although it was hard because once I got a job that meant I had to pay for everything myself). Even though I spent all that money, it was always on inexpensive items and almost never at a mall or brand name store. Those more expensive stores would send the guilt waves off the charts!

(Okay this does sound like a sob story, but I’m sure a lot of gals out there can relate!)

I must point out that my parents really did the best they could. I mean I didn’t realize anything was wrong with my clothes for a good 14 years. I cannot blame them for the way I felt or for how brutal other kids can be. I always always felt loved and that is what matters when you are growing up!

Fast forward to today. I have a job (or three) and live with a guy who has a pretty nice job (and just got a raise because he is amazing at what he does!). The money is there, but I still feel guilty every time I buy anything for myself. I think I always feel like I don’t deserve it or as if I never have the money to spend on myself. Which is silly because I budget for it.

The thing is, everyone deserves to spend at least a little money on themselves without feeling guilty. Period. Lots of money or little money. You can always save up for things you want to buy. (Put 10 or 25 dollars into a fund each month and soon you will have enough for a little shopping spree!)

With the Love Challenge I started this month (you can still join in! the second giveaway is already happening!), one way I can love me is to cut myself some slack and stop feeling guilty every time I buy something. (I might still be feeling bad I forgot my jeans over Christmas break in Nebraska and had to go to Target to buy a couple of pairs..seriously I need to shake the guilt.)

Like I said at the beginning of the post, everyone has their issues. Some have the issue that they spend way too much money and need to scale back. Some don’t feel they can justify spending money on themselves. But guess what? I found a cool program that can help with both issues! 

It’s called Stitch Fix.

I’ve seen a lot of my blogger friends try this out, and I finally took the plunge and treated myself!

I also decided to test out my new tripod as well as the self-timer on my camera. It was quite fun doing this while Dave rolled his eyes and played video games. I will have to get better at getting my feet in the picture if I ever get shoes in my Stitch Fix though…

What is Stitch Fix?

A personalized styling service. You fill out a load of prefernces, sizes, answer questions and even add a link from your style pinterest board if you wish, then a stylist picks out 5 items to send you in the mail. (Check out the website for more details.)

Here is what came in my Stitch Fix box:

• A note typed out specifically for me. I thought it was just a generic one until I actually read it! My Stitch Fix stylist (talk about feeling fancy…I have a stylist!) talked about how to layer the dress because it’s cold where I live and how the jeans she sent should be great for my curves (more on that in a minute). 
• A card showing how to wear the item, showing different examples of clothing, shoes and accessories to wear it with.
• A pair of jeans that didn’t quite fit. To my stylists’ credit…jeans are tricky!
• A tank top.

 

• A dress.

 

• A 3/4 length sweater.

• A tabsleeve blouse.

 

You can pin these photos to see the brand names, etc since they are in the photo description. Yep, I am that lazy I don’t want to type it out again. Or do I just want you to pin all my photos?

What I Like About Stitch Fix:

• I have a personal stylist. So fancy!
• The “styling fee” is only paid if you don’t keep any of the items. I have a hunch that the stylists truly want you to keep all of the items. If not evidenced by the personal note and selection of items, then from the fact that you get 25% off when you keep all of the items.
• 25% off if you keep all of the items!! They include that bill and it makes it a little hard to send items back. Thankfully my jeans didn’t fit so I had to send at least those back!
• The detail of the questions in your style profile. From linking your My Style Pinterest board to the way your jeans fit to how revealing you want to be in 5 different areas of the body to letting you rank pictures of clothing…they can figure out your style pretty well. Even aside from the questions there are plenty of areas to type out concerns and preferences.
• You get $25 for every referral! So if you’re interested, click on this Stitch Fix referral link (or any of the other zillion in the post). You don’t have to be a blogger or anything, everyone gets this benefit!

 

What I Dislike About Stitch Fix:

• You don’t really know how much your fix will cost until you get it. I selected “cheaper is better” in all categories and still got items that were over $50 whereas my understanding was that “cheaper is better” would be below the next option which is $50-$100.
• All of the clothes I kept came with special washing/drying instructions. Pretty much all of the clothes I’ve previously owned have been washer/dryer friendly, but these are some quality fabrics. I actually accidentally dried the tank and it doesn’t look bad though.

So how can it help with over spenders and guilty spenders?

For over-spenders:

• You can set your monthly (or quarterly..however you do it) budget depending on how much you want to spend on each piece.
• Link a pinterest board entitled My Style (or something else equally awesome) to your Stitch Fix account (there is a spot for it on the  Stitch Fix site). Every time you want to shop, hit up Pinterest. Pin things you think are pretty and would purchase so that your personal stylist can pick out items you would be interested in.

 For guilty spenders:

• Part of this you will have to do internally: allow yourself some pretty clothes.
• Remind yourself you are only doing this once every month/season so it’s okay to have some new clothes!
• You can budget for this since you know how much and how often you will be buying new clothes. Budgeting can help with the guilt factor since the money will already be there!
• If you’re going to “splurge,” Stitch Fix is definitely the way to go!

 

Oh and I almost forgot to announce the winner of one box of delicious snacks from Naturebox!!

I have actually met this Minnesota gal…it’s Katie from Katie Looking Forward!! Send me an e-mail girl!

 

 

 

 

Tell me….

Have you ever tried Stich Fix?

Which type of spender to you tend to be? Big spender or guilty spender..or both? 

 

Linking up to:

Treat Yourself Tuesday with Becky at Olives n Wine

Thinking Out Loud with Amanda at Running with Spoons

 

PS I’m all about Pinterest this year, so I would LOVE IT if you could pin one (or two!) of these images. Just hover over the image to reveal the “pin it” button or use the handy dandy buttons at the bottom and top of each post to display the whole list of pins.

Also follow me so I can check out YOUR Pinterest account! 🙂
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Full disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post because I am a fan of Stitch Fix and would love to get a discount on my subscription! (You can get your own link once you sign up..you don’t have to be a blogger either!) All opinions are 110% my own as usual.