Retail Therapy {Stitch Fix}

***Warning! The following post includes a shameless plug to hopefully help me look more fashionable during the fall and winter seasons. I will do my best to make posts such as these rare!***

Retail therapy. Admit it, you're guilty of it too! I've recently discovered that when I'm particularly stressed or upset, my American tendency to stifle my emotions with more stuff certainly comes on strong. I once bought new shoes because the kids were misbehaving and Darling was in another state. Another time, I bought a FitBit because I felt like I was starting to look old and fat...and Darling was on duty. Darling bought a car because our baby was in the hospital and he was playing the role of Stay At Home Dad while I was away at the hospital. (Clearly we can't afford to be apart too often!)

My most recent "therapeutic expense" took place while Darling was on duty (*ahem*) and I was in an emotional slump brought on by the anniversary of when our baby had briefly come home. I was feeling the itch to shop, but all of my typical shopping websites (online shopping is my preferred method of retail therapy -- that way I can stay in my jammies if I feel like it) weren't giving up the goods I was looking for. Somehow, in typical internet fashion, I ended up nowhere near shopping sites and instead was reading my dear friend's blog. This friend always has something encouraging and inspiring to say, so her words were soothing my soul...and then I clicked my way through to a veeeery interesting post that I wasn't expecting. It was a post that introduced me to a new way to shop! (*squeal!*)

Stitch Fix is a way for us non-Hollywood types to get the benefits of having our clothes and accessories picked out for us by a fashion-savvy stylist. You start out by filling out a questionnaire about yourself and your tastes, put in your payment information for a $20 styling fee, and schedule when you want your "fix" (a delightful package of 5 hand-picked items from your stylist) to arrive. You also have the option to set up recurring fixes if you choose, but there's no subscription required  or anything to cancel if you don't. Once your fix arrives, you have 3 days to try on the items and decide what you to keep and what to send back. The $20 styling fee gets deducted from your purchase total, but you lose it if you don't keep anything. If you keep all 5 items, you get a lovely 25% discount on the total price. If there's anything you don't want, you just put it into the included return packaging and plop it into the mail within those 3 days.

Of course, all that sounded absolutely fantastic to my sad, shopping-hungry self, so I nervously signed up for my first fix. I'd heard a lot of good things about it, so I was pretty confident I wouldn't lose my $20 styling fee. I was more afraid of liking too many things and spending far too much. And that's exactly what I did. My fix included two dresses (one a lacy/floral one and the other a casual stretchy one that I have no idea how to describe), a maxi skirt, a handbag, and a white flowy sleeveless top. The prices for the items ranged from $38 to $74, and of course my top 3 favorites were the most expensive items in the box. It actually worked out where it was less expensive to get all 5 things than just my 4 favorites (thanks to that 25% discount), and choosing only my top 3 favorites would have only been slightly less than that. So thank you, math, for justifying my summer wardrobe additions!

I'm really happy with my purchase, even though it's not something I can afford to do every month or two. Since my stylist did such a great job, I did set up my next fix later on this year to hopefully bring my fall/winter wardrobe up to date a bit. If you use my Stitch Fix referral link and sign up for your first retail therapy fix, I will get a $25 credit to use toward future purchases. Once you've signed up, you'll get your own referral link to share with your friends!