Fashion help for a real woman, age 50

I had a wonderful birthday last week!  Here's my 50-year-old self:



One special part of my day was  gift I gave myself.  I enrolled in Stitch Fix.  Stitch Fix is a personal styling service, which is

a. something I can really use, and
b. not something I ever dreamed I'd be able to have.

"Personal styling service" sounds like something reserved for the rich and famous, doesn't it?

But Stitch Fix is for very ordinary people, even (or especially) if they happen to be 50 years old.

Enrolling in Stitch Fix is both simple and challenging.  Simple because they do a good job of making the process so simple.  Challenging because they ask you to think about what you really like--but they don't require that you do it all by yourself.  They help you articulate your style preferences with very direct questions and with pictures of clothing and accessories you might or might not like.   Honestly, just the process of enrolling was interesting and helpful (and completely free)!

Then for the fun.  For a $20 styling fee which can be applied to your purchase, you can have a "fix" delivered to your doorstep.  You don't ever get charged a styling fee unless you actually schedule a delivery.  You get to choose when and how often you want a delivery--you can become a subscriber and get regular deliveries or you can choose to get a delivery only specified date or dates.  There's no pressure to choose anything other than what works for you.  I asked that my first fix be delivered on my birthday, and it arrived promptly on September 5.  Yes!

So why does it cost $20?  Because a real, live stylist uses the information you provide and selects five items specifically for you along with notes about how to wear them.  Then a real, live person packages those five items beautifully and ships them to your door, along with a postage-paid envelope for you to send back anything you don't want.  I'm amazed that they do all this for $20.

Here's what my package looked like.  It was such a pleasure to open!



What fun I had trying on the goodies inside!  Jack loved this striped tank, which I paired with skinny jeans.  See the long tail?  So comfortable!  I wore this for a casual dinner party on Saturday night.



I liked this emerald green top, but it was a bit too loose for comfort, so I sent it back.  The stylist thought it would be good with my green eyes, though, and I think she was right about that.



I liked this black top, although I didn't feel that it did much for me.  I paired it with houndstooth slim pants when I tried it on.



This dress I loved.  It's cool and comfortable but features fallish colors.  Great for September days in North Carolina.  I wore this for a luncheon on Friday and then again to church on Sunday morning.  The second time I wore it I switched to a chunky silver necklace and higher wedge sandals.  Got lots of compliments both times.



And here's what I thought was the best part of the Stitch Fix experience.  Each piece of clothing came with a tag like these:



The tags include suggestions of what to wear with each piece of Stitch Fix clothing--things that you might very well already have in your closet.  This is exactly the kind of help I need.

I'll admit that there's one part about which I was a little skeptical.  I knew the clothes they sent me would be cute, and I figured they would be nice quality.  But what about the price?  Frankly, I was afraid that the pieces would be much more than I'd be willing to pay.  I was pleasantly surprised here!

I kept two of the items from my Stitch Fix box--the sleeveless striped top and the dress.  Those two items cost $86.00 and the $20.00 styling fee was applied to my purchase.  So I got two pieces of clothing I really like for $66.00.  I've already worn both pieces twice, and I've gotten lots of compliments on both!

Here's another other cool thing.  If I had chosen to keep all five pieces, I would have received a 25% discount off everything in the box.  So I could have kept all five pieces for a total of $157.00.  I'm sure the prices of items vary greatly from box to box, of course.  But my fears that the prices would be sky-high were unfounded.   In fact, my style profile allowed me to state how much I prefer to spend on various pieces of clothing.

So can a real woman, age 50, be stylish?  With a little help from Stitch Fix, I think the answer is yes!  What do you think?

Full disclosure here.  This is not a sponsored post.  I'm just a satisfied customer glad for the chance to share my experience.  If you're interested in Stitch Fix and sign up with my referral code, I'll get a merchandise credit, which would be wonderful.  But I'd recommend that you try the service even if I didn't get anything for it--it's lots of fun!

For the first time ever, I'm joining What I Wore Wednesday at The Pleated Poppy.