Fashion - Pocketful of Joules

My June Stitch Fix Review & the REAL Nitty Gritty

Before we get into the nitty gritty, if you are wondering “What the Heck is Stitch Fix” you should probably check out this post. If you’re feeling super stalkery and want to see ALL my Stitch Fix posts, you can find them here.

Speaking of stalkery… as I’ve been skulking around and checking out other blogger’s Stitch Fix posts, I’ve been seeing quite a bit of backlash. There have been many comments to the effect of “OMG, I’m so freaking sick of hearing bloggers talk about Stitch Fix!!!” and feedback that Stitch Fix is nothing but cheap “mom clothes” that are marked up 3x higher than they should be.

Um… wow.

So, I put a little question on my Facebook page to see if I was boring you all with my Stitch Fix posts and apparently you guys love it! So yay! However, in case there is some backlash hovering at the corners of my blog I wanted to cover WHY I bother with Stitch Fix and why I write about it.

Let’s take for example the distressed jeans I received in my last Fix. I love them and I’ve worn them a TON… feeling like a sexy little minx each time.

But let’s say I wasn’t doing Stitch Fix and I had an idea that I wanted a pair of “grown up” distressed skinny jeans. I would probably search online at my favorite stores (Loft, Gap, Banana Republic, etc) and possibly order a pair in a couple different sizes, only to find out that they don’t fit/look like crap/aren’t what I expected. So, I’d return them. Then, I’d make a trip to the mall and try on probably a dozen pairs of jeans in various stores… hoping that I find a pair that fit and look nice on me. I’d probably start beating myself up that nothing fit properly and give up in disgust, deciding that my body just wasn’t the “right shape” for skinny jeans.

This process – my old process – took up SO MUCH of my time. And money. And brain power.

So how does it work with Stitch Fix? I added a note to my comments that I’d like to try a pair of distressed skinny jeans and pinned a couple pairs to my Pinterest board. My stylist took my size, feedback and brands I like into consideration and mailed me a pair in my next box. They looked great and fit perfect, so I bought them. No extra thinking, driving or internet searching is needed. So yes, the $88 pair of jeans was worth it to me. Is it worth it to everyone? Of course not.

Now, have I loved everything that Stitch Fix has sent me? NO! There have been dresses that I’ve gotten stuck in, horrifying boobie zippers and the ugliest Aztec blanket sweater I’ve ever seen. And I’m honest about that and share my thoughts (and terrible pictures) with you. The reason why I stick around is that Stitch Fix has sent me some of the most worn items in my closet.

Also, just to set the record straight – I am NOT getting rich off my Stitch Fix reviews. It seems that some people think that bloggers are just SWIMMING in referral money. Well, maybe some of them are. But I’m not. After 8 months of Stitch Fix posts, including one that was syndicated on BlogHer with tons and tons of views, I have gotten THREE referrals. That is $75 towards my Stitch Fix purchases. So no, I’m not swimming in Stitch Fix money like Scrooge McDuck.

And I’m OKAY with that – I’m not writing these posts to earn money, I’m writing them because I think it’s fun (and funny) to do my silly little fashion shows and read your comments.

So, let’s get to it! For this month’s Fix, I told my stylist (Meagan) that I was going to BlogHer next month and would love some warmer weather clothes – like dresses with full skirts and fun print tank tops.

Here’s what I got:

Item #1: Cosette Crochet Detail Knit Shirt – $48
One of the brands that I’m obsessed with is Lucky Jeans, and this shirt totally reminds me of a Lucky shirt. Here’s the style card for the Stitch Fix suggested ways that you can wear it, which worked out great for me since I already own an almost identical skirt.

The detailing is super pretty close up, see:

I love this shirt. If I saw it in a store I’d immediately run over and grab it up on every size they had to make sure I found one that looks good on me. The fit is great and I could totally wear it with a pair of jeans or a work skirt.

Keep or return: Absolutely keep. I LOVE it!

Item #2: Adora Ankle Length Colored Skinny Jeans – $78
You know what; I never owned a pair of skinny jeans before Stitch Fix. I figured that they only looked good on super skinny people – but then I got my red pair and my distressed pair and I LOVE them. I actually think they’re super flattering on my curves, especially when they have a bit of stretch and don’t cause that dreaded muffin-top.

When I first tried this pair on I could barely get them buttoned. I had a huge (and salty) Chinese food meal for dinner and it just wasn’t working with the lack of stretch in the pants. I tried them again this morning and they went on a bit easier, but they’re still pretty darn tight. I’m wondering if these just need to be worn around for a couple hours to be comfortable though…

Any skinny jeans aficionados want to weigh in? I really love the color and they look really nice with one of my new tank tops (a Marshalls score).

Keep or return: I really need your feedback on this one… what do you think? Do I look too sausage-y? Do they tend to stretch out quickly? Has anyone seen any similar colored skinny jeans out and about?

Item #3: Karissa Chevron Print Henley Tank – $48
YAY, a tank top! I really wanted a couple tank tops to add to my collection, because the ones I have are super old and tend to be fitted (aka, I never wear them). When I pulled this top out of the box I was struck by how similar it looks to the Henley shirt I bought from Stitch Fix last month:

I love this tank top though because it is incredibly soft and fits just loose enough that I’m comfortable. I also I have hardly ANY tank tops that I wear and it gets really hot and humid in Maryland!

Keep or return: I’m feeling kind of torn on this one. What do you think, is it too similar to the t-shirt pattern?

Item #4: Bindy Fit and Flare Ponte Dress – $78
Oh holy hell. When I first put this dress on and realized I was HULKING out of it, I figured I’d hang it on a hanger for the picture and be done with it. But the hilariousness of me busting out of the dress was just too much and I had to share it with you all so you can laugh with me. This dress is horrible. It’s made out of a very thick fabric, which is terrible for summertime. It is also tight EVERYWHERE, except for the short skirt that looks like it was stolen from an ice skating costume.

Keep or return: Um, NOPE.

Item #5: Shana Sleeveless Embroidered Detail Dress – $74
Megan really knocked it out of the park with this dress (so I’ll forgive her for the blue monstrosity) – it’s got a fitted bodice, a cute t-back and a full skirt. LOVE IT! It’s perfect for a summer date night, BlogHer or even work (with a cardigan). Check out a close up of the embroidery, so sweet:

Keep or return: I’m 99% sure I’m going to buy this dress, unless someone sees a reason why I shouldn’t!

HELP ME!
So now it’s the fun part where you get to tell me what to do! My mind is totally made up on the black crochet top and I’m leaning towards buying the embroidered dress too. I’m totally torn on the tank top though – I could really use a tank top, but it is kind of a similar pattern to another shirt I own (which is admittedly a favorite). I’m also not sure about the mint-colored skinny jeans, do they tend to stretch? Pretty much the only definite NO is for that horrible blue dress. Please help me decide and leave your comments below!

6/13/14 Update: Okay, so after swooning over that black crochet top and swearing undying love to it, I packed it up and sent it back to Stitch Fix. Yeah, I was surprised too. But when I went to fix a random stray thread in the sleeve (you can see it in the picture), I realized that the fabric can snag SUPER easy. So, back it went. I ended up keeping the chevron tank top and the cute little black dress and I can’t wait to wear them. I did leave a note in my Stitch Fix account that I’m all stocked up on chevron and don’t need any more. Thank you all for your help!

Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored by Stitch Fix, I pay for the $20 styling fee and any clothing I purchase with my own hard-earned money. If you enjoyed my review and decide to try Stitch Fix for yourself, the biggest compliment you can give me is by using my referral link. Thank you to anyone who chooses to click through and support my shopping addiction!

Psssst…Do you love checking out what other people received in their Fixes? I added quick links to every single one of my reviews on my Stitch Fix Reviews page!

More True&Co Love

Okay guys, I just got my second order of bras from True&Co and I’m in LOOOOOOOVE. Like that gushy annoying kind of love where you want to just make googley eyes and shout about it from the rooftops.

If you remember from my first try, I liked the bras I was sent but nothing fit well enough to purchase. I returned them all (for free) and it was no big deal. I went on the website a week or so later to order my favorites in different sizes and then forgot about my order.

Well, the box arrived and HOLY guacamole… every single bra fit great. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.

And they’re sexy as hell.

Okay, maybe not the exercise bra… because its job is to keep the bounce under control and not bring the boys to my yard, but the rest of it. KA-POW and HOT DAMN come to mind.

Oh and I thought I should give you guys my tips for determining if a bra fits correctly. They’re not scientific or anything, but they totally work for me:

Step 1: Once the bra is on touch your toes, reach to the sky and then jump up and down. If nothing shuffles around and falls out, move on to step two.

Step 2: Check for scratchy pieces, armpit overflow and weirdly shaped boobies.

Step 3: Put a lightweight shirt on over the bra. Check to see if you can see bra lines, boobs popping out over the top of the cup or back fat. Do the same with a fitted summer tank top.

If the bra passes all those tests, it’s a winner in my book!

Let’s check out what I got in this month’s order:

Panache Sport Bra – $68
This is the same picture from my last post, because I ordered the exact same bra in a different size. When I first ordered this bra, I had read reviews saying that if you want the best fit you should go down in the band size and up in the cup size. Well, that didn’t work for me AT ALL and I could barely get the clasps closed. I reordered a larger band size (but kept the cup size the same, which was one size up) and it fits perfectly!

I tested it out in my house by wildly running from one room to another, jumping on the elliptical for a minute and then running around the house again. NOTHING MOVED! I especially love that there is a little snap on the back that converts the bra into a t-strap:

I find that this gives me better support and also looks darn cute. As an added bonus, my husband says that this exercise bra makes me look like a superhero… so that’s pretty cool. I’m absolutely buying this one!

Feathers Bra – $68
Here is one of those va-va-voom bras. I ordered it in my typical bra size that I wear in Wacoal and it fit well. The bust area is purple with matching netting over it and the band is lace all around. With all the lace, it’s still super comfortable. And SEXY. The color is also really flattering on my pale skin. The ONLY reason I decided not to buy this bra is that the front is very, very low cut for maximum cleavage. While this looks fantastic when I’m shirtless, it causes a bit of cleavage overflow that looks kind of odd when wearing a shirt.

Deco – $60
First off, I LOVE the color of this bra… the cobalt blue is gorgeous in person and the straps are so pretty! The first time I tried it on I was in love. However, when I tried it on again the next day (when I had more time to do my silly bra tests) I decided that it wasn’t fitting as perfectly as I’d like. There is a little bit too much padding in the cups for me and also there’s a bit of armpit spillover after jumping around a bit. The bra is beautiful, but not for me.

A Space Girl’s Dream Bra – $44
Here’s another picture repeat because this bra is also same as what I tried last time. I reordered the bra in the same cup size (one larger than my typical Wacoal sizing) and my normal band size. It fits PERFECTLY and I’m in love with it. I was pretty darn sure I was going to buy it, but there’s another contender in the running…

Pure Plus – $49
Is it weird to be in love with a bra? When I put this one on my boobies pretty much sighed. True&Co’s website suggested I try this in my normal band size, but go up a cup size and they were totally right. The color is Wild Orchid and it’s pretty enough that I’d be cool with a strap peeking out of my tank top. The fit is PERFECTION and it passes my tests with flying colors.

I went back and forth trying to decide whether to buy this one or the black bra and this one won out. The fit is fantastic and the color is pretty. It also got my husband’s vote… so I bought it and I LOVE it! It was super easy to save the information for the A Space Girl’s Dream Bra in my True&Co account in case I decide to buy it a few months down the road.

My updated thoughts on True&Co:
When I did my first post on True&Co I liked them, even though I ended up sending all five bras back. Now that I’ve gotten my second order I’m changing my opinion to LOVING them. I honestly think that everyone should try them out – it’s FREE to try, so why not?! I could do my bra tests and try the bras on under a couple different tops at home, instead of doing it at the store and hoping that they’ll work for me. I also had 5 days to make my decision before sending them back. Delivery and returns are FREE.

So I’m just going to say it: try them. DO IT NOW and you won’t regret it!!

Also, if you do decide to try them out they hooked us up with a discount code! If you use this link you can get $15 off your first purchase. There is no expiration date, so you can order your own box of free bras whenever you’d like to try them out. I do want to point out that I get credit if anyone uses my referral code, but much like any review I’ve done on this blog I NEVER give a company a positive review unless I think they actually deserve it!

Giveaway
As a thank you for tweeting a picture of my True&Co box (you can do it too!) they sent me a free pair of panties. It’s a pretty lace thong called “Best Thong Ever” in one size fits all (retail value: $16). I don’t do thongs, whether it’s the best one ever or not. So I’d be happy to give it away to a Pocketful of Joules reader!

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this blog post. I’ll pick a winner on Friday!

Would you try a box of bras at home instead of going to the mall? Do you have a funny test to determine if your bra is fitting properly? Do you have a company, service or product that you wish I’d review?

Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored by True&Co. They did not ask me to review their service or reward me for doing so. True&Co did give me a special referral link for my readers though and if you decide to use it for your purchase and save $15 off your order, I will receive a small referral reward. Here is my link. So thank you to anyone who chooses to click through and support my shopping addiction.

5/30 Update: And the winner of the free thong th thong thong thong is…. Anne Church! I’ll be emailing Annie directly so I can mail her prize out. Thank you to everyone who entered the contest!

Our Williamsburg Trip, Part 2: Old Cars & Busch Gardens

I had to divide this into a few pieces, because there was just too much FUN to stick in one post! If you missed, it you can read Part 1: The Timeshare here.

After we escaped our timeshare meeting, we grabbed some breakfast at one of the half-dozen pancake houses in the area. We ended up at the Capitol Pancake House and I can vouch that their pancakes and coffee were amazingly delicious!

Once we stuffed ourselves full of caffeine and carbs, we followed signs to a local car show. For just $5 we were able to check out a ton of gorgeously restored cars. Oh and you may recognize my outfit from last week’s Stitch Fix – I’m so glad I decided to go with the chevron top because it was the perfect shirt for a day of outside fun!

After browsing the pretty cars, we hopped down the road to go to Busch Gardens. We had visited Hershey Park in the Fall and thought that Busch Gardens would be a hit with Jack now that he was a bit older.

The park opened at 10:00 am and we ended up getting there around 11:00 or so. I have been to pretty much ALL of the amusement parks in the area and I have to say that Busch Gardens is one of the most well organized parks I’ve ever seen. The parking lots are super easy to navigate with shuttles picking you up and dropping you off at the park doors. As an added bonus, Jack thought the shuttle was a ride.

Since Jack is a HUGE fan of Elmo, our first stop was the Sesame Street Forest of Fun. Right when we got there, we saw that we could do a photo session with Elmo and Big Bird. Of course, Jack isn’t smiling but he was basically pulsating from the excitement of sitting on Elmo’s knee! Hmmm… maybe this can be this year’s Christmas card?

We rode a TON of rides and my husband even surprised Jack with a mini Elmo to add to his collection. Oh, and the reason Jack looks so freaked out is that he just saw a grown-up rollercoaster go by and thought we were going on it.

And here he is giving kisses to a caterpillar in the Sesame Street forest:

Over a span of about 6 hours we visited the ENTIRE park, from England to Germany to France and back. The weather was gorgeous and OH THE FOOD. We devoured lunch in Italy, dessert in France and snacks in Germany.

We also watched the Pet Shenanigans show, which Jack was GLUED TO the entire time.

Family CHEESE!

The only thing we missed out on was we really wanted to see the Sunny Days Celebration on Sesame Street, but we were stuck on the wrong side of the tracks while a train went by and missed it. I could see Elmo’s head bob into my line of sight every couple minutes if I jumped as high as I could (which is basically 3 inches), but that was about it.

We had SO MUCH fun though and Jack didn’t even have a meltdown from skipping his afternoon nap. It honestly could not have been a better day and I’d go back in a heartbeat!

We even had some energy left over and decided to walk around Colonial Williamsburg after the park. After cruising around and visiting a few stores, my world was rocked by a colonial drumline. Unfortunately, they weren’t QUITE as awesome as the real* Drumline… but they were still pretty cool. To be honest though, if they played each other’s drums I may have fainted from happiness (the ‘oh no they DIDN’T’ part is at 3:17).

Are you an amusement park lover? If so which one is your favorite? Are you one of the 5 fans out there of Drumline?

Disclaimer: This post is not a sponsored post. All thoughts and comments are my own. However, I would like to say a big THANK YOU to the people at Busch Gardens for providing us with free park tickets.

* The first time Travis and I ever watched a movie together, it was Drumline on TV, so it holds a special place in my heart. Also, it is awesome.