Thursday, June 18, 2015

New Threads

As I've mentioned before, shopping is not something I enjoy at all.  I enjoy having new things and feeling well put together but I do not enjoy the process of shopping.  Luckily in May I was able to expand my wardrobe a bit by utilizing two different services:  Keaton Row and Cabi.  I'll explain how they both work below and show you what I ended up purchasing!

KEATON ROW

A friend of mine at work read an article about Keaton Row and told me about it as she knows how much I dislike shopping.  I was intrigued by the concept so decided to give it a try.  The way it works is that you fill out a profile online about your likes/dislikes/etc and then you are paired with a stylist. The stylist then puts an online "look book" together for you, free of charge.  If you like the items, you click on the hyperlink and buy the item. There is no cost to me for this service because the retailers pay the stylist commission if you purchase an item through the look book.  When I requested my look book, I asked for dresses that would be appropriate for weddings and/or work, as well some other summery work outfits.  I ended up buying two dresses, both of which I am really happy with!

The first dress is the dress I wore to a wedding I went to with Phil.  I really loved how the dress fit.  I do wish it had pockets, though!


When I shared this photo last week, Suki asked to see what the rest of the dress looked like, so here is a picture from Bloomingdale's website.  The dress was on sale when I bought it so the price was very reasonable!


The second dress is a dress that I will be able to wear to work (excuse the horrible photo quality.  I suck at selfies!). 


It's very comfortable and is something I can probably dress up with jewelry for a wedding or special event.  It has a 'wrap' neckline but there is a button in that area that keeps it from 'unwrapping' if that makes any sense?   This dress also came from Bloomingdale's and was on sale when I purchased it.

Overall thoughts:  I consider this a more flexible, no-upfront-cost alternative to Stitch Fix.  I am an extremely picky person so I liked being able to look through the look book and purchase what I liked.  I also like that you are assigned one stylist and can have back and forth dialogue with her about what you liked/disliked.  I will probably request another look book when we move into the fall season. 

CABI

Next up, I attended a Cabi paty that a coworker hosted in her home.   Cabi is an online clothing company with consultants that host in-home parties so you can see the clothes in person.  Each season, Cabi releases a collection and the pieces tend to coordinate well with each other and they also tend to coordinate with past collections.  I ended up buying 4 pieces at this party that are a bit more on the casual side but still mostly work appropriate.

First off, I purchased some navy, fitted pants and an asymmetrical striped top (still obsessed with stripes).  The top is something I can wear on Friday at work and is something I know I will also wear on the weekend, and the pants are something I will likely wear every week because they go with a lot of tops in my closet! 


The other two items I purchased were a fitted lace t-shirt and pink jeans.  The fitted lace t-shirt is something I can wear under a cardigan or blazer at work, or I can wear it on it's own outside of work.  The pink jeans were just too fun to pass up (still obsessed with colored pants!).  I could probably get away with wearing the pink jeans on a Friday at work but I'll probably end up wearing them more on the weekend.

Overall thoughts: I liked the ease of the shopping experience as the host had wracks with all of the different looks for the season and at the beginning of the show, the consultant explained how the different pieces coordinated with one another.  The 4 pieces I purchased could probably all go together which is something I really liked about the Cabi line.  The clothing is certainly not inexpensive but I feel like these are pieces I'll wear many times so the cost per piece was justifiable. I also like that I can wear all of these pieces outside of the office in more casual settings.

Between moving and adding 6 pieces of clothing to my wardrobe, my wallet needs a little break but I am planning to request another look book in August so I can add some fall pieces to my wardrobe!

What are your thoughts on shopping?  Have you tried any personal styling services?  I used to do Stitch Fix but was disappointed as my last couple of boxes were disappointing and I felt the stylists disregarded my feedback. 

18 comments:

Caroline said...

Just signed up for Keaton Row because of your post haha :) I've been saying for months I need a personal shopper, so I'm excited to try this out! I really feel like my style has been in a rut for the last couple of years. I tend to buy the same things and constantly feel like I don't have anything to wear.

missris said...

I love the pink jeans! I have two pairs of colored jeans that I wear all the time so I am definitely not over that trend :) All your new threads are super cute!

Charis Faith said...

Love all the new pieces!!! I know how much you dislike shopping and I'm so glad that you found workable workarounds!!! I wondered about your stitch fix when you were talking about keaton row, I think it's a better idea than stitch fix, in my opinion. I just ordered a few items from ON online, I had a coupon. I got a new skirt, 2 new maxis and a jean jacket for $60, I was super excited!!! I love them all!!! My dresses that have posted pictures of from Tuesday and Wednesday I found on the clearance rack at Dillards, I got them both for absolute steals!!! I love a good deal!

Marlys said...

I love your new clothes - especially the pink pants & white top! They all look great, though.
I should look into that because I, too, detest shopping for clothes!

Jeanie said...

I really don't like clothes shopping either, although sometimes, if I'm in the mood and passing through a store I'll see something and decide to try on and it's OK because it's my choice. I fear I would be returning everything for size (my catalog shopping experience!). And the good thing about being retired is that my wardrobe needs have become minimal unless there is a special occasion. So, that's good!

That said, I would certainly give a service like that a try, especially if I was still working. I love the things you found and I like the idea of a stylist to help.

Nora said...

Shopping is not my favorite thing to do anymore; it used to be, but lately it's kind of boring and a bit of a struggle/hassle as it seems that the rest of the world is my size, too. Love the pieces you picked. I don't know that I can pull off colored jeans but I certainly would like to try. If you wind up doing another lookbook and getting a few other pieces, let us know! Love seeing what people buy :)

Stephany said...

Ugh, hate shopping so much. It is not one of my favorite things to do. I like finding good clothes that make me feel good, but the process (and expense) is not my favorite.

I love the idea behind Keaton Row! And I love the two dresses you selected. I just have such a hard time spending a ton of money on clothes. I mostly bargain shop because it's hard for me to justify spending more than $40 for a dress or $25 for a top, ha.

Nilsa @ SoMi Speaks said...

Cute additions to your closet. With Cabi, what was the average cost per item? (Just curious.) And, with Keaton Row, can you request a price range in your profile? I totally feel your Stitch Fix blues. I actually stopped making specific requests and stopped posting to Pinterest. This last box that I got was much better than before. I think, for me, it all has to do with expectations - the fewer specific requests I make and the more I let the stylist think outside the box, the more surprised I am with the results. We'll see if that happens again - I have another box arriving next week. =)

Amber said...

We don't really have many options for personal styling services in Canada but both of these sound awesome, I should see if they have them up here! I love all the pieces you picked, especially the wrap dress, it looks super cute!!

I actually have gotten really into thrift store shopping over the last 6 months or so and the last new piece of clothing I purchased was that blue dress for the gala I attended! I have found some AMAZING almost new pieces for incredibly cheap at Value Village. I think someone like you who hates shopping would NOT enjoy thrifting as much though because you do have to spend lots of time looking, I always try to have at least 1 - 1.5 hours when I go there. Maybe we'll give it a try when you visit :)

Jenny said...

Those services sound really cool and I like all the stuff you got especially the striped top. Unfortunately I don't think we have any services like that here :(

Leigh said...

You found some awesome pieces! I'm struggling lately with buying clothes as they have to be breast feeding friendly, which isn't the easiest. Plus, I don't have many reasons to dress up anymore :)

Lauren @ Sassy Molassy said...

I haven't heard of either of those companies but I like the idea of Keaton row and the dresses are really cute on you! I'm sort of ready to just dump all my old clothes and start from scratch and make a capsule wardrobe. In my dreams... ;)

suki said...

Love the idea. I use clothing rental because I know the styles will change, and I am also not particularly attached to clothing. It's $60/month, which is not cheap, but keeps things fresh. Thanks for posting the dress photo! Love it! :)

Shoshanah said...

Keaton row sounds like it would be far more my style, mainly because it's free. But since I always tend to buy the same things over an over it could be a good way for me to branch out.

Becky said...

Oooh LOVE these!!!

Lisa-Marie said...

You look great in every single outfit. Excellent choices.

I don't mind shopping if it's non-specific - I often pick up dresses randomly as I were them pretty much every day. I would definitely use a service to get something for a specific occasion though.

Lisa-Marie said...

You look great in every single outfit. Excellent choices.

I don't mind shopping if it's non-specific - I often pick up dresses randomly as I were them pretty much every day. I would definitely use a service to get something for a specific occasion though.

Lisa-Marie said...

You look great in every single outfit. Excellent choices.

I don't mind shopping if it's non-specific - I often pick up dresses randomly as I were them pretty much every day. I would definitely use a service to get something for a specific occasion though.