We Tried 3 Subscription Boxes For Buying New Clothes

For many professional women, getting dressed for the office can feel like a job unto itself. Though one might prefer a pair of frayed jeans to a formfitting pencil skirt, the former might not be considered appropriate for most workplaces—and so we find ourselves needing to upkeep two separate wardrobes. (This is despite reports that, across industries, the American office is skewing toward more casual dress.) In recent years, a slew of new personalized box shopping services have come in to help their customers navigate all the different categories of workwear—business formal, business professional, business casual, and so on. Despite being easily grouped together because of their comparable missions to take the work out of finding workwear, each of these company tackles this very issue in a distinct way—and to varying degrees of success.

The MM.LaFleur Bento Box, for instance, is all about its mix-and-match work clothes; Stitch Fix, meanwhile, pairs its customers with a stylist who selects a curated selection of items depending on how much a shopper wants to spend; Le Tote, then, allows shoppers to rent clothing and accessories on a rotating basis for a single monthly fee.

There’s big business in this model, for this specific market. StitchFix, Inc., which filed for an IPO last year, reported almost $1 billion in sales in 2017, according to Forbes; during the 2016 fiscal year, it made $730 million in revenue, per The New York Times. MM.LaFleur, meanwhile, was expected to rake in $70 million in 2017, according to Inc.

But how well do these women’s clothing subscription boxes really stack up in terms of fulfilling our workwear needs, really? Is the way we shop for fashion a thing of the past? Will these services become the new normal for personal style? There’s only one way to find out: I put these three very different options to the test and laid out the pros and cons of each service. Hopefully, it’ll help you decide which one (if any) is right for you.

MM.LaFleur Bento Box

I have been hearing nonstop from friends in corporate jobs about MM.LaFleur and its Bento Box, which, while explicitly marketed as “not a subscription service,” operates by following a similar format, sending a shopper a curated selection of pieces from its inventory (which can be purchased at any time individually) to try on at home and charging them only for the pieces they keep. It was described to me as being the saving grace for working women—so, naturally, I was excited to see its clothes up close and in person.

First, to get your personalized Bento Box, which consists of an assortment of work staples, you have to answer a few questions, including some about your office dress code. After a handful of clicks, I was done, and my Bento Box was in the works. It arrived at my doorstep just a few days later.

Like many folks out there (my friends working corporate gigs included), I know how difficult it can be to shop for clothes that are “professional” in a traditional sense, especially as fashion trends have skewed toward the more casual. So I was pleased to find options in my Bento Box that made me say to myself, “Finally!” My shipment included a scarf (a must-have for anyone who works a desk job in an office with aggressive air conditioning in the summer), two dresses, a black-and-white skirt, a black top, and a knit jacket. Though I pretty much liked everything in my Bento Box, there were two clear standouts for me: the Taylor sheath dress in green (which retails for $265) and the Woolf knit jacket (priced at $195). All of MM.LaFleur’s pieces come in a range of sizes, from petite to plus. (The full range is from 0 to 22.)

After deciding what I wanted to keep and what I didn’t (each Bento Box comes with between four to six items), I put my returns in a prepaid envelope to send back to MM.LaFleur HQ. Easy.

Price: Prices for each of the items in any given Bento Box range from $110 for a top to $325 for a dress. You have four days to return the pieces you don’t want to keep, and shipping is free both ways. It’s not exactly a “subscription box,” since you order each Bento Box individually, but there’s still a fee attached to each shipment.

Pros: For women who are in need of proper business attire but are short on time, this is, by far, one of the best options around. There’s a lot to love about their offerings, which reflect an impressive amount of market research on the part of the brand’s design team. Plus, it’s a service that really gets the style demands of working professionals. I liked that my Bento Box included items I never would’ve thought to buy on my own (such as the knit jacket that ended up being one of my favorites) but loved as soon as I tried them on. The inclusive size range is also a point in MM.LaFleur’s favor.

Cons: The clothes aren’t cheap by any means—if anything, I would classify them as entry-level investment pieces. You probably won’t be able to afford to buy the whole box in one shot, unless you like to shop for a whole season rather than by trend.

TL;DR: In need of traditionally-professional attire in a pinch? Try MM.LaFleur.

Stitch Fix

Stitch Fix opens with another fun quiz, which homes in on my style likes and dislikes. It took a few weeks after I registered for my box to arrive, which to me felt like a pretty long time (ah, what has the prospect of same-day drone delivery done to us?).

Out of these three services, Stitch Fix has what can be described as a cult following, according to the deep rabbit hole of reviews I went down while researching the company. Its customers have taken to showing off their hauls—or “fixes”—on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. When my box arrived, I could sense a definite boho theme. But the stylist assigned to me clearly listened to the notes sent with my quiz, as my favorite style of jeans, a pair of high-rise distressed jeans that retail for $98, were in my delivery. Another favorite from this shipment was a dress by the label Misa Los Angeles, priced at $224, which I envisioned wearing with everything from boots to sandals immediately. To be frank, I didn’t love everything that came in my Stitch Fix box, but none of the pieces was terrible by any means.

Stitch Fix comes out to $20 a box (a “styling fee,” as the company calls it), and though they’re sent out monthly, shoppers don’t have to order one each time. Users specify preferences for everything from size and budget to lifestyle.

Price: Like I mentioned, Stitch Fix charges $20 for a curated box, the price of which gets deducted from what you ultimately decide to keep. Within each shipment, prices vary; in my delivery, pieces ranged from $28 (for a necklace) to $224 (for a dress). Luckily, customers can select their preferred budget level for the box before ordering—that way, shoppers can also decide how often they’d like to receive their “fix.”

Pros: Consider Stitch Fix the friend you cautiously text for approval every time you want to buy something: There were a lot of fun things in this delivery that I don’t think I ever would’ve found on my own, so I appreciated the nudge in the right direction. The price range for my edit of pieces was also solid, with everything under $250. Plus, sizes go up to a 24. Another nice bonus: If you like the way you work with a specific stylist on a few “fixes,” you can have that person be your go-to for all future boxes.

Cons: This is pretty standard for subscription boxes, but annoying nonetheless: Even if you don’t like anything that your Stitch Fix stylist picks out for you, you’re still on the hook for that $20 styling fee. Overall, I thought the clothes in my shipment were better suited for weekend wear than for a 9-to-5—though, if you work in a casual environment, that’s probably not an issue. And, again, don’t expect instant gratification: My box took a few weeks to be delivered.

TL;DR: If you’re looking to dip your toes in the women’s clothing subscription box pool, start with StitchFix, since it’s so customizable at a relatively low cost.

Le Tote

For a monthly fee, Le Tote rents customers everyday clothes from brands like BCBG, Free People, and Plenty by Tracy Reese. You get a few items at a time, which can then be traded in for new pieces whenever you’re done with them. In 2015 the company announced it would launch a version of its box specifically for maternity wear. Most recently it collaborated with Olivia Culpo on a capsule.

A few days before my box was slated to arrive, I got a text from Le Tote asking me to put items into an online bag. I got on right away, adding a Vince Camuto off-the-shoulder dress (very of-the-moment) to my edit, along with a few other picks. To my surprise, though, when I actually received my shipment a few days later, none of my selections was in it. Instead, I got a simple black cotton skirt, a teal T-shirt, a white and black button-down (in an extra small when I’m more of a large), and a lightweight knit sweater—which, honestly, was the only thing in the Le Tote that I would wear.

Price: Monthly memberships at Le Tote start at $69 a box, with members allowed to keep a rotating selection of two clothing items and one piece of jewelry at a time—previously, they started at was $39, so when I tried it, I picked a mid-tier $59 option, which delivered four pieces as part of my shipment.

Pros: Seeing as I spend about that much on coffee each month, Le Tote’s monthly fee feels pretty affordable. Plus, I love the eco-friendly aspect of its business model, of the idea of sharing clothing. The box comes in a prepaid envelope, and returning items is a very easy process.

Cons: For someone who loves to shop as much as I do, the idea of spending a set amount of money every month to be granted access to what was, essentially, a huge rotating closet sounded pretty great—so I really wanted to love this service. But, despite the enticing price point, I didn’t want to wear most of what came in my Le Tote. I felt like I would be better off just buying one item a month at Zara for the price of the monthly fee. After stalking online reviews for the service, though, I found out that many people feel more satisfied with their deliveries as time goes on and Le Tote better learns their taste. But that first impression, though, wasn’t too memorable for me.

TL;DR: It may take a while, but give Le Tote a chance for a subscription box that feels in line with what you already own and like to wear.

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