I am a busy mom with 2 kids. Well I signed up my 10 year old and myself. My daughter's first box was a win! There was one piece that was way off the mark, but we provided feedback and thought it would get better from there. Her second box came and it was a complete miss. Not her style or prefered colors at all. They even sent a coat that was very similar that the piece we hated in the first box! The jeans sent were a bit small, but I couldn't exchange them as they were already sold out of the larger sizes!

Then there was me. My first box was a fail. There was one lovely sweater. The rest I returned. The shorts they sent were way overpriced! They were charging $50 for them. Doing an internet search of the brand found them for $13 through an online dept store! So I kept the one sweater, returned everything else and went and bought 2 pair of the shorts in different denim washes at the other store.

I also have a hormonal imbalance. Fabrics that don't breathe (like polyester) trigger me to overheat. I provided that feedback again - that I wasn't kidding about needing more natural fabrics and that 2 tops were getting returned precisely because they were triggering me to overheat. I provided specific feedback on all items.

Then I set out to "win" at stitchfix. I went online daily to do their style swipe, I completed my style board and I went through their entire site and tagged items that I would wear and had lower/no polyester (some blends with a little are okay for me). I figured it would be a no Brainerd to send me stuff.

My next fix was available to preview. I went online and took a loom. It included 2 pieces that were the same sweater that I had purchased from my last fix in different colors. Since I wanted to expand my wardrobe I vetoed them. The rest were just misses. I kept the on pair of jeans recommended and scrapped the rest. I then gave very pointed feedback, explaining that I had gone through their site with a fine tooth comb. Tagged EVERYThING that I liked and met my material specifications. Literally linked two items (a bright paisley top and orange trendy pants) for them to include and then said that wouldn't go wrong with sending me any other items I had favorited from their site. Most of the clothes I tagged were actually the more expensive items.

Then my fix arrived. Not only did it not include anything I requested, it was so off the mark with the style and color palette (drab neutrals) that even my 10 year old was like, "Mom, this one is even worse than before!" The note included was comical (the styles went on about her past fashion fails and asking about mine). Then she said, "It looks like you had some specific items you wanted. Unfortunately I don't see them in your fix today." So the stylist have zero ability to tailor your fix or override the computer algorithm the company uses. So even through they can see that I want x, y, or z, it doesn't matter. Whatever the computer decides is what's getting sent.

She then went on, "I went on a search to find you more natural fabrics" but they still sent me a 100% polyester 2 layered jacket - kinda a sweater layer attached to a fake leather exterior. An interesting style idea that I liked, in a puke ugly off black color in a fabric that I literally told them I cannot wear.

There were shoes that reminded me of boater shoes... canvas ked-like things. Great if you like that style... which I do not. They were so far off the mark, that I didn't even try them on. I put them right back in the bag. I don't know why they sent them. In their style swipe I down voted anything even remotely similar.

I ended up keeping the one pair of jeans (they were $ 78, which isn't horrible for jeans that fit and comparable to the prices that brand was going for online elsewhere.) Everything else got returned.

Bottom line - the stylists are just there to write little notes about the clothes the algorithm picks. They have no override control. I do think they are an actual person as there was a typo in one of my notes and I can't imagine a computer writing such a cringy note to me.

They have some nice styles and clothes but will send clothes that aren't listed anywhere on the site. They don't offer any kind of discount on their site. If they offered a buy/keep 5 items, send nothing back and get 25% off, I would use their freestyle option to just build my own fix. Since they don't, I think I and my daughter both are done with them.

I DID email them directly with all this yesterday though. We will see how their customer service folks handle it. If they do, I will come back and add/change this review... but if I haven't, you can assume their customer service is just as bad as the rest of it.

Also, it is important to note that while a deal is nice, I was fine with spending a good bit of $$ for the convenience of access to get multiple brands in my family's specific sizes send right to my door. If stitch fix literally sent us anything that we liked, I would have kept it. But what's the point of stylists of they can't override the computer when they KNOW what the computer picked is going to piss off the client?! Makes zero sense.