Stitch Fix Flop

I had read about Stitch Fix in a Time magazine article. I did have some hesitation after looking over the web site, but decided to try it just for the experience.

The 5 items your stylist picks for you come in this box. I had answered the questions on the profile and spent quite a bit of time setting up a wardrobe board on Pinterest with clothes I liked. Most of my examples I pinned were from blogs of mature women (over 50) with conservative classic clothes, mostly casual, not professional business.

You can leave comments for the stylist such as whether you are seeking clothes for a specific event. I said I was especially looking for a pair of white pants to wear to the formal dining room on my Caribbean cruise next winter. I specifically said these needed to be something other than denim. (That is one of the takeaways of looking at their site: they like to use denim pants as foundations of the wardrobe.)

Before I show you the items I received, I will say that when I checked out (returning all of the items) I had to state the main reason from a list of reasons why I was returning the clothes. I chose that the stylist did not listen to me. See if you agree. 

Inside the box was this wrapped group. 

In the middle of the stack, what do you see? Orange! In my profile I said no orange. I hate orange. The white pants were indeed denim after saying no denim. Already two out of the five would be going back. 

Tunic of  hot pink and orange with the orange cord at the neck definitely making the orange stand out. The style and fit were OK. I had pinned quite a few tunics on my Pinterest board. 

Skirt fit well, the swing style was acceptable, the length good. But what colors do you see? Blue (my favorite) and medallions of yellow and orange! The price a bit higher than I usually pay, but then I expected things to be marked up so they make a profit. Since I don't have any tops with yellow or orange in my wardrobe, what would I wear it with except white? You'll see the suggested tops on the style card later.

I liked the magenta color of this top. It fit pretty well and the neckline wasn't revealing as I had asked on my profile. But it is sleeveless, a style I don't wear because in order to fit my ample bust I wear a good-sized top. Manufacturers seem to think women with larger busts must have large arms as well. That means a huge arm hole exposing one's bra. No thanks. This was not the stylist's fault. I hadn't mentioned anything about the problem with sleeveless and short cap sleeves. Nonetheless, it was going back. 

The colors in this photo did not come out realistic at all. This was a navy top which fit well except again big gaping arm holes exposing my brassier. Returned it.

Along with the clothes comes a note from your stylist. I'll give her credit that at least she read my instructions about the white pants. She said: "You were on the hunt for a pair of white pants to wear on the cruise to the Caribbean, but unfortunately I wasn't able to identify the perfect pair for you that weren't jeans." So don't send white denim which were already going to be a strikeout for me.

She suggested that the jeans could be "dressy" by wearing the navy top she sent and a pair of heels. Of course, in the profile where I had to identify the acceptable kinds of shoes, I had said I never wear heels anymore. 

You receive a style card of suggestions along with the clothes. Notice on the upper left, the suggested tops for the skirt include a gold one. I had marked gold as a color I didn't like. The white blouse with blue trim and the denim jacket were good suggestions.
I don't own a denim jacket though.

In the middle we have the pink/orange tunic with short shorts. Right, as though a 68-year-old woman is going to wear short shorts. They do have your age in the profile. The suggestions with the other items weren't bad except they had heels or in a few cases shoes that looked similar to the ones in my style "test" that I marked as "don't like at all". 

I had originally planned to wait until autumn and ask for skirts. I really do need a pair of white pants though so thought I better ask in the right season. 

I put all 5 items into the prepaid envelope and already returned it to the post office this afternoon. (I received the box in the mail today.)
I critiqued the individual items in the checkout process. One of the questions (yes/no) was whether I will schedule another fix. Despite saying no, the next screen came up wanting me to choose a date or allow them to put me on a regular shipment schedule. (I had said originally that I would receive shipments "on demand", that is when I chose to order.)

I feel that 3 of the items were not going to be acceptable because they ignored the profile (no orange) or the instructions to the stylist (no white denim). I will lose my $20 stylist fee that would have been applied to the cost of any item I purchased. The last message that Stitch Fix sent before I logged off was that I would be assigned a different stylist. I also said no sleeveless tops in the critique. So perhaps things would be better on a second "fix", but right now I am not inclined to get another one. Many people say it takes them 4-6 fixes to get a box of things they love. Some also mentioned that they bought an item that they thought was just OK in order not to lose the styling fee. 

I may try Trunk Call for Women which is similar and run by Nordstoms. That involves a more lengthy email or phone conversation rather than an online profile by itself. I don't feel up to that right now.

Fort Wayne Botanical Conservatory

We went to Granite City restaurant in Fort Wayne for brunch this morning, then drove downtown to the Botanical Conservatory.

Right now, the conservatory has a special exhibit of butterflies. Next to the butterfly tent was a cocoon nursery so that new butterflies keep hatching throughout the several months of the display.
The gauzy tent was entered carefully thru an anteroom and exited through another "room" with mirrors so you could check yourself for stowaway butterflies. They did land on people from time to time. They also sat on the ground so one had to watch where one stepped so as not to crush any butterflies.

 The Owl Butterfly thought my husband's tan pants were a swell place to perch.

 We finally took the butterfly ID paper and transferred it so we could blow it away.

 The common morpho was gorgeous in flight as the top of the wings were blue, but I could only get a photo with the wings folded.

This great Mormon was easy to photograph. The plants and dishes of sponges with something sweet really did attract the creatures.

 God created such diverse beauty in these butterflies.

The Clipper

 A Scarlet Mormon I think

Great Egg-Fly Butterflies

 The separate gardens of the conservatory didn't take long to stroll through. The conservatory is in the middle of downtown.

 

 The Showcase Garden which held the butterfly tent had bug statues in the flower beds around the tent.

The humidity of the Tropical Garden was high. Mostly bromeliads and orchids and bird of paradise and ferns in this room with a waterfall.

 It felt good to get outside to the Terrace Garden and the Exploration Garden. The terrace pool had metal grids filled with pieces of colorful glass meandering through the water.

 I have never seen such large peony blooms.

 The Exploration Garden had nice shady spots to sit on benches. It would be a lovely place for office workers to bring lunch and worth the annual membership fee. A single visit is $5.
Lots of daffodils with spent blooms and currently irises.

 Our last garden to visit was the Desert Garden. Plenty warm in this room. It was fun to see vegetation that reminded me of Texas.

 Prickly pear starting to bloom.

 My own home "garden" has lots of portulaca blooms to enjoy.

 Though the day started out gray and overcast, we had some sun at the conservatory. Kind of gloomy at home for awhile, but now in late afternoon we have sunshine. 

It has been an upbeat weekend with the butterflies and flowers. I even saw a bit of the royal wedding before heading out to garage sales. I bought "flowers" there, too.

A Good Day After All

I was sort of dreading this day, but God showered His goodness upon me.

My cheddar pinks are opening now. The plant has grown and spread out quite a bit in the past couple of years. Originally I had 4 plants, but all but this one died over several winters. I hope it eventually takes over the whole front portion of the plot. The portulaca also keeps putting out blooms. 

I announced the committee members at Winona Literary Club this afternoon; no hostess committee so no luncheon next year. But after the meeting a member who had been on a mission trip in April when I asked for a volunteer said she would chair the hostess committee. I already had somebody who said she would serve if there was a chair. An answer to prayer. I do have two slots to fill for the meeting hostesses.

Also, I announced the dues would stay the same next year, but we might have to reassess that in the spring since we are now being charged a monthly bank fee. My new treasurer, bless her heart, had taken it upon herself to talk to a different bank which agreed to service our small account for free. All last year, people were encouraging the current treasurer and the president to find a new bank. 

The Literary Committee lady showed up today, and she said she would still serve but she didn't know the people well enough to ask. I gave her a list of ladies who had given book reviews in the past or were avid readers. That is a big burden off of my shoulders.

I am actually happily looking forward to next club year.

Spring Blooms

I was going to wait until after Mother's Day to buy my porch plants, but Meijer had a good deal BOGO half off. A lot of my neighbors have geraniums on their porches, too. In another week or so I will get a hanging plant.

The bush behind the green Victorian gazing ball was newly planted last fall. The fothergilla blooms remind me of bottle brush except they are white. 

I have never had so many buds on my cheddar pink plant. With the hot temperatures next week I expect them to open up soon. I will take a photo to share then. I looked them over closely as I grilled a pork tenderloin after church. We did not go to a restaurant today to avoid the crowds taking mom out. This is my second use of the grill this year (did steak last Thursday).

I was feeling a bit stressed about next week, but after doing some preparations, I feel more calm. Tomorrow afternoon is choir practice, and I was asked to do the devotional. I am going to keep it short since we will be rehearsing all of the music for our spring concert. Tuesday morning there is a dress rehearsal; then at 2:30 we present the concert at the monthly birthday party. 

Wednesday morning I will go to chapel to hear the chime choir as they use and dedicate their new chimes. My sister-in-law plays in that group.

At noon Wednesday is the Winona Literary Club luncheon. Since I am the president-elect I have part of the program near the end introducing the committee members. Unfortunately, there have already been changes, people "unvolunteering". We have no Hostess Committee so right now it looks like there will be no luncheon May 15th, 2019, just a regular meeting. The Hostess Committee members plan and carry out the luncheon. The Literary Committee volunteer also seems to have pooped out. I will probably have to pick up the slack, finding 6 people to do book reviews next club year. I reluctantly agreed to be president because nobody else would do it; I am starting to regret that decision. The future of the club looks doubtful. However, I have decided to make the best of it and have a good 115th club year. The Program Committee has already lined up speakers. That is a relief.

After mid-week, the Winona Literary Club will be on summer break (though I will have some recruiting to do), and choir also will take a break for about 3 months. Looking forward to a less busy time.

Happy Cinco de Mayo

We drove thru the countryside south of us to North Manchester to look at the tulips today. They are different each spring. One of the residents strolling thru the campus looking at the flowers told me that yes they do dig up the bulbs each year and plant new ones in the fall. It was 77 degrees so pretty warm outside.

Some of the tulip blooms had been snipped off (done blooming), but as you can see above some had not opened fully yet.

Not too much else blooming. There were some hyacinths, a few daffodils (already done), some other little blue flowers, small irises.

 Several of the tulips planted this year had a wonderful fragrance to them.

My husband humored me while I wandered around. He sat on a bench and enjoyed the sunshine. We weren't quite ready for supper so we drove around Manchester University's campus a bit. Then we had wonderful steak fajitas at El Mezquite. The only special I saw for Cinco de Mayo was a sale on Margaritas. It was a nice outing.