I have a love/hate relationship with shopping. I love clothes and I love finding pieces I love but the actual shopping–the actual looking through the racks and trying to find something that I like in my size that fits right? Not as into that. So when I was in law school I decided to try a personal shopping service. (This was also because the closest decent mall was like two hours away and no one has time for that as a law student.)
First I tried Stitch Fix, but that didn’t seem to work out so well for me. The clothing didn’t feel high quality and I kept getting different stylists that could not quite figure out my style. Brandon had been using Trunk Club and he loved it, but at the time they only catered to men. So when Trunk Club decided to expand into women’s clothing and sent Brandon a message asking if he had anyone to refer, I was stoked.
The basic idea is this: you sign up for Trunk Club (this is my referral link if you’re interested) and answer a few questions about your personal style and input your measurements and sizes. Then you can chat with your stylist (either by email or through their app–I really like the app) and talk about what you’d like to see in your first trunk. This is particularly helpful when you have an event coming up or you switched jobs–I use it every time I get a job that has a new dress code. Your stylist then “builds” a trunk for you and sends you an email with a preview for approval. This is one of my favorite parts. You can look through every item that your stylist has chosen (including price, size, and color) and give feedback immediately. So if your stylist has one way above your price range or has included something you absolutely hate, you just tell her and she won’t send it to you. She’ll swap out those items for something that’s (hopefully) better, and send you the trunk.
Once you get your trunk you have a few days to try everything on and decide what to keep. There is a $25 fee for the trunk but if you buy anything at all that $25 is applied to that bill. When you decide what to keep you then go into the app (or on the website) and schedule a time for the trunk to be picked up. You pack the things you don’t want back into the trunk and stick on the prepaid label and you’re good to go! It’s super easy and so efficient. I love that you can schedule trunks to come regularly or you can just request them whenever you need one. And honestly, I’ve purchased at least one item every time I’ve gotten a trunk–and I’ve absolutely loved and worn every one of them, so I don’t feel like I’m being forced to buy something to not lose my styling fee.
When I moved to DC I was extra excited about Trunk Club because they have a clubhouse here! Trunk Club has “clubhouses” in a few cities around the US and let me tell you, once you’ve shopped at one it’s hard to go back to regular shopping. You make an appointment at the clubhouse and get to meet your stylist in person! Basically, you schedule your appointment, tell your stylist if you’re looking for something specific, and then show up and try on the clothes she’s picked out for you. The DC clubhouse is gorgeous–it’s all leather couches and huge windows and a fully stocked bar. When you arrive you wait at the bar and get a drink (for free) before your stylist takes you to your fitting area. Each little space has a few couches, a dressing room, and a full length mirror. After consulting with your stylist again, she’ll go off into the back to grab some pieces for you and then you’re off!
I love going to the clubhouse because the feedback I get from my stylist is like shopping with your most fashionable friend. She tells me how to style things and whether the fit is good or not. And I never feel pushed to buy anything if I don’t want to. At the end of the shopping you can decide what (if anything) you want to buy and take home with you. (If they don’t have your size there they’ll send it to you for free, too!) It’s so easy and so fun and you can bring friends with you too! I’ll definitely be shopping here for as long as I’m in DC.
Trunk Club is owned by Nordstrom, so it’s essentially become Nordstrom’s personal shopping arm. Which means you can use your Nordstrom card and notes there and that whenever a huge Nordstrom sale is happening, you can shop it at Trunk Club. It also means you can return things at Nordstrom! You can actually drop off your trunk at a Nordstrom to return it if you don’t want to schedule a pickup, and you can return things you’ve purchased at a Nordstrom as well. It’s truly the best of both worlds.
Okay I think I’ve gushed enough about Trunk Club to hopefully convince at least one of you to try it! I hope that if you do you love it as much as I do. (And please, if you do, use my referral link so I can get some credit!)
xoxo,
J
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