StyleMint is the brainchild of Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, aka the Olsen Twins. The concept is that you tell them your fashion preferences and they present you with items that match it. The idea itself is not groundbreaking, and has been used before by several other online clothing retailers, but it’s the first to be endorsed by the duo. So how good is it at picking the right items, and are there any drawbacks to signing up?
Overview
It can be tough finding new outfits and accessories that are in line with your style. It seems that most clothes either don’t provide the sort of quality you’d expect, or they look like something off the rack at a discount retailer. It’s not like you need to shop at the most expensive places on 5th Avenue, you just want something that looks great and is easy on the pocketbook. It would also be nice to have different options presented to you, without having to go out searching, many times in vain.
The Claim
StyleMint claims to be able to take a quick style profile and then start giving you suggestions based on what you tell them. They say you’re never under any obligation to buy what you see, and that with your free membership they’ll show you new styles each month, even if you never buy a thing. They say that it’s easy to return items that you don’t like, or exchange them if you got the size wrong. Those are both important factors when shopping for clothes online, because it needs to mimic a real world purchase as much as possible.
The Hype
Because the Olsen twins are headlining this, there will be some built-in celebrity hype. They also have a page that showcases other celebrities being seen in the clothing items they sell on the site. It’s definitely got a feeling of being trendy, and of making celebrity styles more accessible to the rest of us.
The Cost
It’s free to get started with StyleMint, and if you want to order they have items starting at $30 which includes shipping. Most people say that their prices are reasonable for the items that you’re getting. When you consider the added benefit of having your profile in place, and the enhanced shopping experience you get here, it seems like a good value.
The Commitment
Here’s the part where you can get tripped up if you’re not careful. You need to commit to taking action with this site each month, or you’ll be charged and won’t receive anything in return. You need to tell them that you want to skip a month, or they will charge you $30 and not send you an item. What they will do is give you a credit in your account so you can select an item later and you’ve already pre-paid for it. So basically you are committing to buying an item a month if you don’t tell them to skip. It’s easy to remember to skip though, because they email you with that month’s styles.
Evaluation
StyleMint has fixed the glitch that other online retailers trying to do the same thing failed to do. There are some membership programs like this that were charging people if they didn’t skip their month, and not giving anything in return. By giving you a credit in your account, they are making it so there’s not a great risk for becoming a member. If you use it optimally, each month you will have new items shown to you. If you don’t like what you see, just skip that month. If you totally forget, you can buy something the next month with your credit.
Each item they carry also has tips on what to wear with it. There’s really a lot of value added to the shopping experience here. These are features you just won’t get at a department store, and is the kind of recommendations that are reserved for the elite that have personal shoppers and all that jazz. The customer service is also something that stands out, with a live chat operator ready for any questions you may have before or during the sales process.
Final StyleMint Review
They say that women buy new clothes because it helps them feel like a new person. StyleMint helps you keep a steady stream of new items coming in so you’re never standing in front of your closet wondering what to wear next. The styles range from fun and sassy, to casual, to business and professional. It’s all geared towards what you like and what you tell them in your profiling quiz. Just be honest and go with your gut instincts and you’ll be surprised how accurate some of their pics are. It really does give different results based on what you enter.
Our Recommendation
This is a nice service to have at your disposal. It’s easy enough to skip a month, and there’s no limit to the number of times you can skip. If you forget to skip and they charge you, you’ll get a credit so you can buy something later, so it’s no biggie. The styles that they have look like something models would wear, but are not over the top, they’re clothes you’d actually wear. And it’s good to keep a fresh stream of new clothes coming into your wardrobe. At these prices it’s a good exchange for your dollar.
My friend tried a similar service before and I know she really loved it. I’m not really a fashionable person and neither is my friend, so we often buy things that we later regret. For people like us and I guess even for the average woman getting some fashion tips could really help a lot. Stylemint is at least backed by the Olsen twins and these girls have been making hundreds of millions with fashion items over the years, so it also gets a try rating from me 🙂