It's time to CHANGE your Shopping Experience

25.02.22 02:00 AM By Catherine

"Well, shopping is a disempowering experience."

I made that statement in a conversation with a friend discussing my plans for Boutique Box.

And in that statement is what has always been my end game with my work: to SHIFT the shopping experience for women from disempowering to empowering.


I went to work in corporate fashion because I loved the power of style. For me, style is a form of self-care. Style is how I show up for myself. And, I have never had a giant wardrobe. It's always been intentional, in part because of necessity and a minimalist budget. 


However, in my 6 years in Corporate, I quickly saw a disconnect between the customer and the designer. 


As a merchandiser,

it was my job to analyze sales data to use for future design and buying strategy. It didn’t take me long to see that our business was driven by mark-down sales. Not only did that not make business sense to me, but it meant that women were buying our clothes on sale because of our brand name.


Likely, the clothes were sitting in their closets unworn and unloved. Bought on sale because they were excited about a designer name on sale, but it wasn’t quite right. So, every time they’d go to put the piece on for an outfit, it never felt quite right. And thus it ended up on the floor or back in the closet.


At least that was my intuition at that time.


And as I worked with clients growing my first business, Ustyled,

it turned out that my gut instinct as to what was happening with those clothes bought on sale was accurate. The majority of pieces that still had the price tags on in a client’s closet was bought because it was on sale, a specific designer and they thought they could make it work.


In working with a client, we’d go through her closet piece by piece, breaking down the psychology of a purchase to get to the place of embodying the WHY behind each piece. Because even if something wasn’t quite right, there was a lesson in it. And if it was a piece she LOVED, there was something to highlight to bring in MORE of with future pieces.


So, even if an item didn’t stay, we learned something from it. Because, as much as I love Tim Gunn, you can’t and shouldn’t try to make all things work (in life, love and clothes).


So, how is shopping a disempowering experience?

If you don't feel your style or life needs represented by what's in the stores, it's not you. It's the system. Buyers are buying based off of what sold last year. Large groups are not understood, so just not represented. 

For instance, one client who had a good sense of her style and a fairly straightforward size went shopping at a department store to take advantage of the markdowns. She knew what she wanted and needed (we call this a Wardrobe Action Plan). She spent 3 hours trying on SO MANY pieces and walked away with only 2 that worked. And, when I was a personal stylist, that's how much time (or more) I'd spend hunting to find pieces for a client. So let me underscore for you: It really is that much work.

Add to the frustration with styles, sizes for women aren't standardized, so how much confidence do you have ordering 'your size' between brands? Every brand runs different. Often, even within a brand, the sizes can vary widely. FIT for women is tough and larger brands are designing for scale, so trying to fit the most bodies. Of course, that means most people are left out of the equation. 

To find pieces that fit your body, style and life while adding value to your wardrobe (we like to call this 'mix and match-ablity'), it's just going to take time and consistency. Hunt, buy, try, return, rinse and repeat. 

Unless you shop with Boutique Box. 
We're on a mission to empower women through style. 

You do know your style. It's the process that has shaken your confidence. 

With the Boutique Box Membership, we have you create a detailed Intelligent Style Profile, build your closet in the cloud with us, and then leverage that to find for you the perfect pieces to add value to your wardrobe. We will recommend 1 or 2 pieces at a time and you let us know if you want to try them. Imagine finally feeling supported in style and having fun with it again!


Sign up for your Invitation to join the Membership

Catherine

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