I recently found myself online shopping (surprise, surprise) and after placing a few items in my cart, my lovely husband looked over my shoulder and said, “Hmm. Don’t you already have a dress that looks like that? And a skirt that looks kinda like that?” After vehemently rejecting his assertions, I quietly realized… he’s right. I’m in a RUT. Yep, even I, someone who lives and breathes fashion, have days where I’m sartorially stumped and constantly gravitating towards the same things. Since a girlfriend of mine recently mentioned how much she loooooves Trunk Club, I decided it was a good time to give the service a try. Welp, I received my first trunk last week, and I’m thrilled to report that I was legitimately blown away by the entire process. Trunk Club officially drop-kicked me out of my fashion fog and I am, as they say in the business, UHBSESSED.  Today, I wanted to share details on my experience and how the service works because I think it’s an absolutely spectacular resource. You’ve gotta hear me out on this one… Whether you’re stuck in a style rut, in need of guidance in refreshing your work wardrobe, looking for pieces for an upcoming vacation or just too darn busy to shop for summer, you gotta check out Trunk Club. Here are the top five ways Trunk Club completely surprised and convinced me:

1.  This is not a subscription.

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Trunk Club is an on-demand service where you receive a box only when you request one, and you only pay for what you choose to keep. I ignorantly assumed they were some kind of monthly subscription service. Wrong. There’s no monthly fee to belong, and there’s no monthly delivery of stuff you don’t want or need.  There’s a small up-front deposit when you sign up that is applied towards your first purchase (SO worth it! You’ll see why below!), then Trunk Club only sends you a box when you request one.

2.  Your stylist ACTUALLY gets to know your style.  (For real.)

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Once you sign up and complete a short quiz about your style, favorite retailers and sizing, you get a personal phone call from a real. human. being. You know like the kind with a pulse and everything? I couldn’t flipping believe it. My stylist carefully evaluated my style and then discussed my specific needs and preferences with me on the phone. This isn’t another one of those services where some mystery “stylist” (aka a computer) just sends you a box full of random garbage based upon a dopey three second style quiz. Trunk Club stylists are the real deal.

3.  You can be as specific or as vague as you want about product selections.

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Again, it’s not like, SURPRISE! Here’s a neon green tulle skirt that we randomly selected for you based upon your “style profile” (a.k.a. a combination of our crappy algorithm and our waning inventory)! With Trunk Club, you can be as general as Hey, I want some fresh pieces for summer, whaddya think? Or as specific as I need some new neutral summer sandals that go with this particular white dress, and if you send me anything with rhinestones on it I’m going to light myself on fire. The trunk is your oyster.

4.  You get to PREVIEW your stylist’s selections before they’re sent!

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I actually yelped (not like the website, but like the sound a dog makes) when my stylist told me about this. Especially if you have fairly particular taste (*cough cough*), it is SO nice to be able to preview the selections your stylist has made before you receive a giant box full of stuff that you potentially hate. At the outset, my stylist took such care in understanding my style when reviewing my style quiz and chatting with me on the phone that she already had it pretty much nailed, but the preview functionality is what knocked the whole experience out of the park for me. With the preview, you click through and approve or reject your stylist’s selections before they ship and have the opportunity to give as much or as little feedback about why the item doesn’t work for you. Your stylist can then further understand your tastes and make new selections before sending the trunk to you. Genius!

5.  There’s free shipping both ways, you only pay for what you keep, and everything is returnable.

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In a typical trunk, you receive twelve to fifteen pieces of clothing, shoes and/or accessories (again, depending on what you request) and not only do you pay nothing for shipping the trunk to and from your home, but you only pay for what items you keep—again, no subscription or stylist fee. Once your trunk of goodies arrives (a.k.a. Christmas morning), you have ten days to play dress up before having to make decisions and send whatever you don’t want back. The initial deposit you paid when signing up is then applied towards your first purchase, so you’re actually getting all of the super personalized, on-demand styling services FO. FREE. Ahh but are the clothes marked up then? NOPE. The prices you pay are the exact prices you would pay if shopping on your own in-store or online. But what if I keep something and then change my mind and want to return it? You can. Return anything at any time even after your trunk has been sent back. Soooo basically Trunk Club is the best thing ever. For working women who have a vacation or an event coming up and don’t have time to shop, #TrunkIt (if that isn’t a real hashtag, it should be). If you’re just starting your first job and need some direction in creating a collection of staple workwear items, again, get in on the Trunk Club action. For my first trunk, I asked my stylist to send a mix of summer workwear pieces as well as pieces that might be good to take on my current trip to Europe, and well… she crushed it. Ok, one last surprise factor that I have to share: Have you ever been shopping with someone who picks something up off the rack and insists that you try it on even though you are 10000% convinced it’s HORRIBLE and then you try it on and you’re shocked at how much you love it? That happened with multiple pieces for me. I would’ve never picked them out, but they arrived, I tried them, and I was in LOVE. Not only did my stylist Jen help get me out of my rut, but her fresh perspective really opened my eyes to pieces I would’ve never found on my own. Personally, I prefer online shopping to in-store shopping, so absolutely loved receiving the trunk at home where I was able to try everything on with things already in my closet. However, if you live in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Washington DC, or New York City, Trunk Club has “clubhouses” where you can work with a stylist and go through the process in-person. I’m happy to report that they will also be opening a clubhouse here in San Francisco this fall, and can’t wait to check it out! Happy Friday everyone!! Thank you Trunk Club for partnering with me on this post and for being legitimately all-around AWESOME.