I am a 40-year-old man that has been buying all of his clothes from Target for the past 20 years. When I think about why, affordability tends to come up. But really it's also about convenience. Going to a mall, going to huge department stores, going to various small clothing stores, it's all a little overwhelming to me. I need my window of choices narrowed way down.
And here is Bombfell, a service that says, "Don't sweat it, we got you." After taking a survey that asks about your fashion preferences, and what you're willing to try, and what you're willing to spend, you're assigned a personal stylist. You get an email introduction which is a nice personal touch. (Shoutout to Stephanie!) Within a day or two, you receive an email detailing your first order. You can either fine tune it, accept it as is, or ask for a whole new order before it ships to you. I asked Stephanie to replace a couple of items that weren't working for me, and she happily and quickly obliged.
Shortly thereafter your order arrives in the mail, and it's Christmas morning. Admittedly, it's the crappy part of Christmas where your Mom gives you a sweater and a pair of socks and makes you try them on, but still. You have seven days to try things on and decide what you want. You don't have to keep anything. If you decide none of it works, you can send it all back, and you're out the $20 styling fee for the order. If you decide to keep anything at all, that $20 fee goes towards the purchase. And there's a sliding scale of discount. The more items you keep, the bigger the discount you get, up to 20% off if you keep 4 items.
In my order, there were some instant classics and successes that I loved, an outright dud, an item I just didn't love enough for the price, and a pair of pants that I thought were the greatest pants I ever experienced, but they were a little too big. I didn't know how the process worked for exchanging for another size, so I emailed Bombfell. I got a very quick response from Megan who explained step by step everything I had to do to exchange. It's fun to note that even the person responding to your emailed question comes with a little "I'm a human being" biography. When you checkout/return your clothes, you're given a little survey that asks detailed questions about how things fit, such as how was the length, the fit in the chest, the arms, etc. And you can let your stylist know what you think about each item, such as too short for my tastes, or love the fit but don't like the color. This seems to indicate that the more I shop with Bombfell, the better my picks are going to be. It makes for a fun experience that made me eager for my next order.
Now the price part. Again, I've been shopping at Target my whole life, so the notion of spending $80 for a pair of pants was kind of blowing my mind. Likewise, $75 for a shirt is an extravagance for me. But that being said, once the items arrived, I have to concede that there is a world of difference between the clothes my stylist picked for me and the clothes I've been buying, just in terms of quality and material. It's night and day. Still, to keep everything I had been sent, which included a blazer I requested (if I didn't mention it, you can indicate what you'd like, be it shirts, shorts, socks, glasses, blazers, whatever) would have been over $300. As a t-shirt and jeans kind of guy, that's a big leap to make. Then again, I signed up for Bombfell because I want to take steps to improve and expand my wardrobe, so I'm willing to dedicate a little money to the process. But within reason. Like I said, there were things in my first order that I scoffed at and said there is no way I would ever pay that much for that. But again, there were other things that I thought were completely worth it. But you know what you're getting into when you take the introductory survey that asks how much you're willing to spend on particular items. Suffice it to say, there was not an option in my preferred price.
You do get the option of selecting how often you'd like to receive orders though. It's twice a month, once a month, or once every two months. I picked once every two months for budgetary reasons, but the process was so great that I'm eagerly awaiting my next shipment. And again, I wish I had the disposable income to let me stylist go wild on a shopping spree.
So I've only had the one order, but with the one, I'm hooked and sold. The only thing holding back that 5th star for me is the fact that I just can't afford to fully exploit the service. But as far as concept, execution, and service with a smiley picture and friendly biography, Bombfell is a winner.
Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend
