https://www.trunkclub.com/ Men's clothing for people who hate shopping.
Found this randomly. Will report back about.

8/13/2014 4:36:27 PM

As much as I hate shopping, I'm not going to pay a premium on high end clothing just to avoid the store. I realize that lots of people have more money to burn than I do, but it would seem if you're going to drop $250 on a pair of men's jeans you aren't going to have a problem going out.

8/13/2014 4:45:25 PM

It's not necessarily for people who hate shopping, but for those who don't know what the hell they're doing. You get a stylist who gets input on your likes and dislikes and chooses outfits and things for you.

I've used it a few times moreso to find new brands and stuff. Not everything is super high end either. They were recently purchased by nordstrom so I'd expect their offerings to grow.

8/13/2014 4:55:01 PM

For me...as engineer my work attires also translate to weekend attires. No one to impress at work since it is all dudes so my wardrobe is pretty boring. I probably use this maybe 4 times a year at best.

8/13/2014 4:59:27 PM

Tried this, here's my experience.
Stylist was nice, had a good chat to get a feel for what I like to wear & what I needed. This part of the experience was good. She mentioned some typical pricing, which was way more than I wanted to spend, but I figured I'd try it anyways. She agreed to send me some of their cheaper items.

Sent me ~6-7 items, package had to be signed for, so I got it a day later. This was a little bit of a problem, since they specify that you must return unwanted items by a certain date, or you're automatically billed for all of them (I feel like this was $300-$400, so it was important to me).

Stuff arrived, 2 button-down shirts (1 Bonobos & 1 other...), a cashmere sweater, chinos, a striped v-neck & some "Wurkin Stiffs" magnetic collar stays. Tried it all on, all fit quite nicely. Decided to purchase the 2 button-down shirts (Bonobos was around $45, other was more like $80) as a treat to myself. I already had comparable pieces to the other items, and they were out of my price range (I'm more comfortable at the GAP/BR/JCrew range). Got the Wurkin Stiffs as a gift that Christmas, I really like them but wouldn't pay the $20 they were asking, at least not myself .

Sent it back, I was billed, easy. My stylist & I set up an agreement that I would contact her once I wanted another trunk...which I never did. I still get emails from them about twice a month. I might do another in the future, but here's the problem from my POV: they charge you retail prices, even if the same exact item is on sale, so if you have time/patience to shop around you'll save some money. Its not really worth the convenience to me, and I always try things on before I buy. I'm with Mtan Man, I don't value avoiding the stores enough to justify paying the premium.

tl,dr: Tried it, somewhat expensive for my budget, but not a bad experience. Not worth it, IMO. Just go to the store, find what you like & buy when it goes on sale.

[Edited on August 13, 2014 at 5:06 PM. Reason : .]

8/13/2014 5:04:18 PM

i joined a couple years ago and hove gotten 6 or 7 boxes, from which I have purchased about 10 or 12 items. a lot of times if I like an item that's overpriced I'll just take a picture and find the same or similar on my own.

the stuff I've kept have been some jeans that fit really well from labels that i hadnt seen in stores and couldn't find online (or that were the same price), i told her I had no interest paying $100 for a shirt so the shirts they send now are reasonably priced and I've kept a few, and a blazer that was really expensive but fit better than any I've had before even after tailoring that my wife told me to keep. the accessories they send are always way overpriced IMO, but it helps me with ideas for when I'm shopping on my own later so I haven't told them to stop sending them.

8/13/2014 5:28:45 PM

Quote :

"here's the problem from my POV: they charge you retail prices"

That's exactly it. If you have any know-how/confidence with dressing nicely (iow the kind of dressing they are trying to promote) you will save tons of money by shopping on your own versus these clubs. J. Crew and Bonobos are the two most represented brands in my standard wardrobe, but while Trunk Club would include many of their pieces, they would be at retail and I buy all of those items at <50% of the retail price usually.

Bonobos dress shirts have become my go-to off the rack shirt but I only buy on sale + coupon code. J. Crew's are not bad either, but some of them retail for $150 which is a joke. I like them though so I wait until they are on sale/clearance and then use a 30-40% code, then they're actually a good shirt for the money.

The clubs are an interesting concept for the non-confident guy but the prices kill it. They basically end up being for guys who have more money than they know what to do with but don't have fashion/style sense so they just buy it.

IOW:

Quote :

"Just go to the store, find what you like & buy when it goes on sale."

And, if someone is looking for advice or inspiration, just try to find a free fashion blog instead of a stylist and see what looks stand out to you.


[Edited on August 13, 2014 at 5:55 PM. Reason : ]

8/13/2014 5:53:32 PM

this product is not designed for people that only buy clothes on sale with a coupon.

8/14/2014 3:19:53 PM

I actually think the more correct statement is that it IS designed for people who don't mind overpaying for clothes they could easily buy cheaper elsewhere.

But, if your statement is meant to imply that it isn't made for 'cheap' people then your statement is really misleading. It would be one thing if they were including really exclusive brands that don't/rarely go on much of a discount/sale. Then yes, you are either willing to pay that price for the brand or you aren't. However, when the majority of the products Trunk Club and other similar services provide are exactly the same items that you can easily and readily get for a cheaper (non full retail) price at common stores (or even extremely similar items), why would you not?

When the stores they provide clothes from regularly provide rotating 25-40% off sales each week and move a huge portion of their merchandise through sale sections (where the % sales also apply) why would you ever buy anything from those same vendors at full price? Doesn't make sense. It's not like I'm saying to go buy your clothes from Kohl's or Walmart.

PS: I will say this. I think it is much more important to find your style than the price tag or brand. I'm confident in style/fashion and thus don't find much use for a personal stylist service like this (youre paying for the stylist basically), but if someone is not confident or doesn't have an eye for it it could be useful. Either way, I like the quote from the guy who co-founded Bonobos and Trunk Club: "the most expensive shirt in your closet is the one you don’t wear." Find your style and spend a little bit more to buy fewer quality items that you LOVE instead of LIKE. If you have an eye and confidence to do it on your own, you can achieve just as much as something like Trunk Club with more customization for much cheaper. If you can't but still feel you want to look stylish or fashionable, then something like Trunk Club may be worth looking into.


[Edited on August 14, 2014 at 4:24 PM. Reason : ]

8/14/2014 4:01:46 PM

i know you just think you're being smart and reasonable, but that's a uniquely strong stance you have. most people will buy clothes that aren't marked 25-40% off. if you're only willing to buy things when they go on sale, then good for you, save that money. where does the cost of your time, use of your car and gas cost come into play? do you only go shopping when gas is cheaper than it was yesterday?

8/15/2014 12:11:08 PM

i haven't kept all the items from my trunks, but I don't buy clothes often enough to where cost is a big deal. If i have to spend an extra $20, $50, $100+ and get to avoid going to stores I'm fine with that.

(when I said I would shop to match an item before really my wife would tell me that she could find it and I'd let her shop to match, because fuck a shopping mall)

8/15/2014 12:57:16 PM

I'm not trying to be difficult, I promise , but I guess I don't see how the time or cost of gas comes into play here. I don't go shopping any more or less frequently than I would if I bought stuff full retail. Or are you saying someone using trunk club and thus not having to theoretically drive around and shop vs getting stuff on sale and driving around and shopping?

But in actuality, I buy 90% of my clothes online anyway; I already know what fits and sizes I wear from the main brands I regularly buy from and it's easy for me to return if the fabric or quality on a particular item is not as expected when I receive it (which is not very often luckily). Places like J. Crew and Bonobos have pretty regular sales so it is simple to browse what I like and then just buy it when it is on sale. Some aggregate sites like ShopTagr and Shop it to Me assist to depending on what you are looking for. You can browse online, tag it, and then they'll alert you when an item goes on sale (down to a particular size, cut, color, etc. you are looking for in some cases). So it makes it easy. Or some let you identify brands, items, and sizes you like and they aggregate them into a single site for you to browse sales.

But I do agree some people don't have time or interest in shopping. They basically say the 3 main reasons people use Trunk Club are: you don’t have time to shop, you don’t have access to shopping, or you don’t have the desire or inclination. I may add "you don't have good fashion sense" because I know some people that use it for that reason.

The biggest difference for me is that I actually do enjoy buying my own clothes. I don't want to spend hours doing it at a mall full of teenagers, but I enjoy curating my wardrobe so browsing and buying online is a good compromise for me. The main reason I buy on sale is because it is too easy not to. Money isn't an issue, but I'm not going to spend more if it is really simple to avoid it. If it were a hassle I wouldn't worry about it. But when I know that a shirt I want from J. Crew that is full price today will most likely be on sale in a week or two, I just wait.

[Edited on August 15, 2014 at 5:35 PM. Reason : ]

8/15/2014 5:20:12 PM

Quote :

"But in actuality, I buy 90% of my clothes online anyway; I already know what fits and sizes I wear from the main brands I regularly buy from and it's easy for me to return if the fabric or quality on a particular item is not as expected when I receive it (which is not very often luckily). Places like J. Crew and Bonobos have pretty regular sales so it is simple to browse what I like and then just buy it when it is on sale. Some aggregate sites like ShopTagr and Shop it to Me assist to depending on what you are looking for. You can browse online, tag it, and then they'll alert you when an item goes on sale (down to a particular size, cut, color, etc. you are looking for in some cases). So it makes it easy. Or some let you identify brands, items, and sizes you like and they aggregate them into a single site for you to browse sales."

dude, this is so much work. i get it, but you cannot possibly expect most guys to do this for clothes. most guys would rather spend an extra $20.

8/15/2014 9:34:19 PM

Gotcha - I guess I was just way off base. Just to be clear, you're referring to having a stylist for an extra $20 to avoid shopping altogether and not simply buying retail vs on sale right?

And typically I'm saving a lot more than that. Most the bonobos dress shirts ($98 retail) I've gotten for $40 something for example. I do know most guys hate shopping though. No argument there; however I guess I'm just way underestimating how much guys who at least have a minor interest in decent clothes and are willing to spend decent money dislike shopping even online. I just though that subset of customers would be different is all.

[Edited on August 15, 2014 at 10:09 PM. Reason : ]

8/15/2014 10:08:03 PM

Quote :

"Just to be clear, you're referring to having a stylist for an extra $20 to avoid shopping altogether and not simply buying retail vs on sale right?"

well, yes and no. i was initially talking about the stylist/zero shopping, but now i'm just talking about retail vs on sale. you're putting a lot more effort into finding deals on clothes than honestly any guy i know. it's cool, i'm just not sure why you're surprised that everyone doesn't do this.

8/16/2014 10:58:37 AM

Chalk it up to personal bias about something you do and as a result just assume that other people are similar.

8/16/2014 11:29:08 AM

i don't put effort into shopping. but if you're paying retail at j crew, you're doing it wrong. their retail prices are insane and they ALWAYS have decent stuff on sale 25%+ off.

8/16/2014 11:46:38 AM

I cancelled it. The stylist got a trunk for me to review. Shits looked shitty plus really expensive. So yea...6 or 7 items close to a grand. dafuq?!

8/20/2014 4:41:11 PM

Quote :

"I'm not trying to be difficult, I promise , but I guess I don't see how the time or cost of gas comes into play here. I don't go shopping any more or less frequently than I would if I bought stuff full retail. Or are you saying someone using trunk club and thus not having to theoretically drive around and shop vs getting stuff on sale and driving around and shopping? "

has nothing to do with gas, some of us just really hate malls and shopping

8/20/2014 7:06:32 PM

yeah, I only brought that up because simonn asked "where does the cost of your time, use of your car and gas cost come into play? do you only go shopping when gas is cheaper than it was yesterday?" and I wasn't sure what the angle was with that.

I am not a fan of malls either and avoid them as much as possible (I actually enjoyed shopping in NYC but that was totally different as it wasn't a mall). But I do understand that some people just don't enjoy shopping, even online.

8/21/2014 8:06:33 AM

yeah, it's not that I hate shopping online it's just that for most stores it's incredibly tedious and difficult to browse

8/21/2014 9:47:14 AM

I signed up just to check it out. The website doesn't really give you much to go on.

A week later I had a box of $1100 worth of clothes shipped to me unsolicited. Immediately sent it all back and canceled my membership.

8/21/2014 10:50:07 AM

did you not speak to a stylist about what you wanted?

8/21/2014 10:55:35 AM

I got a voicemail that I never listened to.

8/21/2014 12:14:54 PM

if you had called them back, you probably would have had better luck. I had a 30-45 minute call before my first box, and another 30 minute call to follow up after I sent it all back. By the second box I liked almost all of it and kept some.

8/21/2014 12:31:27 PM

Fuck all that. How is that easier than a trip to the mall? 20 minutes and I'm in and out with shit I know I like and fits. Plus I get Cinnabon. Trunk Club can't do that.

8/21/2014 1:00:45 PM

I don't like shopping that much...but I definitely don't see where it's difficult unless you live an hour away from a decent city with good stores.

8/21/2014 1:28:56 PM

^^ then trunk club isn't for you. It's not for people who can quickly get to a mall, find exactly what they want and get home. It's for people who either don't have time, don't like or aren't good at shopping, or don't know a whole lot about style but want to be stylish.

oh and have money to blow.

8/22/2014 12:10:34 PM

Pikey: I signed up for a service and ignored their voicemail message then was confused and mad when they did what I signed up for and sent me a box. 0/10, will not use again!

i mean, what exactly were you expecting or what did you think you were signing up for?

8/22/2014 2:03:36 PM

What about people who struggle with fasion?

8/23/2014 10:01:46 AM

I appreciate this thread-

I almost just signed up for it for the hubs for his bday next week...but i doubt I'll go for it because he wears a uniform at work (military) and he mainly just wears swim trunks because we live at the beach. No sense trying to get him all raleigh hipster if he's just gonna wear flip flops and a tshirt. lesigh.

however, this thread did kick off a surf of the interwarb and I did sign him up for "GRAZE" https://www.graze.com/us/products - and for $6 every 2 weeks, he can get a box of snacks to munch on while he's driving to work. He has about an hour drive.

Thus, I thank you for this idea.

In other news, for the chicks- I subscribe to a monthly "box" called stitchfix. It's awesome. I usually buy 1 or 2 pieces they send me. I'm so isolated from decent shopping- AND not to mention I hate shopping- I get a box of awesome clothes each month and I send back what I don't want. I love it. You will too if you try it.

8/23/2014 1:07:59 PM

Anyone using any of these services today? GF does stitch fix so it got me thinking...

3/1/2017 6:28:09 PM