And now for something completely different - a fashion blog!

You know what sucks?  Trying to find cute clothes that fit my body.  I'm an extra curvy girl with boobs and a smaller waistline, so things that fit on top don't necessarily fit me on the bottom.  Not to regurgitate what every other blog about fashion says, but it's really hard finding cute, stylish clothes in my size.  Now I'm pretty proud of the fact that at my heaviest I wore a size 22 and I am down to a pretty solid 16 (sometimes 14 when I can discipline myself to eat better and do more exercising).  Still, I'm not a mainstream size, especially at the bust line.  I do a lot of online window shopping and since computers are evil beings that track what you search for, I started getting Facebook ads for a site called Gwynnie Bee.  I ignored them at first, as I do most ads, but one day they had a really cute dress on the ad and I thought, ok I'll check this out.   They offer a free 30 day trial of 1,2, or 3 items out at a time so I signed up.  Since I want to do more writing, and my trial is almost over I thought I'd try a review of the site and service.  This is just my opinion so you can take it or leave it!

The best way I can describe the site is like Netflix for clothes.  Gwynnie Bee specializes in clothing rentals for sizes 10 and up.  You have what's called a closet, where you select clothes you want to try out.  I signed up at the beginning of December thinking I'd fill it with party dresses, that way I'd have something new to wear for my office party.  I started with a small closet of dresses and nothing was processed to send out.  I added a few more items since they suggest keeping a big list of options and finally got sent a few tops.  I was a little disappointed since I really wanted dresses, so I contacted customer service since I didn't see a way to prioritize what I wanted.  I'm going to start with the things I didn't like about the site.  Since this is a clothing rental service, they don't have an unlimited supply of every item in every size ready to go so you have to wait until something is available.   Hence the suggestion to stack your closet with lots of items.  When I reached out to customer service to find out why they sent me tops and not dresses, they did a great job of explaining this and advised that if there was a particular item I wanted first, I could always contact them and make the request.  I emailed them back and asked if there were any dresses on my list available, that that be the next item they sent.  It cut it pretty close, but the first dress arrived the day of my office party so I was able to wear it out that night.

Not exactly what I would have thought to wear for a Christmas party, but it was fun and not my usual style.  I went a little pin up with this Cherry Velvet Adele dress, flower in my hair and peep toe heels to match.  It got rave reviews at the party, so I felt confident enough to post it on the Gwynnie Bee Facebook page where total strangers told me how much they loved it as well.  That's a pretty awesome way to boost your confidence!

This Simply Be Peplum top with mustaches and top hats was another piece I probably would not have chosen at a store, but I loved it when I put it on so I bought it!  That's a plus to the site - if you absolutely love a piece, you have the option to purchase it at a discount.  And they price match other retailers, so if you find it for less on another site (not Ebay, I think), then they will sell it to you for the lower price.  

Now this Kiyonna ruched dress was the one I clicked on the site to find out about.  I thought it was gorgeous and the color is one of my best. Unfortunately it did not get delivered to my house until a week after the Christmas party, but I put it on immediately and took a picture because I felt HOT wearing this dress.  And it takes quite a bit for me to feel that way in clothes. 

I've been able to try out a dozen items, some winners and others not so much.  So here comes the stuff I love about the service.  Come on - new outfits to wear without paying the full retail price?   Their customer service is great.  I had to reach out a couple of times for small things, and to get clarification on a package and they were quick to respond, even over the holiday season.  Probably the best customer service I have had in a very long time.  They kept people up to date on site issues when they had some for a day, they were quick to notify members when there were shipping delays.  They are based in New York and they're having a bit of weather difficulty right now.  But I can keep track of when new items are coming.  And when you send something back, you just notify them through the site and they look through your closet to see what they can find to send to you next.  You return the items in a pre-paid return bag - it can't get much easier.  They do the laundry, dry cleaning, etc so you can just wear it and pop it back in the next day.  

They haven't been around very long (around 2 years), but I think it has great potential to be an amazing service.  I'm going to keep it for a little bit, but downgrade the items out at a time.  There are different price plans and the 3 at a time is a little high for my budget.  But when I think about the fact that these are designer clothes (The Cherry Velvet dress retails for about $140), and that I can wear it and send it back I think it's a good deal.  It's a shopaholics dream!  If you decide to give them a shot - my referral link so I gets the credit, yo!