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It’s been a while since I tried out a clothing box, mostly because I haven’t felt the need for new clothes during the two years we’ve pretty much just been at home. Around the same time as I ordered the Universal Standard mystery boxes, I also ordered a Trunk Club box. Trunk Club is Nordstrom’s personal shopper service by mail – you answer a few questions about your style and what you’re looking for (if it’s for a special occasion, if you want a specific type of item, etc), they send out a huge box (no, seriously) of stuff to you, you try it on and return what you don’t want.
(UK friends – Nordstrom is a department store founded and headquartered in Seattle, I think of it as comparable to Selfridges. Macy’s is like Debenhams/House of Fraser and Neiman Marcus is like Harvey Nichols. This is just how I tend to think of them, this isn’t like an official thing!)
Here’s what I received in my first trunk:
I can’t remember exactly what I asked for, but I suspect it was things to perk up my wardrobe a bit.The thing I liked about this box is that you also get sent outfit ideas using these items:
I tried on the outfits suggested, so here come the photos!
The first outfit was my favourite – I actually ended up keeping both the top and jeans! I’ve only worn the top once since getting this box (I realised I need a better strapless bra for this) but the jeans are perfect. They’re quite a bit more than I would normally pay for jeans, but this photo made me think they were worth it.
This second outfit was…just fine. I didn’t hate it, but it wasn’t different enough from my wardrobe. I actually liked the bralette that was sent, but it felt really pricy for the item, especially when Target sells a similar bra* from True&Co for less than half the price of this one. (I actually bought this bra from Target and it’s super comfy, but it has removable pads in the cup which are the bane of my laundry life. Why has no one come up with a way to keep them in place?!)
This dress was definitely not something I would have chosen, and I definitely wouldn’t have put these shoes with it, but that’s why I like these styling boxes, to make you think about different clothes. I really liked the dress, but at the time, I just didn’t see any reason why I would wear a dress like this and I didn’t want to buy it just for it to sit in my closet.
This top was a colour I wouldn’t normally choose but I really liked it – the major reason I didn’t keep it was because the sleeves were an awkward length, just above my wrist. I can see from the Nordstrom shop link above that’s how the top was meant to be styled, but I kept wanting to pull them down (which you can see on my left side)
Finally, an athleisure outfit – I loved the joggers but $70 for a pair of joggers that I wouldn’t really leave the house in felt a little too spendy. I really loved this jacket though, so I kept it! I wouldn’t have thought to look at the Zella range for a jacket, but it’s the perfect thing to throw on when I’m popping to the shops, and it’s so snuggly on the inside.
Returning the box was pretty easy – just stick the label provided over the original address label and notify FedEx through their website that it was ready to be collected. Weirdly FedEx turned up to our house, looked at the box and then left it, and then a second one came but wouldn’t take it because they were a different division (?!) but that’s FedEx being useless, not a Trunk Club/Nordstrom issue.
Would I use it again? Right now, definitely. It would be nice if you could keep using the same stylist as Stitch Fix does (or at least at the time I used them, did) so they could get to know your style, and since it’s a part of Nordstrom, it would be pretty cool if you could work with a stylist through this at your local store, so you could have a seasonal instore consultation and then they could just add bits to send you through Trunk Club.
If you’re interested in other mystery clothing boxes, I have a few posts all gathered together here!