Cypress & 5th. Screen shot by Ariane Coffin.
In the growing market of subscription boxes, there are certainly a few fun options to add variety to your wardrobe. One such subscription is the new Cypress & 5th. For a monthly rate of $74.95, you get a new outfit consisting of an accessory, and a dress or a top and bottom.
What’s different about Cypress & 5th is that you get to choose what you want out of an array of options pre-selected for you by a stylist. Here’s how it works. First of all, you fill out a survey about your personal style preferences.
How would you dress? Screen shot by Ariane Coffin.
Then, Cypress & 5th offers you an online “dressing room” on the 1st of every month. Your dressing room contains a handful of choices for a dress or a top. If a top strikes your fancy, you’re also allowed to pick a bottom. If you go the dress route, no bottoms are included. Either way, you then get to pick an accessory. A dressing room usually offers a choice of 4-6 shirts, 2-3 pants, 1-2 skirts, 3-5 dresses, and 5-8 accessories.
Pick a top or dress. Screen shot by Ariane Coffin.
Should nothing in your dressing room strike your fancy, you can ask for a re-do. They will create a whole new dressing room for you. Still not pleased? They can issue a credit to your account for the full amount. Similarly, you can also “opt-out,” which means your account will not be charged monthly but you will still receive a new dressing room to peruse each month. Just resume your subscription when you see something you like.
Should multiple items look fun to you, you also have the option to add more to your cart.
Option to buy more items. Screen shot by Ariane Coffin.
Now, the unfortunate part is that if you receive your box and the items do not fit your body well, exchanges and returns are both cumbersome and expensive. Refunds are only partial; they keep $20 as a styling fee. You can exchange pieces, but whether you go the exchange or refund route, you have to pay for shipping.
In my trial month, there were some really cute dresses. However, the amount of dust on my existing collection of cute dresses proves how rarely I wear them. Instead, I ended up selecting a loose-fit, peach-colored sweater. It was a little bit of a different fit compared to what I would usually select for myself, but not so far out of my comfort zone that I’d never wear it. To go with it, I selected dark skinny jeans and a peach and dark blue scarf. I was happy to find pieces that matched together so I’d have one new outfit as opposed to three random pieces I’d have to all find matches for. Unfortunately, the sweater—cut short in front and long in the back—isn’t super flattering on my freshly deflated postpartum belly, but I have hope it will look decent once I lose the baby weight. Fingers crossed.
My Cypress & 5th outfit. Photo by Ariane Coffin.
As I mentioned in a review of Stitch Fix—another fun clothing subscription—being a geek and a mom presents a unique challenge for my personal style. Between video game and cartoon paraphernalia, half of my wardrobe rivals that of an 8-year-old. The other half consists of sensible work clothes that passed their prime three years ago, not coincidentally the age of my first child. Let’s face it, I don’t have the time to shop like in the good ol’ pre-kids days. That’s part of the reason why I appreciate the convenience of fashion subscription boxes.
Arguably, using a subscription like Cypress & 5th is a lot like shopping online except with much fewer choices. When you think about it that way, it seems sort of absurd to use such subscription. On the other hand, I know I personally get bored of shopping at my usual repertoire of online stores, so having a stylist choose a few items for me adds some variety to my life. It’s always exciting to find something new!
Disclaimer: I received a subscription sample for review purposes.
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