On a whim from a Facebook advert, I ordered a box of clothing referred to as a “bento box” from the company MM LaFleur.
The concept is great: a stylist picks out six articles of clothing and/or accessories based on answers given in a quick survey. The company ships this in a box to your house, you keep the items you want, and you send back the rest in a bag with a pre-printed, postage-paid label.
I answered the quiz questions while adding a few details of my own, such as my measurements (bust (36″), waist (30″), hip (35″)) since sizing tends to be variable even within a particular brand, requesting that dresses/skirts fall to around the knee (preferably above knee if possible), and specifying no baggy tops (because I hate them and they make me look fat).
For reference, I’m 5′7″. Also, it was a long day at work...so these are not my most flattering pictures haha. The style of the clothes was fairly close to my own style - fitted but not tight clothing in solid colors.
The items came neatly packaged in cardboard box like so:
The first item I examined was the Greenwich Avenue belt. While it was super cute and would go with nearly anything in my wardrobe, I thought $60 was slightly pricey for a belt. This is coming from someone who buys one belt that’s less than $15 every five years. The medium was about 35 inches long.
The Annie dress was in my favorite color - indigo! The dress felt slightly tight in my bust (though not terribly uncomfortable), but I thought this was a little odd since I consider myself an average-chested girl (34D). I tried this on with and without the belt (just for kicks). While I thought the dress fit well otherwise, I wasn’t a huge fan of the v-neckline on me for some reason.
Next were the Winfrey top and Noho Skirt. I loved the color of the top. The fabric felt soft against my skin yet sturdy and somewhat warm, but I thought the draping of the top felt weird. I liked the skirt, but I like dresses better and didn’t like it enough to justify the price. My best friend and my husband both weren’t fans of the skirt’s pattern, but I didn’t find it bad.
The Bell Sweater was the only piece I flat-out disliked. While I’m sure it would be cute on other people, I thought it looked unflattering on me and there’s no chance ever that I’d spend $400 on a sweater.
The Sarah 6.0 dress was very cute, and though the style of the sleeves seemed a little weird, I liked it. I didn’t buy it because I currently own a black dress and this one didn’t seem to be that much of an upgrade over the one I have, but out of all the items in the box, I would recommend this one the most as I could see it being a very versatile and well-fitting dress.
Finally, I took shots of the labels. Laundry is already a pain enough, so it’s a little disappointing that some of these are dry clean only.
Here’s a breakdown of the items I received. While I make a modest salary and could definitely afford these, they are typically more than what I spend on clothes (e.g., averaging $50-100 for dresses and no more than $40 for a top), especially for work. Would I get another bento? Yes, possibly. There is a $25 styling fee for each subsequent box after the first (the first is free with free shipping both ways), but if I got something in the box that was useful and that I really liked, I wouldn’t mind dropping the money on it. Sometimes I am a little too picky about style and fit, so it’d be easier probably to shop in a physical store, but this was a fun experiment nonetheless.
Can we talk about how much I lowkey appreciate that when Finn admitted to Rey that he wasn’t actually a member of the Resistance but still wanted to help, she didn’t do that whole thing where the character freaks out because “omg how could you lie to me i hate you,” storms away, and refuses to have a conversation about it?
God, I hate that trope so much. But nah instead she just kind of accepted it and moved on because she trusted him by then anyway, and I really respected her (and the writers) for that.
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