My $10 Month with Gwynnie Bee Review
Gwynnie Bee is a monthly subscription clothing rental service for sizes 10-32. Pay a flat monthly subscription fee and get an endless, rotating wardrobe with unlimited exchanges and free shipping both ways.
Self proclaimed ‘Clothing Without Commitment, Gwynnie Bee has become known as the ‘Netflix’ of Plus Size Clothing. I stumbled upon Gwynnie Bee last month when I was looking for plus-size dresses. I vaguely remember going to their website before but at the time I was still in college and it didn’t appeal to me. I started a new job last year and I have been wearing dresses to work everyday – I kid you not. I am generally a 1x or size 16, but depending on the brand can fit into a 14 or 18. I was intrigued by their “$10 For Your First Month” special and decided to try out the service. It seemed like a great deal considering the plans start at $35 and go up to $159 depending on the amount of items you can have out at a time.
I signed up for Gwynnie Bee on January 1st, with the “3 Items At-A-Time Plan” (1 and 2 items were priced at the same $10 special). After adding 8 items to my closet “Rack” (8 is the minimum amount of items needed on your rack at the 3 Item Plan), I patiently waited for my selections to be chosen. They recommend at least 15 items on your rack, but I am picky and wanted to have a better shot at getting my favorites since you can only buy their products when it is “At Home.” I also had about 10 dresses “on hold” for when I needed to add my dresses back up to 8.
Pro-Tip: If you have two slots that need to be filled, have at least 9 items (or however many your plan requires plus one) otherwise the second slot will not get filled since your closet will drop under the minimum.
After awhile, this process became too tedious, so I ended up filling up my wishlist.
On January 5th, I got the following email:
We’re working on it, but unfortunately your Gwynnie Bee package has been delayed beyond our usual 2-3 days. Our apologies!
We’d like to make sure you get your full 30 days of the Gwynnie Bee experience, so to make up for the delay, we are extending your billing date by a week!
Thanks for your patience. We hope to get your package sent to your doorstep within the next few days.
My selections were delayed, but I was pretty excited that my plan had been extended to January 8th, which means I have more time to participate!
The cool thing about purchasing an item is that you don’t have to wait for it to be returned and, in theory, will receive the next item faster. I updated my closet since the size 18’s had been too large, and changed my choices to 1x and 16’s.
Upon creating my membership, I now could shop at the Gwynnie Bee shop, which is basically like “Last Call.” I purchased the following two dresses at $20 each, which would have been a great deal if they hadn’t been 1) too big and 2) worn looking. Oddly enough, the smaller sizes (16 vs 18) was about $18 cheaper. I probably wont use the Shop again since everything is ‘Final Sale.’
 |
 |
| ABS – Cap Sleeve Floral Fit & Flare Dress – Size 18 | Tart Collections – Ilene Dress In Volcano – Size 2X |
Check out my individual reviews of the clothes I received each week:
My first shipment arrived January 8th and my final shipment arrived February 7th before my trial subscription was over. Here are a few stats:
I received 19 dresses in total.
Returned Worn: 4
Returned Unworn: 8
Purchased: 7 (plus 2 from the Shop)
Total Spent: $211 (plus $40 from the Shop and $10 subscription)
Throughout the process, one thing I did not like was that the prices to keep the items continuously were updated. So at one point there was a pretty decent sale going on and then suddenly the discount would be lower. At one point it jumped so low, I ended up not purchasing the item because I was annoyed with losing even just a few dollars.
FAVORITE PURCHASE |
REGRET BUYING |
Yours ClothingCoral And Black Daisy Flocked Peter Pan Collar Skater DressThis dress is absolutely gorgeous. I would buy it again in a heart beat! |
Spruce & SageSunset Charmer Fit & Flare DressThis dress ended up being too big, so I wish I hadn’t bought it after all. |
REGRET RETURNING |
MOST WANTED TO TRY |
ASOS CURVESkater Dress With Mono Print BlockingI really liked the uniqueness of this dress and enjoyed wearing it. I wish I had ended up purchasing this one. |
COREYPoppy Handkerchief Hem DressI was intrigued by this dress and it was at the top of my wishlist… unfortunately I never got the chance to try it! |
Overall, I think this is a very cool and fun service. It’s a great way to expand your wardrobe, especially if you are a plus size girl. Gwynnie Bee offers a wide variety of options including pants, shirts, and especially dresses (as you could tell – my favorite!). The price points are a little steep and the shipping process is very troublesome at times – I felt like I spent way too much time picking up and sending off packages. If I ever decided to try the service again, I would want to experience one of the higher plans so that I could have more outfits to play with before having to send back anything. But at $159 for 10 items at a time, the price is way higher than I would consider to rent clothes, especially when I already spent A LOT of money to keep the clothes.
