LOOKING great is all well and good, but it’s tricky. Wouldn’t it be great if there was someone on hand who knew your taste and size and could just send you clothes?
The solution, for the chaps at least, is called Enclothed. All you have to do is fill in a few details online, they’ll get a stylist on the case, send you a big box of clothes and you decide what to keep.
The great part is, you only pay for the clothes – not the delivery, the collection or the service.
It all sounded too good to be true, so I gave it a go to see if it lived up to its promise.
The website is incredibly easy to use. While Enclothed is in its infancy, you have to request an invite but once it comes back, you’re away.
After entering delivery details, date of birth and the like we get on to sizes.
The website looks smart and is remarkably simple.
The next section asks about what kind of jeans you wear, how tight you like your shirts, what shoes you like before a page of magazine-style pictures of guys in different clothes. I just had to pick the ones I wanted to look like.
It was so easy.
At the end, there is an option to add in specific instructions. I mentioned that I was off to a festival, meeting friends, having dinner with my girlfriend’s family and was keen to enjoy the sun at the weekend.
After ordering a box – I must admit I did have a couple of technical niggles, but that is more likely to be down to my clumsy digits than anything else – I swiftly received an e-mail from Layla, my stylist.
She introduced herself and asked if there was anything specific I was after. It was nice to know I was being looked after by a human and not a computer.
The box arrived a day later, looking like an old chest that you might take away to boarding school.
Inside it was full of expensive-looking clothes and a beautiful hand-written letter from Layla along with an invoice.
“I have packed you a box filled with great clothes for your festival, dinner, meeting your friends and generally enjoying the sun,” Layla wrote.
“As this is your first box I have packed you quite a selection of items. This is just to learn more about your size and style.”
At the end, it said: “Now go try on your new clothes!”
This personal touch was lovely.
Trouble is, the invoice made me nauseous. The 11 items came to £681 – a plain t-shirt cost £55.
Certainly, this service is for the discerning shopper or those with expensive tastes.
It is difficult to imagine myself with that kind of clothing budget unless it is a very special occasion.
The flipside is that you can send back what you don’t want, so the total spend – and I just couldn’t part with some of it – came to nowhere near that.
The box was, as promised, diverse – with two pairs of summery shoes, a couple of lightweight shirts, some chinos and a handful of t-shirts.
Everything fitted beautifully, bar a pair of shoes, and was on spec with what I asked for.
A pair of Blue Tommy Hilfiger shorts (£35) and a Ted Baker T-Shirt (£45) were perfect for my day out at British Summer Time at Hyde Park on Sunday.
Enclothed’s service is bespoke and great – I’ve no doubt that my next box would have been even more suited to my style – but the clothes are premium, so unfortunately this great idea is not for everyone.
The day they do a budget version, I’m definitely in. Until then, it is probably just best if I dip in when I want a couple of good quality bits to supplement my wardrobe.
Go to enclothed.co.uk to give it a go.
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