I Tried The Online Styling Service Bombfell And It Kinda Ruled

Treat yourself to a personal stylist (like Bombfell) and dress better than everyone else, amiright?

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Hey hi hello, my name is Francine and I feel like I’ve been wearing the same four shirts all winter — which is what led me to try the styling service Bombfell.

Yi Yang / BuzzFeed

Here I am in one of said four shirts, for reference of a typical outfit I wear.

I’ve always been curious about online styling services, and Bombfell offers exclusively menswear, which I wear a lot of. I would describe my style as bold, colorful, and prettttty queer. I gravitate toward cool colors, I love a good pattern, and many of my best outfits have come from the thrift store. That being said, I wasn't totally sure Bombfell would be able to cater to my style, being that the service describes itself as an “online personal stylist for men” (read: cisgendered men who have much a much higher budget than I do). But I do love a good collared shirt and sweater combo, so I gave it a whirl.

When you set up your Bombfell profile, you can get pretty detailed in terms of what you like to wear/don’t like to wear.

bombfell.com

You first choose what brought you to Bombfell: to seek advice, step up your look, save time shopping, or to help out your partner. Then you select what size clothing you wear now, and enter info about your height, weight, and body shape. Choose how you like your clothes to fit (trim or relaxed), and then choose one or more styles you are looking for (casual, classic, modern, or preppy).

You are also assigned a personal stylist who you communicate with through email. My stylist was always attentive and quick to respond. I did wish there was more of an opportunity to describe your style up front — like a place to upload a few pictures of outfits you normally wear, for instance, to give the stylist a better idea of what you like right off the bat. I was particularly impressed with how detailed you can get with sizing, however, which put my mind at ease on that front: You're prompted to enter measurements for your chest, belly, neck, head, shoulder width, torso length, bicep, and sleeve length. (I would recommend investing in a tape measurer if you don't already have one, to make sure you get the most accurate measurements possible.)

There is a $20 styling fee per order, and you can choose what budget you'd like to stick with (items range in price from $10–$200). You pay only for the items you decide to keep.

Francine Hendrickson / BuzzFeed

Plus, the more items you keep, the bigger the discount you get on them. If pricing for a certain category is out of your budget (like coats, for example), you can opt out of receiving those items. Bombfell has four categories you can set your budget for: tops, bottoms, outerwear, accessories (which includes ties, belts, wallets/bags, sunglasses, hats), and underwear & grooming.

You can choose how many items you receive in each order, from one to five. Here's everything that came in my first order!

Francine Hendrickson / BuzzFeed

The feature I loved the most about Bombfell is the ability to approve your order before it gets shipped out to you — and that goes for every item in the order. If there is something you don’t like, you just email your stylist and tell them. You don't have the option to pick out *exactly* what pieces you get, but my stylist did a really good job swapping things I didn’t like out with things I did like.

You have 48 hours from the time your order is picked out for you to approve/edit the order. If you miss the 48-hour mark, it gets shipped out automatically. On my first go at this, the email about my first order came at the start of a three-day migraine, so I was completely out of commission and partially deceased. Once I returned back to life, I saw the email about my first order, went to check it out, didn’t like two of the items on it, and emailed my stylist to see if things could still be swapped out — even though my 48 hours were up. My stylist was really understanding and helpful, and was able to swap them out for me!

Bombfell’s customer service is definitely up there with the best/most prompt customer service I’ve experienced.

Here I am looking like a proud dad wearing a shirt and pants brought to you by Bombfell.

Devric Butoh / BuzzFeed

My box came quickly and I liked everything that was in it. It felt good to have outfits lined up ahead of time for work that I was actually excited about wearing. But I am a pretty tough cookie to be sold on the type of service the company offers in the long-term, being that I have limited space in my apartment and only so much room in my closet for new clothes.

If I don’t absolutely love an article of clothing, I am not giving it a forever home. Did I love this shirt by Sons of Fortune?

Francine Hendrickson / BuzzFeed

I kept two of the items: the shirts, the shirts, the shirts! They both have a design I liked, with subtle contrasting patterns and little details that appealed to me even more. The sizing of the shirts is what impressed me the most; they both felt like a perfect fit. I have pretty broad shoulders and long, skinny arms, and nothing felt too tight or too short — which is a rarity with me and shirts.

Here's the Sons of Fortune sweater I returned (too plain for my taste), and a baby blue Descendant of Thieves shirt (underneath) I am keeping forever heh heh heh.

Devric Butoh

After returning the items I didn’t want — you return them for free through FedEx with a return label included in your box — and giving my stylist feedback on everything, it was soon time for my next order.

Btw: You can choose the frequency with which you receive orders (every three weeks, every month, every two months, or every three months) and pause or cancel your account at any time, as long as your order isn't due to ship.

My next order incuded a striped merino wool sweater I am not taking off until winter is canceled.

Francine Hendrickson / BuzzFeed

Again, the sweater was a perfect fit, and is exactly the type of warmer layer I was looking for to throw over a collared shirt. I also got a pair of colorful funky socks that felt much more like my style. I kept everything in this order this time around! Even though I only tried two orders, it is clear using Bombfell only gets better over time, as your stylist gets more of a feel for your taste.

P.S. Liquid lip and nail polish brought to you by Fluide.

If you are thinking about trying Bombfell, don’t be afraid to give a lot of feedback, because doing so will help your stylist do a better job at finding cool, unique pieces that suit your tastes.

Francine Hendrickson / BuzzFeed

And if you're like me and don’t have room in your life for clothing you're not obsessed with, Bombfell is a good way to try clothes without having to commit to buying them. They're also really good at giving you the opportunity to try clothes by brands you may not have previously known about prior, often partnering with those brands to bring you Bombfell-exclusive designed clothes, which is pretty supreme, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Overall, my experience with Bombfell was a positive one. I feel like a new, better-dressed boi.

Jennifer Tonti / BuzzFeed

The company's customer service is amazing, the sizing was much much better than I expected, and using Bombfell felt like a treat to myself — to have someone shop for me and not have to go searching for clothes in store after store was a dream. I recommend Bombfell to anyone who 1) wants to mix up their wardrobe, and/or 2) just doesn't have the time to shop.

Sign up for an account with Bombfell here for $20, plus the cost of whatever you decide to keep.

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Allison Krausman / BuzzFeed