Dia & Co Subscription Box Review – August 2016

Dia & Co is a monthly personal styling subscription for plus-sized women. It’s pretty much just like Stitch Fix for plus sizes – Fill out your profile and sizing information, pay a $20 styling fee (refundable against anything you choose to keep), and have 5 items selected by a stylist sent straight to your home to try on. Dia & Co includes free shipping each way. If you keep all 5 items from your box, you’ll receive a 20% discount.

The box itself came packaged very neatly, and included a note from my stylist.

It included an invoice showing the price of each item plus my potential discount.

In addition to telling the stylists that I am more of a Classic, Casual, and Retro kind of girl, I also let them know that packability is key due to work travel.  One of the things I think it interesting is they ask you what you DO NOT want in terms of colors and prints, instead of asking what you DO want. It does force me to be more open minded!

What I got:

KIYONNA Knit Jersey Twist Top in Olive, 1X $58

Junarose Jenna Straight Leg Jean in Dark Blue, 16W $99

Sorry for the lighting issues – it was crazy bright when I had my shades up, so I tried to put them halfway up and ended up with this.  I even tried different locations. Lighting Fail.

As for the shirt – this is a nice soft jersey. Nothing special, but a reasonably flattering cut. I felt like it was a little short, and I am not big on Olive, so I sent it back. I bet I would have kept it if it were black. I have so many black tops.

As always, it is hard to capture what a wrap top or dress looks like when it is laid flat. Alas. I tried, and I did manage to get a photo without kitty.

Now for the Junarose jeans.  I received some Junarose jeans a while back in grey that I kept and wear all of the time. I had high hopes for these, as they are the same size. A nice thought, but, oh my goodness were they tight. I haven’t been gaining any inches on my tummy, so I blame the jeans.  They were painted on my legs – I could barely get them up. As for zipping, I sucked everything in and did it, but there was no way I was keeping these with this much muffin top.

That being said, I really liked the color and the wash on these, and thought that going up a size would do the trick. Dia & Co has a “size up” or “size down” feature at checkout. I thought i would give it a try, because I did think these had potential. But then I learned that when you size up or down, they expect you to commit to buying the item. I assumed it would be in my next box, either as an additional piece or as one of my five. I understand they are a business, but this doesn’t feel like a good policy to me – I am not going to drop $99 to find out that a size up fits terribly. I ended up just returning these and giving my stylist feedback about the size and my desire to try again in a larger size.

Jada Necklace in Blue/Gold $28

This is a pretty cute necklace. 18″ is a good length for me to hit right below my collar. I am picky about jewelry since I make a lot of my own, and I thought the turquoise stones felt a little cheap on this, but really, it is of equal quality to most costume jewelry. I do like the overall design.

Tua Felicity Top in Black Multi 1X $47

Is it funny that I like this more from the rear than from the front? The fabric is light and breezy. It’s a nice monochrome print. But… tassels? Really, really long tassels? Is this a thing? They were just swinging around when I walked. And I will totally admit I spun them around a bit because, well, tassels.

[Note from Brandy: Oh no Jen, I’m so sorry, but the tassels were the thing of the year. It’s a love or hate relationship. Glad to know we’re still of the same brain in our style choices!]

KIYONNA Chrystie Knit Wrap Dress in Red 1X $88

My boy’s eyes lit up when I put this one on (after he was totally confused by the construction of a wrap dress and watching me put it on – silly boy). This dress is in response to my love for my black and white KIYONNA wrap dress from last month. It fits like a dream, it a stretchy packable wrinkle-resistant knit, and it is RED. The neckline is too sexy for work (I asked around, because I really just wanted this dress to work for me for normal wear, not just date night wear).

This month’s Dia & Co was a pretty good mix of items I liked. My only real disappointment was around the exchange policy. I would love to try those jeans in a larger size, but not at the risk of spending so much to find out they don’t fit. I hope Dia & Co reconsiders that aspect of their policies. I am looking forward to my next box, which is due to arrive right after I get back from London! (Don’t be too jealous; it is a work trip.)

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