Runchkins June 2016 Subscription Box Review + Coupon

Runchkins is a personal styling service for children similar to Stitch Fix in concept. You’ll get a box from handpicked by a stylist with 4-6 outfits to try on at home, with only a small charge of $20 styling fee plus the items you keep. Your styling fee is applied to the outfits you keep. Runchkins also guarantees to buy back any piece that your children has outgrown. Returns are also easy since you get a pre-paid USPS return bag in every box.

The instructions and information sheets are taped inside the box.

The instructions are very simple — leave the tags on anything you might not keep, and make sure to send the unwanted items back within 5 days.  In our experience Runchkins has a pretty strict QC process and they inspect items of clothing extremely carefully.

The information sheet shows a list of all the items our stylist picked for our littlest guy — he’s approaching age two but big for his age.

You get 10% off if you keep everything, as well as earn 10% when you order a monthly/seasonal box.

Returning any items is easier with Runchkins since it includes a return sheet and pre-paid return bag.  They even have a buy back program for when your child outgrows his Runchkins purchases.  If they meet the criteria for buy back (good condition), you an receive up to 30% of the price in credit.  Items in rougher shape are still donated and can be eligible for lesser credit (or a tax deductible receipt).

The selections arrive neatly tucked within tissue, similar to a department stores gift box.

The pieces are neatly folded, and there is some color and style coordination amongst the pieces — some shirts were paired with others that would work well layered.

Everything in this box! This is for our youngest boy who is a toddler and contained 6 outfits (a seasonal box). If you go monthly you’ll get four outfits in your box.

Nano White Fish Shark Hoodie ($26):  This is a single hoodie that is styled to look like a layered hoodie and tee combo.  I love the clownfish as shark design.  The shirt uses a colored thread for the seams on the white portions of the shirt, giving it a slightly weathered look.

Nano Chambray Short ($24):  This short has a lot going on texture-wise.  It is a chambray fabric (only one of warp/weft is colored thread, the other is white) — it also has a seersucker pattern (puckered squares standing out in relief).

Nano Plaid Chambray Short ($24):  This chambray short has a nice-looking plaid pattern with a palette that is muted and versatile for matching.  The legs don’t have a bottom seam, so they look slightly like cut-off sweats.  This was one of our favorite items from the box.

We went a little big on sizing so he could use the items for a while.  We liked the shirt a lot, but we have a rule about dressing our kids in white shirts, as they love stain-making foods and are notoriously messy eaters!  This guy in particular takes a nightly chocolate ice cream bath.

The hood is so cute!

Andy & Even Navy and White Stripes Hoodie ($42):  The red/white chambray accents on this hoodie look very pink (even more so in person than in the picture), making it look a little too feminine for our tastes.

This is the face of displeasure.

Andy & Evan Aqua Checkered With Stars Dress Shirt ($44):  This shirt is pretty busy, with a nice checkered pattern and very cute star details on the sleeves, which are permanently faux-rolled.  The star pattern also lines the front button plate.

Deux Par Deux Moustache Printed White Button Down Shirt ($40):  This ultra-adorable shirt combines a thin pinstripe with moustache and bowler hot silhouettes.   A very fun piece that a little kid can get away with as a dress shirt, but it also makes a fine cowboy shirt for just playing around the house.

Deux Par Deux Blue Chino Pants ($38):  The cuff is slightly gathered on an otherwise straight leg, and the color is a vibrant royal blue.  We liked the look of these pants laid out, but they proved a little long for our guy.

Tom Tailor Black Jeans ($35):  These jeans have a very grown-up look to them.  They are styled like a pair of adult Levi’s, and the wash on the front of the legs and the lap is well done.

Hatley Tan Khaki With Roll Cuffs Bottom ($44):  The liner has a white and red grid pattern that plays off of the red accent threadwork found on the upper portions of the pants.

He loved this ensemble, and the shirt and pants made a nice outfit together.

These two pieces went very well together, too.  The shirt was especially great (except for it’s light color).  He even adopted a suave persona to match the outfit — here he looks like he’s wrangling some digits from an imaginary cocktail waitress.

This shirt in particular had an odd defect — marks around the buttonholes — that we didn’t notice when we received the item, because we never unbuttoned it. Even though it was devastatingly cute, it is summer so we returned it.  Runchkins charged us for the shirt noting that it looked like we got nail polish on it (This would be very odd, because I do not wear nail polish).  We learned that their return policy is that if you damage a piece of clothing and return it they’ll charge you to ship it back to you, and charge you for the item. After reviewing our photographs Brandy finally realized that I hadn’t unbuttoned the shirt at all, and Runchkins inspected the other pieces and discovered that it wasn’t just this shirt.  That resolved our issue but we make note of their extremely stringent policies.

Andy & Evan Glasses Printed Gray Button Down Polo ($44):  This gray chambray shirt could easily pass for a deep blue (like “independence” blue).  The glasses make for a very cute detail, and they are actually stitched in and are slightly raised.

Deux Par Deux Vintage Cars Gold Tee ($24):  This shirt arrived tucked inside the Andy & Evans Polo, so we treated it as a matched ensemble (so handy!).  We loved this tee because the color was very pretty, and the pattern was a classic boy-friendly motif, but it was also dialed back a bit and pleasantly restrained.

A better view of the Polo.  It’s very smart on its own, but the yellow buttons make it work really well with the tee shirt.  I love the double breast pockets.

Kapital K Navy Checkered Shorts ($24):  A very cute and versatile pair of shorts.  These work well with most solid tops.  I like the little stash pocket with the 45 degree rotated pattern.

He got a kick out of the layered shirt look.

Frenchie Red & Blue Checkered Button Down Shirt ($28):  This shirt is cute, but also a bit busy with the smaller checker pattern panels.  The blue stripes within the checker have the traditional watercolor effect of varying opacity, but the red stripes also have an interesting brush mark grain to them.

Andy & Evan Light Blue Shirt with Red Glasses ($29):  This tee has a very fine horizontal stripe and red seam at the collar.  The three pairs of glasses are raised stitching.

This was a cute combo, but the pants were a bit much, given the fit — they are all cuff!

This was a fun collection to try on.  Runchkins did a great job of sending matchable items together.  It’s much easier to commit to a piece when you can see that you can make several outfits with it instead of hoping it works with what is in your child’s closet.  The selections were very cute and not overly infantile, which was nice to see.  The most impressive aspect of the box is the sheer volume of clothing — we received so many pieces to choose from that it was easy to find several we really liked!

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