Dia & Co. Subscription Review – September 2016

Dia & Co is a monthly personal styling subscription for plus-sized women. It’s like Stitch Fix, but 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.

Everything arrives neatly folded and wrapped in tissue.

How pretty is that bold flower pattern?!?  Remember before texting how we used to write and pass notes in school?  I know my friends and I always tried to come up with cool ways to fold the notes, whether it was different sizes or shapes.  It looks like Dia & Co. have decided to make my information packet like those old school notes.  They’ve combined the invoice and stylist’s note onto one one sheet.  As always, the invoice shows  the price of each item plus my potential discount if I opt to keep all of the pieces.  Last month, Ashley B. found lots of great pieces for me to take on vacation.  Let’s see if she can make this a winning streak with this month’s picks.

These are the looks that I told my stylist I wear or like via my fashion profile.  I made it a point to emphasize that although I work in an office,  I spend a lot of my work day outdoors and live in Florida where it is VERY humid, so I need clothes that are climate friendly and easy care.  For this box, I requested pieces for a business casual work environment.

Everything in my box!

Morgan Necklace – Black/Blue/Gold ($35.00):  What a great statement piece for the summer!  This necklace features stones in clear, mint, and yellow with black stone clusters set in an antique gold base.  It is perfect for adding pops of color to a neutral monochromatic outfit.

Junarose Victoria Dress – Green ($79.00):  I totally got a retro Mad Men vibe when I saw this dress.  The color is officially Cadmium Green and is a cross between kelly green and teal.  It features a scoop neck and princess seams for a more fitted look.  The sleeves are described as 2/4 length, which is a new one for me.  For some reason, Junarose styled this dress with white sneakers which just looked odd to me.  My stylist and I were on the same page and thought this would look better with a cute pair of sandals.  Unfortunately, this was too big on me through the body and arms.  I’m afraid that if I sized down, it would be too small.  So this is going back.

Mai Tai Trinity Top – Black/Cream ($36.00):  I wanted to like this, but couldn’t.  It’s a shame because black and white make up the bulk of my wardrobe.  This is a looser knit sleeveless sweater and features drop arm holes.  If you’ve read my other reviews, you know I detest the drop arm hole.  This one is so deep, I’d have to wear a cami underneath which means more layers when it’s already hot outside.  Plus I was afraid of snagging it – I did when I unpacked it but was able to work the thread back in.  Alas, this is going back too.

Close up of the knit and arm holes.

Fashion to Figure Kaelyn Zip Front Top – Yellow ($28.00):  This is actually listed as the “Halsie” zip front top on the Fashion to Figure website and is currently out of stock.  This bright yellow is so pretty and fun.  I loved the style of this shirt because it was long and loose and had a bit of an edge with the full front zip.  Plus, the fabric was light enough to be worn from spring to summer here in Florida.  This would have been a keeper, but the construction quality was poor – a first for me from Fashion to Figure.  There were loose threads all over this, and the serger stitching was visible along the zipper/shirt seam.

Close ups of the loose threads throughout the garment.

Modamix Mable Skirt – Black ($69.00):  This is actually listed as the “Charlotte” Dolphin-Hem skirt by Modamix and can be found for a significantly lower price here, if you’re interested in it.  The dolphin hem adds a twist to the classic pencil skirt.  I had doubts about this skirt because it looked so boxy on the hanger and didn’t taper like most pencil skirts do.  This was a no-go for me.  It still looked boxy when I put it on and was not flattering.

And now for the looks…

Close up of the Morgan necklace.  Doesn’t it look pretty with the yellow top?!?

The Junarose dress.  I’d love to know if you would wear this with white sneakers as styled in the Junarose lookbook.

Mai Tai top and Modamix skirt featuring Lily with the photo bomb.  This was a style pairing suggested by my stylist.  Those arm holes are so big that they distort the bustline of this top.

Fashion to Figure top and Modamix skirt.  This outfit was a better pairing suggestion.  Like I said earlier, I do like this top and wish it had been sewn better.  I tried to wear it untucked, but it overwhelmed the skirt.

This Dia & Co. box was somewhat disappointing for me.  There were a lot of fit issues, and I ended up sending everything back.  I was happy with the necklace, but it wasn’t worth keeping alone.  Also, with my request for business casual pieces, I asked for pants because skirts and dresses are not practical for the work I do.  This was only my second box with Ashley B. as my stylist, so I’m hoping that next month will be better.  She knocked it out of the park for my vacation, and I hope she uses those pieces as inspiration for my next delivery.

How was your Dia & Co. experience this month?  Share a comment below and let me know.

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