I love clothes, but going to endless stores to try them on feels like a chore. My new way to get cute, brand-new clothes delivered to my door is Short Story. This subscription service targets shorter women, usually 5’4 and under. I’m 5’5, but tend to like how petite clothes fit on me better.
In addition to wanting better-fitting clothing, I was interested in branching out my style a bit and was intrigued by the idea of having a stylist pick out clothing specifically for me based on my measurements, style, and what would be flattering.
How Short Story works
My personalized styles from Short Story.
Hannah Kowalczyk-Harper for HearstMy Short Story journey started with a multiple choice quiz. It showed various outfit styles, such as a photo filled with edgy clothes, one with more feminine clothes, etc., and had me select if I “hate it,” think it’s “Just ok,” “Like it,” or “Love it.” It then asked for my various clothing sizes (they carry sizes 00P-18P), height, and more measurements.
There were also questions about colors, occasions I need to dress for, budget, and more. A completely optional question gave me the opportunity to share my Instagram handle so the stylist could see the types of outfits I currently wear. I opted to share it.
You pay a $25 styling fee for the experienced stylist to pick out five or six pieces and for the company to ship it all over to your home. This fee is on par with similar services. If you decide to keep any of the items though, the styling fee is credited towards your purchase, so you really only pay that fee if you decide you don’t like a single item you received.
You try everything on and decide what you want to pay for and keep. Anything you don’t want, you ship back in a prepaid envelope. It’s expected you’ll decide within five days, but you can email them for an extension if necessary.
Some of the items from Short Story are from popular brands, while others are from their own exclusive Short Story clothing lines. Short Story’s clothing brands are developed in-house, based on customer feedback and specifically fitted to petites.
Short Story results
I think my Short Story stylist did an excellent job.
Hannah Kowalczyk-Harper for HearstMy clothing came with a thoughtful, personalized note from the stylist explaining her picks for me. It included information about each item and photos of it on people so you could see what it looks like when properly fitted. It also showed the price for each item if I wanted to keep them.
Overall, I think she did a great job. I received five items.
My favorite, by far, was a blue dress. It’s Muse Petite brand, which is one of the Short Story exclusive brands. I love the color and the petite fit was perfect. It landed a bit above my knees. Had it not been a dress for petite women, it likely would have landed right at my knee, which isn’t as flattering.
I instantly knew it was a keeper. I packed this dress for a family event out of state as besides being fashionable, I could tell the fabric (95{362bf5cdc35eddfb2532d3c23e83b41deb229c4410d15cb1127c60150cbd4488} polyester) wouldn’t wrinkle. This dress got an insane amount of compliments and lots of photos of me were taken in it.
My box came with another dress, also Muse Petite brand. This dress was off-the-shoulder, black, and floral. It also landed a touch above my knees. At first, I thought the dress was a nice addition to my wardrobe, but nothing special. When I wore it to an outdoor event though, I received more praise than I expected. Maybe the stylist was able to see something I couldn’t.
In the style quiz, I specifically asked for a pair of jeans to be included, even though it’s summer, because I really struggle with jean shopping. I almost exclusively own and wear skinny jeans because I think that’s the style most flattering on me. I needed a push to try some different styles. Jean shopping feels overwhelming with the vast amount of options.
The pair included was a girlfriend jean, meaning it’s slimmer than a boyfriend fit, but gives more legroom than my standard skinny jeans. It has a wide cuff to roll up. In terms of looks, I think the jeans look good, though still maybe not as good as my form fitting pairs.
But what I love is the comfort level! I can wear these all day long, whereas I can’t wait to peel off my other jeans. I’m really glad I was able to try another style with zero hassle. I’m going to get a lot of use out of these pants.
I tried the jeans on with a black asymmetric cutout top that was included. This is probably my least favorite item of the bunch, but I still like it. It doesn’t have much of a wow factor, but the jersey knit makes it extremely cozy and I know that fabric won’t wrinkle in luggage. It’ll work well in the future for going to a bar or comedy club.
The final item was a red, satin cowl neck top. This top’s brand is The Raconteur, which is another Short Story exclusive brand. In my custom stylist note, she explained she noticed on my Instagram that I love red tones. She was right on as red is my absolute favorite color to wear.
When I first tried it on, I was really disappointed. Like most people, I don’t wear the same size top all the time. I had used the smaller size in the quiz as I tend to like my clothing more fitted. However, cowl neck tops don’t look right if they’re too tight. I could see on the model photo how it was supposed to look (the model even looked similar to me) and could tell it would look great on me if it were a size up.
Fortunately, when I reached out to Short Story, they said they would send me another top with my requested size. Now that I have the right size, I love it! I’m glad I included my Instagram so the stylist would be inspired to send me some red. This top will be a versatile piece in my wardrobe that I can wear casually to brunch or more dressed up for cocktails.
Downsides to Short Story
While I liked all of my clothing, there’s always the chance you might receive a box and not like any of the items and be out the styling fee. I will also say that this service isn’t for very thrifty shoppers. None of the items sent to you are going to be only a few dollars. Their styles start at $32 as these are new, quality items. This isn’t fast fashion.
Overall thoughts
I’m really pleased with the service overall and I kept all of my items. I like the convenience of having clothes sent directly to me, that the items were designed for my petite body type, and the mix of items I’d choose for myself with those that pushed me a bit out of my comfort zone. Plus, my favorite items are actually Short Story exclusive and I wouldn’t have been able to get them elsewhere! I’m definitely interested in trying out another box to add more variety to my wardrobe.