Gwynnie Bee: It’s Not Just a Subscription Clothing Service, It’s An Adventure!

Finally! Spring-like weather! And it seemed like perfect timing that I just got this dragonfly print City Chic dress from Gwynnie Bee.

So, Gwynnie Bee. I’ve mentioned it a lot, and have worn clothing from their rental service for many blog posts. People have asked me what exactly it is, so….

Gwynnie Bee is like Netflix for plus-size clothing. You pay a monthly subscription fee based on how many items you want out at a time (from one at a time all the way up to ten!). Then you go to their website and look through literally thousands of items in sizes 10-32 and add pieces to your virtual “closet.” Once an item is in your closet, Gwynnie Bee
knows you would like to receive it, and when a new piece is due you, they will select something from your closet and send it to you. So it’s *sort* of a surprise when you get a package, because you don’t know what you’ll get in any particular shipment, but you *do* know it is something you’ve chosen and added to your closet. Which makes it different (and better!) from many other monthly box subscription services, where you have *no* idea what’s coming your way and you can be horribly disappointed. The other difference is the Gwynnie Bee clothes are for you to *wear,* not just try on and buy or return in 5 days. So you really get to try things you may never have worn before and see if they really fit in your day-to-day life, are they truly comfortable for a full-day of being you, etc. Just trying on clothes for 5 minutes in a store fitting room can be misleading. Can you *sit* in that body-con dress? Does it ride up? Does that wrap-front open up and show the girls to the world in a less-than-appropriate setting? Can you walk in that wrap dress without flashing thigh? You get the picture. So you wear your rented item for as long as you like and then either send it back to get another item sent to you, or you can buy it at a discounted price. You pay no shipping either way. You don’t even have to wash things! Gwynnie Bee does it all!

So, that’s the TECHNICAL explanation of Gwynnie Bee. But this is how it is EMOTIONALLY significant. It gives you the freedom to really try new things. To be a different person. To dress in ways you might never have ventured to try if you had to plunk down your hard-earned money to *experiment.* Yes, there is a monthly fee…and while in the beginning (and I’ve been a member since January 2015) I considered it a luxury (I’m currently on the one-out-at-a-time plan for $35/month), now I really understand the value of paying that monthly fee. For $35/month, depending on how long I keep items, I can have 4-5 different items a month to wear. I could never BUY 4-5 items a month for $35!!! And these are really nice, name-brand and mid- to high-end designers like Johnny Was, Karen Kane, Universal Standard, City Chic, etc. I could *never* afford to buy items from them at full cost. And now I can have them in my life for as long as I want!

Being a Gwynnie Bee subscriber has changed my whole outlook on personal style. It’s in part what prompted this blog! Another really wonderful aspect of Gwynnie Bee is the community! There’s an Instagram hashtag #sharemegb that people use when sharing pictures of themselves wearing items from Gwynnie Bee, and I’ve received (and given!) tons of support from other members using the hashtag. And there are entire Facebook groups dedicated to subscribers of the service. I belong to several but my favorite is Gwynnie Bee Fans. We share our outfits, we post pictures of “home tryons,” ask opinions of one another of what works and what doesn’t, share styling tips and “outfits of the day,” and more.

Am I gushing? Yup. I really *really* love the service and the clothes and confidence and new people that it has brought into my life. And here’s a wonderful thing – you can try it out for a month for FREE by clicking the link below. I hope you try it and have as wonderful an experience as I have had! If you do, share your story in the comments below!

Thanks again goes to my new photographer friend, Amy Frushour Kelly, for putting up with me and taking beautiful pictures for the blog!

* Note: I pay for my own Gwynnie Bee subscription and am also a proud Gwynnie Bee affiliate. There are affiliate links in this blog post.

What I’m Wearing:

• City Chic Sweet Dragonfly dress via Gwynnie Bee, size XXL
• Black ruffled handkerchief cardigan from Avenue (old), size 24
• Black flats from Christian Siriano at Payless