Margaret Elizabeth bangle … SO. MANY. COMPLIMENTS.
Look, I love to shop. But there’s a bit of an ethical dilemma—buying a $4 necklace at Forever 21 gives me the rush of shopping, something new to wear, something to not care about if it breaks, and lots of cheap jewelry taking up space on my wall. Buying a $4 necklace at Forever 21 also supports child labor, terrible manufacturing practices, designer knock-offs, and consumption consumption consumption. I’m not knocking Forever 21 specifically (and look, I KNOW I’m 30 now), but much of fast fashion is built on pretty shaky ground.
I am endeavoring to be more conscientious about what I buy, where I buy it from, and how much I buy. Clothes go to waste a lot. Click here for an article I wrote on clothes and clothes recycling—only about 1/5th of what’s donated to Goodwill etc will actually get sold. So even if I were to give away all the costume jewelry cluttering up my room, I’d actually just be throwing out 4/5ths of it.
Which is a very long introduction to say that I’ve been trying RocksBox and loving it. (Incidentally, they underwent a redesign revealed today)
You pay $19/month (or $15/month if you sign up for a year in advance) and get sent 3 pieces of jewelry. You wear the jewelry as much as you want, then you send them back in the postage-paid envelope they arrived in (low waste!) and get three new pieces. You can send and receive as frequently as you like. [And you get a FREE month when you use this link]
The pieces are very trendy and low-end designer—they’re not sending you Chanel earrings, but you are getting Gorjana, House of Harlow, Margaret Elizabeth, and other pieces that aren’t cheap but aren’t expensive either. You fill out a style profile you can change any time, and you can rate all the pieces you receive to help stylists tailor your boxes. There are real women filling your order, reading your feedback and requests.
The RocksBox Review: I have loved the fun and excitement of getting to wear lots of different jewelry and not being stuck with it. I like to put together fashionable outfits, and this setup keeps things very fresh. It also makes it so sometimes you dress around a piece, which is a fun way to approach an outfit.
I made a request for a wedding and was not happy with what the stylist chose—but the Margaret Elizabeth bangle pictured above was in that same shipment, and that simple bracelet got more compliments in 3 or 4 times wearing it than the rest of my jewelry combined. Most of my shipments have been about 2 out of 3, but I’ve worn everything except one piece.
To the left, you can see the ratings & feedback system, and what I’m currently rocking.
You can also buy any jewelry at a 20% discount by simply not returning it. I haven’t done this, because it defeats my particular purpose.
I’d encourage anyone to try RocksBox. It’s more daily and less fancy than Rent the Runway, and cheaper too. It’s just plain fun. Plus you get a FREE month of RocksBox when you use this link!