Golden Tote: October 2015

This is my first time ever getting a Golden Tote!  So… what’s Golden Tote? Golden Tote is a new type of clothing styling service. New totes go on sale the first Monday of every month at 9AM PST. The $49 Tote is a small tote filled with 2-3 pieces of clothing. The $149 Tote is a large tote filled with 5-6 pieces of clothing. Depending on which tote you choose, you get to pick 1 or more pieces for your tote, then a stylist will surprise you with the rest! And it’s not just a random surprise piece of clothing. You take a very detailed style quiz with your likes/dislikes and you get a personally styled tote!

Since this was my first time ordering a Golden Tote, I decided to go with the small tote.

There is also a Golden Tote Trading Group on Facebook, so if you receive something you aren’t crazy about, there’s a good chance someone out there is willing to buy or trade for it!

I want to point out a little note about Golden Tote– this is actually the second time I have ordered a tote. I tried for the first time in September, and the item I ordered was a black pencil skirt. A few weeks after my order, I get an email from Customer Service letting me know they are out of stock in my size of the pencil skirt and Jen, the wonderful Customer Service gal, offered an olive pencil skirt instead. That doesn’t really fit with my wardrobe, so I passed on the whole tote. I’m not entirely sure if she did this, but soon after, I received a $10 credit to my account. (Sweet!) Then, this month, I received one of my picks in a color I didn’t choose, so I let Jen know. She immediately sent a return label to me to send the shirt back, and put the correct shirt in the mail right away. She also said she included a “surprise” for my trouble this month and last month. I assumed she was going to put in a necklace or something but I was very, very, pleasantly surprised by what she sent me! So keep reading to find out what my surprise was!

I mentioned before that Golden Tote has you fill out a very detailed style quiz that lets you tell GT what you like/dislike. At the end, is a free-form field where you give them a little more info, so this is what mine says. (Note: I changed it a bit after this month’s surprise to include no flutter sleeves for future surprises.)

Love: black & white; Stripes/polka dots/chevron; structured/classic; dresses that work with riding boots, tunics; ankle boots; leggings; fall tones;  Hate: boho; cargo pants; cap/flutter sleeves
As the name implies, all of your pieces arrive in a cute tote bag that you can use for anything! I love that. With my initial $49 Small Tote, I also decided to choose an Add-On item from the boutique for $30, which is why I received 3 items this month. My Tote Total was $78.95, including shipping and my $10 credit. The Add-On shirt ended up being my favorite in the whole tote!

This Scalloped Blouse ($30) was my Add-On item. Isn’t it awesome? I love, love, love the scallops on the sleeves and the bottom.Check out my full outfit! I love how this shirt looks with grey jeans and black ankle booties. Also, I love how my Baublebar necklace matches the scallops! I wish Matt had told me it was all wonky before he took the pictures, but he is not a master photographer, so I will forgive him.
This Peek of Polka Dot Top was the one I originally ordered in grey, so this is going back. It actually did look really great with skinny jeans and riding boots, I just don’t LOVE yellow, so I wouldn’t have ordered it. Maybe if this had been my surprise and I had different things this month, I would have kept it.

Oh hey! This is the Peek of Polka Dot shirt I ordered! I haven’t worn it yet but I think it will be great with grey jeans or black leggings and my black ankle boots.

This Black and White Floral Blouse by Miss Love was my surprise. I love black and white patterned stuff but what I don’t love is the stripes down the front and the flutter sleeves. I was going to trade this in the Facebook Group but then a gal from work who got me into Golden Tote said she wanted to buy it. Easy enough! 

 OK, so this Black and White Color Block Dress by Miss Love is the amazing “surprise” Jen gave me for my troubles! This dress fits me like a glove and I have to be honest with you– I look pretty amazing in it. It’s a little too tight and short for work, but this will make for a fun date night outfit with heels! Matt joked that he was surprised I didn’t own this dress already, since I sort of have the market cornered on black and white dresses. Jen really did nail it.

Final Grade: B+ 

I have to admit that my first experiences with Golden Tote weren’t the greatest but they totally made up for it with their awesome Customer Service. (Thanks, Jen! 🙂 ) If you are keeping track, I basically got 4 items for $78.95, which brings every item to around $19 each. That’s a great deal! Especially since I am going to be selling the black and white blouse I didn’t love.

I am really intrigued and excited about Golden Tote! It’s so fun to wait for the shop to open on the first Monday of each month and then choose your items and wait for your surprises! The Facebook Group is also really fun, because you can see everyone else’s totes and how everyone styles their different pieces. It is really a fun community to be a part of!

If you are interested in trying out Golden Tote for yourself, click here for my referral link! I think I get credits to GT with referrals, which would be cool!

xo,
Lauren

Purchased, all opinions are my own
Post contains referral links