Chief Editor Rhiannon D’Averc recently tried out Lookiero. Here’s what she had to say about the experience.

Lookiero, if you haven’t seen the endless ads on your Facebook and Instagram feeds, is an online styling service. Each month – or sooner, or less often, depending on your preferences – you get a parcel in the post with a selection of items that your stylist thinks you will like

If you do, great – just keep them. You can even get a discount for keeping them all. And if you don’t, pop them back in the post for return. It costs £10 a month for your package to arrive, which you can redeem against the price of your items should you choose to keep any of them. However, the first month is free – and with a seasonal offer coming into play right after my first try, I managed to get two deliveries at no cost. That was more than enough to assess the service and come up with a few thoughts about how it all went.

Package One

The first package was very exciting, full of expectation and hope. I had no idea what to expect, so I was looking forward to finding out what it would be like. It arrived promptly as predicted, a large box delivered to my door. On opening it up, I found clothes carefully wrapped and stacked between sheets of tissue paper, with a large plastic bag for shipping the unwanted items back. Not the most eco-friendly solution – and a bit of a waste, given that they already came in perfectly good packaging – but there doesn’t seem to be an option to turn down the plastic. I unwrapped each one, laying them out and… not feeling particularly excited. One after the other, I laid out cheap fabrics and dubious cuts.

I’d filled out a whole survey before the delivery detailing what kind of style I preferred and what I would and wouldn’t wear – what kind of selection was this? Most of them didn’t look much better on. They were ugly and had no shape to them at all – and the fabrics were scratchy. Not at all what I was expecting. Two of them didn’t even fit correctly. And given that I had told them all my sizings as well as what I did and didn’t want to draw attention to on my body, the choices just made little sense. I sent the whole package back. I wouldn’t have been tempted to try again if I hadn’t received the second box for free as well.

Package Two

This package didn’t fill me with as much excitement. I had requested a new stylist when placing my order, which is something that you can do whenever you don’t feel happy with the results. Still, I wasn’t expecting much. When it came, I could see right away that the options they had left me were a bit better than last time. There was a jumper, which is one of my essential items (I have probably over the region of twenty hanging up in my wardrobe), a nice shirt, and a faux croc leather skirt that looked pretty interesting. In the trying, I wasn’t as impressed with most of the items. The jumper was thin and scratchy, and the shirt had no shape to it.

There seems to be a repeating pattern with their choices – there’s a certain low quality to the clothes, all of which seem to be high street brands with the exception of one or two
higher-priced items.

Out of this box, I actually really liked two of the garments. One was that croc skirt, which was actually completely different to anything I would have chosen for myself – and yet I really liked it. The other was a blue dress with a fun cheetah print, which was really promising. However, after searching online, I found out that the brand was selling it quite significantly cheaper than Lookiero had priced it.

With the skirt being priced the same as the manufacturer, I decided to keep that one and send the rest back. At £30, it would have taken the £20 credit I would have saved up if I’d been paying for the delivery. I would still be looking at a great deal for the two months of service and one garment, but it is a little bit tedious trying on and then returning almost everything both times.

The end verdict? I don’t think I’ll be trying them again. Unless I’m really bored and really busy somehow at the same time, and want some new clothes but don’t have time to shop. To be honest, the only benefit here is the time saved not browsing online stores for hours at a time to find what you want – and that benefit pales when you don’t get what you want anyway.

Further info on Lookiero:

Each box contains: Items chosen by your personal stylist; Styling cards demonstrating how your garments could be worn;; A return bag and order document for your returns A note from your stylist

Cost: £10 per delivery, or free for your first month and during special discount periods

Website: lookiero.co.uk

Read more of Rhiannon’s work at twitter.com/rhiannondaverc