Wittlebee Review

Guess what I got in the mail today?! Woohoo!! Getting packages in the mail is so exciting, of course I was especially excited for my Wittlebee package! For those that missed my last post about Wittlebee, the premise of this clothing club is that it is a monthly subscription of six clothing items that are hand-picked by Wittlebee's stylists based on your style profile. The price is $39.99. I had been wanting to try it since Mrs. Bee over at Hellobee wrote a post about it, but couldn't justify shelling out nearly $40 for little man clothes when I already had a full closet of clothes for Cobi. Gumhouse had a special for 50% off and I snagged a deal. I was psyched to be able to try it at a discount!

First, in Wittlebee, you fill out a style profile. Basic information such as child's age and clothing size. Then you get to the fun stuff. These are the choices I made:

Then comes the option to add style notes. I added a few because there were a few things I knew I wanted, and a few things I knew I didn't want.

Want to see how well they followed my profile?!

I received three short sleeve shirts, one onesie, a pair or cotton knit pants and a pair of jeans. I first noticed that I didn't request short sleeve shirts on my profile. Since fall is coming up, I knew I'd need some more long-sleeved items. I was really disappointed I didn't receive any long-sleeved items. And definitely surprised I received three short-sleeve items!

Secondly, I received a onesie with an animal on it, when I hadn't chosen the animals category. However, the giraffe onesie is actually my favorite item of all the items! So I wasn't disappointed in that item.

I also selected pants, and received two pairs. That fit well with my profile.

Let's go through each item individually: 1. Striped Polo by Teddyboom

I did expect to get a polo; I chose preppy as a style preference and in my style notes said I like preppy "little man" styles. This shirt also fit my profile as it's grey and yellow, in addition to stripes. As far as this shirt goes, they couldn't have matched my profile more perfectly. But for some reason I'm not in love with the item, but I do like it and will have Cobi wear it. It is 12 months though, so it won't fit him for awhile. It will also be the dead of winter, which is a bummer. Oh well! I was happy to see gray and yellow.
On Amazon, a Teddyboom polo retails for $5.50, since each item in this box comes to $6.67 each, this item is definitely significantly less than their claim that each box is about $100 in retail!

2. Green Tee by American Apparel

I totally love this teeshirt. Green wasn't one of the colors I chose (I did receive three green items!), but I love Cobi in green, so it wasn't an issue for me. This item is just a plain, basic tee, but I know American Apparel is high-quality, it's soft and fits well. I am really excited about this piece. It's definitely more basic, but will make it easy to layer and do more with it.
American Apparel tees for babies run at $10 each.

3. Green knit pants by American Apparel

This item is so-so for me. Like I said, green was not one of my colors of choice, so I was surprised to get three green items, however the pants are cute enough. I do like American Apparel, so I am happy with the brand. The quality seems good, although since it's size is during the crawling stage, I'm eager to see how well it holds up! It's another basic piece. I might not have picked it myself, but I don't mind it. This item goes for $12 at American Apparel.

4. Green polo by Kicky Pants

I am unsure about this item. It definitely fits the hipster and preppy categories I chose, so I cannot fault them for sending it to me. It also is a "geometric pattern" which is what I included in my style notes. I do think it's cute, but again, not an item I would have chosen myself. And it's green. Although I have nothing against green, and like I said, I love it on Cobi - I would have liked to see them stick to the colors I specifically chose (grey, yellow and black).
I love the material on this one, it's soft and really high-quality. One downside- which I would definitely try to avoid in a child's item, is that it's hand wash only, line dry. I would never buy an item for a baby with delicate washing instructions! Haha.
This item retails for $12 at Kicky Pants.

5. Giraffe Onesie by American Apparel

Another American Apparel item, that is three in one box. I might have liked a little more diversity in the brands, however they chose a high quality brand to feature. This IS my favorite item in the box though. The giraffe with sunglasses and converse is way too cute. The only thing I don't like about it is the witttlebee logo, which wouldn't even be that bad if it didn't say "kids clothing club". I personally don't like people as walking billboards. I did personally request no licensed characters. I suppose this may not exactly be a licensed character, but close enough in my mind. However, I love that giraffe so much it doesn't matter. Sidenote: I also didn't choose animals in my style profile.
Knit onesies retail for $11.50 at American Apparel.

6. Jeans by TeddyBoom

This is my one major disappointment in the box. Not only do these jeans remind me on a style from the 90's, but they also appear to be the kind of denim that bleeds easily. They are also extremely poorly made. One of the first things I noticed is a hole near the crotch seam.

I am planning on calling customer service about this tomorrow. I'm hoping I may be able to get just the pants exchanged. I do like the rest of the box quite a bit, even if they weren't items I would have picked out on my own. It encourages me to branch out a bit. But these jeans... big fail. Sorry Wittlebee! The quality on these jeans leaves much to be desired... and no offense Teddyboom; but they're kinda downright ugly. If I kept them, even if there were no defect, I know I would never end up putting them on Cobi. I have many other jeans in this size that are ten times cuter and were much cheaper.
Speaking of which, I cannot find anywhere online what these pants go for, but saw a few ebay listings for around $10, so we'll go with that.

Would I order again? For $40 - no. Six items for $40 comes to $6.67 an item. For some that may seem like a steal. But for a frugalista like me, my cardinal rule is to never pay $5+ for an item of clothing for my 6 month old son... unless of course it's a pair or shoes or coat. I do think the boxes would get better and better, as I've heard from other Wittlebee members. And I would love to try it out for longer, but I'm afraid the price isn't worth it to me. Nor is it in my budget. Perhaps if I find another 50% off deal, I will try again.

If you want to try, get $10 off your first order here. I would encourage you to provide thorough style notes and be honest about what you want! I didn't receive licensed characters, skulls (which, for some reason, seem to be popular in boys clothing), or slogans. I'm happy about that. I did receive stripes and geometric prints as I requested. I also requested no orange or red and didn't receive any of those colors. I do think the style notes are more important than the profile. I also would have requested specific brands had I thought about it. I would have requested American Apparel, as well as Tiny Whales. Their stuff looks super cute! However, without knowing the brands they carry, this might be hard. But if you speak with a stylist you may be able to ask about the brands.

Adding up all the items, the total comes to about $61 retail for all six items. It's more than I would have paid for six items, but so is $40. I definitely could have found six items for less than $40. However, I did only pay $20 for this box, so I got a deal here ($3.33/item). With a $10 off, you could also only pay $5 per item!

It's disappointing to see that it wasn't actually $100 in retail as they advertised. It is a savings, sure, but not as much as they make it out to be and that it a disappointment.

I think this would be a fun gift to give/receive! I may consider this for friends and family in the future.

In short: I like this. I love the idea of it and for the right person it could be a lifesaver! I think it gets better as you go as well; you learn to leave better notes based on what you like. I've heard the customer service is great as well. The items were really cute. I would recommend this service!