Setting Up Your Stitch Fix Pinterest Board

Pinterest is the most direct way to communicate what you are looking for to your Stitch Fix stylist, and because your stylist is working on a very limited time frame you want it to be easy for her to visualize your style quickly.

I have tried arranging my “Style” board a couple of different ways, and after a ton of research and experimentation, I have finally landed on what I think is the best way to organize my Pinterest board for Stitch Fix.

I have written very specific recommendations, that crack the code of how Stitch Fix works and how you can use Pinterest to get great fixes, but before we move on, there are two main points you want to keep in mind:

Your Stitch Fix order is processed by 5-10 complex styling algorithms before it gets into a stylist’s hands. Specifically, regarding Pinterest, Stitch Fix has actually said they have their computers use Photographic Data to look at photos of clothing that customers like (e.g. from Pinterest), and look for visually similar items in their inventory.
Your Stylist is encouraged to work quickly and efficiently to choose items for your Fix, and finalize your order, often in about 15 minutes!

Once you start a pinning strategy with those things in mind and focus on communicating exactly what you want and need, each month your Fix look closer and closer to exactly what you are looking for!

Tips for Setting Up Your Stitch Fix Pinterest Board to Get the Best Fixes

Create a General Style Board For your Own Use

Remember your stylist is encouraged to style you in an average of 15 minutes, I personally would rather her spend that time going through Stitch Fix inventory, than trying to make sense of my Pinterest board. So, to keep things organized and supply her with only the information she needs for my next fix, I decided to actually create 2 Pinterest Boards for Stitch Fix, one for me, and one for my stylist.

I love pinning, it is my go-to time killer. I hop on Pinterest while I am in the parking lot waiting for the kids sports pick-up. Pinterest can sometimes recommend some seriously good items, even though I may not need that specific piece right now, I may want to save it for a future fix, or to reference later. Those are the items I pin to my general style board in sections I set up much like a department store. It made sense to me to set them up much like Stitch Fix’s own item categories: Footwear, Outerwear, Tops, Bags, etc. Think of this board as a database of your favorite styles, trends, and pieces to pull from when it comes time to curate your board for your stylist. Once these sections set up, it is easy to quickly find items previously pinned and to move them to a board for your stylist before your next Fix is scheduled to be styled.

One important note about The Pinterest board section feature launched last year: It is the perfect way to organize all your favorite fashions and clothing items on a single board. On my third fix, I tested out setting up a section to use as my style board and added to link to my style profile, only to realize that sections while great for organizing are not super share-able. Sections are only viewable to logged in users, resulting in a screen of a jumbled mess of pins from the parent board to everyone else. While I *assume* that stylists would be logged into Pinterest, because otherwise the pop-up encouraging them to create an account or log in would be super obnoxious, I had no idea what that link would look like to the Stitch Fix Photographic Data Program, and I wanted to avoid that jumbled mass of pins at all costs.

Create a Style board specifically for your next (or first) Fix.

I am a food blogger and love Pinterest for organizing food and recipes, and have built my followers around those types of pins, so I didn’t want to create a ton of style boards. I wanted to keep everything on one board, but my initial “style” board quickly grew to be too big, and turned into a hot mess. With some experimenting and a ton of reading, I found it is best to dedicate a whole board to your next (or first) fix. 2 boards is totally doable for me! So I created a second dedicated Fix board. Not only is it still easy to manage, but as a bonus to utilizing an entire board, you get to use the description area at the top of the board to echo what you wrote in your note to your stylist.

Populate your Stylist’s Style Board with 15-20 pins

This is definitely a case of more is not always better! Before your stylist even receives your fix information, Stitch Fix computers look at photos of clothing that customers like (e.g. from Pinterest), and look for visually similar items in their inventory. Then once your order for a fix arrives to your stylist, she averages 15 minutes to style your fix, I personally would rather her spend that time sorting through Stitch Fix inventory, than trying to make sense of my Pinterest board. The key is limiting the information you provide to your stylist to what your ideal fix would be for that month. And also, give alternatives, you know, just in case. I think you will be surprised at how your stylist is able to meet your needs, wants and style at the same with only 15-20 carefully chosen pins. Any more than 20 pins and they are just making guesses.

About 2 weeks before my Fix is scheduled I move 15-20 pins that best describe what I am looking for from my “general” style board to my “Stylist’s” Board. This usually only takes 15 minutes (if I don’t over-think it!) because I have that great “database” of pins I created in small pockets of time throughout my week previously.

Always try to have your Pinterest Board set about 2 weeks prior to your Fix. There is a lot going on behind the scenes in the weeks leading up to your Fix! Your style profile is analyzed, your Pinterest board scanned, and your fix is assigned to a warehouse based on a combination of its location relative to you and how well the inventories in the different warehouses match your needs and style tastes. That is the warehouse your stylist has to pull from. So if you decide at the last minute you want an athleisure fix, but your general style is glamorous, and you’ve been assigned to a warehouse well stocked in glamorous items, no matter what you write in your note, your stylist may have a very limited selection to work with, and the resulting fix may be disappointing.

Be Very Specific with your Pins:

I always try to pin only Stitch Fix brand products and look for pins that contain the item name, and price, these are usually screenshots other Stitch Fix users have taken during the checkout process. I try to be very specific about pinning the items I am currently interested in, but I also keep in mind the items I pin may only be mostly for inspiration purposes. I never plan on receiving the exact item I pinned, if my stylist can find an item I pinned and sends it to me, I am thrilled. If she finds something similar, or maybe, even something she thinks would work better I am happy to try it, and very often I am pleasantly surprised.

Don’t pin something you love, but is out of your price range. For those times when your stylist can actually get that item, you don’t want to tempted into purchasing something that may actually be out of the budget.
Pin directly from Stitch Fix’s Pinterest Account, they are always pinning the latest items, seasonal trends, and outfit ideas, but the pins rarely have the price in the image or description.
Consider Following Group Boards created by Stitch Fix Enthusiasts, these boards are usually goldmines for checkout screenshot type pins, and usually, have a fresh supply of the latest items being sent out in fixes! This seems to be the best of both worlds, the pins contain actual Stitch Fix Images recognizable to Stitch Fixe’s computers, and price information to help you make an informed decision.
Pin single items vs general style ideas. Stitch Fix has actually said they have their computers look at photos of clothing that customers like (e.g. from Pinterest), and look for visually similar items in their inventory. Because Stitch Fix uses Photographic Data available on your Pinterest boards to help generate your own personal algorithm, make it super easy on the computer to pinpoint what you like and are looking for.
Don’t pin something you kinda like. If you find a pin with a shirt you love, but in a color you hate, instead of pinning it and adding “like the shirt, not the color” to the description, search for that shirt in a color you would prefer. Remember that Photographic Data The Stitch Fix computer is scanning for? It is looking for visual matches, that includes cut, color and styles. Don’t pin the opposite of what you want!
Change the description of the pin! When I first started pinning fashion ideas specifically for Stitch Fix I didn’t change the description. It was a habit, I’ve NEVER changed the Pinterest description. It never really occurred to me that my style board was FULL of other peoples thoughts on the items in the pin, until my 2nd fix, when my stylist mentioned in her note she found a top I had specifically called out and asked for on Pinterest. I loved the top! The top is my most complimented top ever, but the top was slightly more than I wanted to pay at the time. As much as I loved the top, I surely didn’t specifically ask for a $98 top??? And then I found my pin, which was a repin, the original pinner wrote in the description: “Stylist: If this is available in my size PLEASE SEND IT in my next fix”. Now I change every single description on pins I pin to my style board, I always try to include what I like about the item, and thoughts on price.

Share your Board with Stitch Fix:

Pinterest is one of the best tools to help you communicate your tastes to your Stylist, and it is super easy to link your Pinterest style board to your Stitch Fix account! Just copy and paste the URL for your board section into the space provided near the bottom of your Style Profile. To get the correct URL, copy everything in the top bar of your browser following “www.pinterest.com.”

Clear Your Fix Board and Start Again!

Delete or move any items you received, and keep any on that you are still feeling but didn’t get to you. If you change the name of a board or section Pinterest will change the URL to match the new name & you will need to update your link in your style profile. If you think you are likely to forget to update your link, give that board a generic name like “Fix Inspiration”.

A few more thoughts:

Ultimately, the stylist finalizes your Stitch Fix selections, but there are a lot of complex algorithms being performed leading up to that final selection. Being very intentional with your pinning will help make your Stitch Fix experience amazing.
Once you think your Pinterest board reflects exactly what you are looking for in your next fix, take a look at it, and summarize it in your note to your stylist. An example from my spring fix would be: “I am looking for colorful sleeveless flowy floral print blouses to layer under a lighter weight hip length cardigan, ankle length white jeans, wedge sandals, and a casual embellished tee shirt”
Algorithms play an important role in your Fix, but don’t underestimate the stylist! Your stylist should absolutely be reading your notes and checking out your Pinterest board, factoring in trends and the comments or requests you left for her, if you feel your fixes are not reflective of that request a new stylist.
It is so important to remember your stylist is encouraged to quickly and efficiently style your fix, make it easy for her by limiting your pins to 15-20 carefully chosen pins, utilizing the pin descriptions, and keeping your style board current.
Have fun with it! I have learned SO MUCH about my style just by curating my 2 Pinterest boards.

Check out this board section if you would like to see what I am currently pinning for my stylist.

If you would like to see a in real life version of how I have my entire style board set up, check out my “What to Wear Board”

This is absolutely everything I have learned about setting up your Stitch Fix Pinterest board to get the best fixes. I know it is a ton of information, but once you fully understand how Stitch Fix works, it is SO easy to build an amazing wardrobe without ever having to go shopping!

If you already have a Stitch Fix subscription, I hope this gives you some ideas on how to use Pinterest to get great fixes! If not, sign up here, you won’t regret it! If you’ve signed up and haven’t ordered your first box yet, you’ve just gotta jump in and give it a try. Remember, you don’t have to keep anything in the box if you don’t want to. You’ll probably want to, but ya know, just in case.