Have a season of gorgeous, coordinated, stylist-curated outfits in your style, delivered to your doorstep
(for… shhh!… not a lot of money).
If you’re at all like me, you love the thought of having a closet full of clothes that fit and coordinate and make you feel great. You’d open those closet doors each morning and smile to see a neat collection of beautiful things to wear, unique-to-you ensembles that reflect your own signature style. You’d leave the house looking effortlessly put-together because, well, it would be (nearly) effortless.
I have an idea for filling your closet
that is very, very fun, and fast, and fabulously affordable.
You wouldn’t need to set foot in a mall, ask for help from commissioned salespeople and struggle trying things on in cramped and unflatteringly-lit change rooms, only to leave empty-handed. You wouldn’t have to give up an afternoon (or more), driving into the city and picking through your favourite boutiques, trying to find something flattering, when it would be much more pleasurable to meet a girlfriend for brunch-time mimosas or take your kiddo to the park.
Imagine the joy of opening parcels delivered by post,
filled with hand-picked, beautiful-for-you clothes.
We’re talking about online shopping, yes, and something so much better. I know—oh, I know!—that online shopping can be an abyss of choices and options and questionable quality. With so many stores just a click away, you can lose precious hours of your life searching for the right pair of ballet flats or over-dyed jeans. And there’s no one to tell you if the pieces you’ve chosen will work together, or if they’ll suit you.
This stylist can help,
with this Online Personal Shopper service.
I know which online shops have reliable quality (and great sales!). I know which brands flatter which figures. I know who has the best return policies (just in case!) and I know how to avoid duty fees and to reduce shipping costs, depending on where you live. I know the online gems. And—of course!—I know how to put together a great outfit that flatters and suits you. Within your chosen budget.
THE REFINERY Online Personal Shopper experience includes:
– An online style assessment so I can learn what you’ll love (it’s as easy as email!)
– Personal style portfolio of carefully selected clothing items and accessories that all work together—and work for you—to create up to 30 outfits:
7 tops
3 bottoms
2 layer pieces
1 outerwear
5 accessories (jewellery, belts, scarves)
3 pairs of shoes
2 great bags
– seven fully-styled outfit options to get you started
Having an online personal shopper
is a pleasure, and so easy.
Here’s how an Online Personal Shopper experience with THE REFINERY works.
Step one: Click here to book and reserve time with a stylist.
I ask clients to reserve time only so that you know when I’ll be working on your style portfolio and so that I never over-book, but I do not connect with clients during this time slot. (I already have everything I need after you complete step two!) Your online style portfolio will be sent by Friday the week of your scheduled “style time”—you’ll be shopping by the weekend!
Step two: Tell me about your style needs.
After booking your session, you’ll receive a confirmation email that includes a link to a style questionnaire. It will take about 20 minutes for you to complete and will tell me everything I need to know about where you’ll be wearing your clothes, what you like and what you don’t, and how much you’d like to spend when you do your shopping. When you submit your questionnaire answers, you’ll also send a couple snapshots of you (taken quickly on your phone).
Step three: I choose pieces for you that will suit your tastes and look great on your body type.
Once your “styling” is complete you’ll receive an email with a link to your private style portfolio with all the just-for-you suggestions. It’s like a magazine spread customized for you. Together, the items will mix-and-match to make up to thirty outfits—enough for a season (or more!). And to really inspire, you’ll see how to put together five of those outfits.
Step four: You shop.
When you have a few minutes to yourself, and maybe you’re even sipping your favourite glass of wine, you can peruse your online style portfolio and choose what you want to order. Each image in your portfolio is actually a link you can click through to the webpage where it’s available to purchase. So simple!
Step five: You get to know your mail carrier!
Your packages will begin to arrive and you’ll have the delight of unwrapping pretty things wrapped in tissue paper.
With a little help from an online personal shopper,
I think you can seriously get all of your shopping for the season done in 45 minutes. From your couch.
Clients adore having an online personal shopper…
“This was such a fantastic experience (I’m usually so remorseful after shopping on my own). The money I’ve spent on your services and this wardrobe was so worthwhile – the items are so much more versatile than I could have ever picked on my own. Thank you so much!”
Christine Myroniw | Director Human Resources | Canada
I worked with Wendy last fall, when she chose a new fall wardrobe based on clothes I already had in my closet. I felt like such a star when I started putting the outfits together — getting dressed felt elegant and exciting! But this year, when I started getting dressed for cooler weather again, I understood the impact of our session together. I understood why she made those colour choices, why she picked those particular items for me. Wendy understood what I needed to feel confident and relaxed. She understood it in terms of colour, texture, and shape. I’m still wearing everything she chose for me — the styles are timeless — but feeling the ease of dressing this fall, I can see how much my life has changed as a result. I thought I was giving myself a luxury gift: what could be more fanciful than a personal shopping session? But now I see that it was so much more than just “shopping.” This kind of self-awareness lasts much longer than a fall season.
Sarah Selecky | Writer | sarahselecky.com
“You made shopping easy! Everything was laid out for me so all I had to do was click on the links and buy, brilliant!”
Trish Mennell | Photographer | trishmennell.com
“After my baby was born, I had a new figure and nothing in my closet that flattered it. I could barely leave the house and didn’t have the energy to spend online trying to put outfits together (I was too sleep deprived!)… but I still wanted to look nice. You put together the most beautiful recommendations for me, outfits that were totally “me” and that complemented my new shape. All I had to do was buy them! It was very fun, and I get lots of compliments, which is also very fun. I cannot recommend THE REFINERY more highly. (You’re totally the best!)”
Carrie Klassen | Chief Creatrix | pinkelephantcommunications.com
“THE REFINERY excels at creating polished outfits for any occasion. Their detailed selections were unique to my specific preferences and they made the entire process of creating new outfits simple by providing guidelines for me to follow. Thanks to them, I now have numerous outfit combinations that I can wear confidently.”
Lindsay Brouse | Professional Figure Skating Coach | Canada
“I love to shop, but after having my daughter I felt stuck in a style rut. Your online personal shopper service was exactly what I needed to get my groove back. I was inspired to rediscover what I already had in my closet and mix them in with my amazing new pieces. My Mom and Sister keep asking, ‘Is that new?’. I finally feel like my stylish self again. Thank-you!”
Laura Caravaggio | Stay-at-Home Mommy | Canada
You may have questions.
Q. Are my needs a good fit for the online shopping service?
A. This service is great if you are happy to shop mostly at mainstream stores with potentially a few special pieces from small designers. You’re open to being creative with your wardrobe but you’re not looking for avant-garde. You want to feel comfortable in your own skin, without the dream of “owning” a catwalk.
Q. I don’t live in Toronto, can we still work together?
A. Absolutely! That’s the beauty of the Online Personal Shopper service. We will recommend pieces you can easily ship/return from wherever you live in the world.
Q. Do I need to be available while you’re “shopping” for me?
A. No, we will research and select your outfits on our own (during the time you’ve reserved) and we’ll send your curated selection of pieces by email the following Friday.
Q. How do I order the pieces?
A. Each photo in your personal style portfolio will link to the page where you can buy the item.
Q. What about shipping costs and returns?
A. Our service is for wardrobe styling; all clothing and shipping costs are yours to pay, of course. The websites we recommend have some of the best shipping and return policies available. That’s important to us.
Q. What if they don’t have my size?
A. We will always check for your size before we recommend a selection and we encourage you to order soon after receiving your curated collection so you won’t be disappointed. We can’t guarantee your size will hang around.
Q. How do you know what I will like?
A. The questions we ask have been carefully prepared and give us most of the information we need, and your pictures do the rest. We invite you to share as much additional information as you would like so we get a beautiful feel for who you are.
Q. I have different clothing needs for different areas of my life—the office, going out with the girls, yoga class… Will you shop for pieces for each?
A. Our Online Personal Shopper service is designed to build up one area of your wardrobe (of your choosing)—so that the pieces can mix and match and you have a season’s worth of choice. You might choose to have us focus on your clothes for work or on your weekend wear. Or maybe you’re dating again and would like a wardrobe for that? Or you’re pregnant and want pretty maternity clothes, or you’re breastfeeding and want to nurse with style. Give us a specific fashion challenge and we’ll make sure your clothes rise to the occasion. When you’re thrilled with the results, we hope you’ll book an Online Personal Shopping experience for the next area of your wardrobe that could use a little polish from THE REFINERY.
Q. How much do I need to spend on clothing?
A. You set a budget for us and let us know how much you usually spend on individual items and you decide what to order. So your shopping budget can be any amount you want. We’ve worked with clients with a budget of four hundred dollars to four thousand dollars (plus) and everything in between.
Q. Do you offer a guarantee?
A. We recommend reputable online shops that, based on our experience, provide true-to-fit, quality clothing but we cannot guarantee fit, colour or fabric. We also can’t guarantee you will love every piece we select for you but that’s our aim. There are no refunds.
Q. What if I don’t like what you’ve picked out?
A. In the very, very rare event that there isn’t a thing you like from our selections, you’ll still have the pleasure of a crash course in fashion styling, and we recommend you use the style portfolio and inspiration outfits to guide your own shopping so that you can put together the same kinds of figure-flattering outfits, but in colours and patterns and fabrics you prefer. (One of our clients realized after she received her style portfolio that she didn’t want to have to iron clothes so where we selected blouses for her, she found comparable cotton tops and put together similar outfits that worked even better for her lifestyle.)
Q. Does this service include style coaching?
A. Not formally, no. This service includes a list of outfits and several other pieces for you to mix and match yourself. It doesn’t include any style lessons—just style! That said, a lot of our clients have said they learned so much just from seeing the outfits we created for them, so they were able to emulate the same approach when purchasing new pieces. Others have preferred to schedule Online Personal Shopping sessions for themselves each season so they don’t even need to think about it.
“I’ve been receiving Wendy’s style advice for a while now, but I had no idea how AMAZING she was at this until I experienced her online shopping service first hand last week. As someone who dislikes shopping and going to malls… I took my iphone… showed the stores my styles… they found them right away, I tried them on… was in and out quickly. Loved everything she found for me. And the other things I ordered online (which I’m usually hesitant to do)… they came quick and it was such a fun experience. I LOVE this offering. She chose things for me, I wouldn’t have known existed and also I tried things on that I normally wouldn’t have tried on and I ended up loving everything. She even picked out make-up for me! So for any of you who want to have fun and ease shopping and feel good in your clothes … I highly highly recommend Wendy. This is a top notch service!”
Jenn Schramm | Equine Facilitated Self Discovery | jenniferschramm.com
“I have to say, I was really nervous about this process. How were you going to pick clothes for me without having met me??!! After seeing the selections I feel that you have picked clothes that are totally the style I have in my head but have never managed to have in my wardrobe!“
Lia Munro | Writer | Canada
“I just wanted to touch base on how much I have loved my new clothes. I decided to buy them all, and got to know my postal man very well in the last few weeks. It also made me reorganize my closet and throw out a big garbage bag of old clothes. I feel beautiful and fresh and clean and pretty. It’s amazing how just nice clothes can make you feel. Thank you for that! I can’t believe that all the items I loved, they fit so nicely, and you did an awesome job of finding the perfect me without even meeting me. How did you do that!? Thank you so much! I feel it’s really changed me. I hope to use your online shopping service again soon!“
Jana Girdauskas | Teacher | Canada
