Let's Be Frank

ALL IMAGES KEITH V FISCHER
SHOT ON LOCATION IN VANCOUVER

LEATHER JACKET, DANIER (VINTAGE) | TEE, FRANK + OAK | CROPPED PANT, FRANK + OAK
SHOES, ADIDAS | HAIR, CIVELLO SALON | LASHES, KINJOU | BROWS, MILA MINK

We all want to simplify our lives to do the things we really want to do, like spending more time with loved ones. I know I’m not alone in thinking this. That’s why we have special apps that we rely on, or services that help make our lives simpler. 

Now what if one of your favourite clothing companies offered a service where they would send you clothes each month based on knowing what your preferences are? Would you try it? I came upon such an opportunity recently when one of my favourite clothing companies, Frank + Oak, launched their subscription service called Style Plan. It’s a service where you can get up to four personalized recommendations for $79 USD ($89 CAD) either every month or every other month, based on your own personal ranking of various styles presented to you. The more you purchase, the better the system understands your preferences. Shipping is free and so are returns. Plus they let you cancel at any time. New collections are launched on the first of each month around 11 AM EST and as a member you get immediate notification. 

How it Works

The monthly fee of $79 USD ($89 CAD) gets you five tokens. These tokens can be traded in for items that appear on your Style Plan recommendations page (based on your initial survey of preferences). The benefit of buying tokens instead of purchasing pieces a la carte is that you can save up to 25% off their regular prices. So what do you get for a token? Generally you’ll get something like a t-shirt. Want something nicer, like a button-up shirt? That’ll cost you two tokens. Pants are worth three tokens. 

You also can let your tokens accumulate. If you haven’t found something that you like that month, you can keep building your purse and spend more on the following month, as long as it doesn’t exceed four items in total. 

My Experience

So I decided to give Style Plan a try. The sign up process is very simple as was the initial set up to provide Style Plan with your preferences. They show you a bunch of outfits and ask you to rank them by preference and eventually they have a pretty good idea of what you’re looking for. What was interesting was that the pieces they showed me were exactly the pieces they had on offer. I suppose that’s the most specific way of understanding whether you’d purchase this month’s collection or not, but I’m not entirely convinced that it’s the best - or only - way to determine a customer’s preferences. Nonetheless, with my five tokens, I was able to pick out one white tee and a pair of high-waist cropped pants, which I had been wanting to add to my wardrobe for a while. Checkout was a breeze and shipping took about a week, so not too bad. 

Once I received the pieces, the t-shirt was exactly as expected as they are generally of pretty good quality. And the pants were made of a soft brushed cotton so super comfortable and again, familiar, as I also own other Frank + Oak pants that are of similar quality. 

As expected, you’ll get some hiccups when you launch a new service but there really wasn’t anything to complain about with Style Plan. That said, I’m looking forward to Frank + Oak providing a more robust method of narrowing style choices without it feeling a little contrived. Will I use this service again? Probably. I’m always willing to try something out for a while, especially when it’s meant to simplify my life and heck, they’re Canadian.

If you’re interested in trying it out, head over to this link to get $30 off your first order and let me know what you think!