I tried Dailylook, a personal-styling service that sends curated boxes of clothing to try on at home - the brands it carries are on the pricey side, but the selections were spot-on

• I don't enjoy shopping, but I do still have opinions about and want control over what I wear. I love personal styling services because they choose clothing for me while taking into consideration my style and preferences.
• I tried one called Dailylook, which used my personal Style Profile, a proprietary algorithm, and a full-time stylist to send me a box of clothing it thinks I'll like.
• On the spectrum of personal styling services, Dailylook is on the more premium end. The styling fee is $40 per month, clothing starts at $60 per item, and some standout brands include Mara Hoffman, Maison Scotch, and Badgley Mischka.
• The cost is worth it - it's highly likely you'll find something you love (I ended up keeping three of my pieces), and the convenience is unparalleled.

Though I write about products every single day, I'm actually not a huge shopper in my personal life. Shopping for clothing in particular tires me out, and after a couple hours of sifting through racks and sweating profusely in small dressing rooms, I'm ready to grab a drink and call it a day.

Personal styling services were basically made for shopping haters like me. Online shopping by myself, while much more convenient, can still be overwhelming. But I wouldn't want to forego shopping altogether and just wear a T-shirt and jeans every day.

An online service such as Dailylook is the best solution for someone who simultaneously doesn't enjoy shopping, has an opinion about her personal style, and wants to have some say and control over her wardrobe.

The premium clothing subscription box, which is delivered monthly, contains clothing pieces that are curated based on the user's body shape, lifestyle, and aesthetic preferences. Dailylook uses a mix of proprietary algorithms and human stylists to curate these picks, and it's a system that works really well - its customers receive something they like and purchase it 80% of the time.

Dailylook's team is ultra-efficient about its operations: each month, its buying team has a given budget to buy just the right amount and assortment of merchandise to service its clients. As founder Brian Ree points out, this process "is not all that different from having your own personal stylist go out with a budget and do your shopping offline for you. [But] it takes almost all of the hard work, logistics, and guess-work out of shopping for yourself."

Why Dailylook is different

You've probably heard about other services like Stitch Fix or Trunk Club that sell the same idea. Dailylook distinguishes itself with premium brands like Mara Hoffman and Badgley Mischka, and the use of full-time stylists. At other personal styling services, it's common for stylists to be part-time or ad-hoc hires, which does offer stylists more flexibility, but may prevent them from fully understanding and engaging with the brand.

Dailylook's stylists are always interacting with clothing and clients from the brand, giving them the opportunity to develop genuine relationships with customers. While the online platform is still a degree of separation that prevents the service from being fully human and personal, this intentional use of full-time stylists injects life into an otherwise algorithm-heavy service.

How Dailylook works

I went through the process of ordering and tried a Dailylook box for myself. Here's what the process looks like:

1. Fill out your Style Profile.

Like all other personal styling services, Dailylook needs to learn more about you first. It asks standard questions like your clothing sizes, favorite brands that you currently wear, what areas of your body you want to show off or keep covered, and your budget for each type of clothing. The more detailed you are with your responses, the better your Dailylook stylist will be able to pick out clothes for you.

Afterwards, you can browse the "New Looks" section on the site, which is filled with completed outfits that you can favorite. Your favorites will further help your stylist figure out your tastes.

2. Receive your box at the door.

All your clothes come in a blue gift box, which I thought was a nice touch and made the shipment feel like a special treat. It comes with a bag with a prepaid return shipping label for all the clothes you decide not to keep.

3. Try on everything and decide what you want to keep.

The styling fee for each box is $40, which can be used as credit towards any clothing piece you decide to keep.

I received 12 pieces total in my box. They included pants, tops, dresses, and jumpsuits, and I ended up keeping three items - a light cami for casual summer days, a comfortable and stretchy jumpsuit that could be dressed up or down, and a bright pink dress that would look excellent at weddings and cocktail hours.

Overall, the fit of all the pieces were spot-on, and there were no major discrepancies between what my Style Profile relayed and the pieces I received. Compared to a service like Rent the Runway, which encourages taking risks on ultra-trendy pieces, Dailylook is better for finding quality investment pieces that you'll wear often (especially considering you're paying to own them).

Each item in the box will cost at least $60, so keep that price in mind as you consider trying Dailylook. If you have a lower budget, we recommend trying Stitch Fix or Trunk Club - their offerings start at $25 each. The merchandise comes from a mix of premium brands and Dailylook's own in-house brands.

4. Keep your favorites, and send back everything you didn't love.

You have five days after delivery to try everything and send back your returns.

Since my box included some heavier and thicker pieces like a sweater and jeans, it was a bit of squeeze trying to fit all my returns into the provided bag. I wish the bag were bigger, but the company advised me that I could also return everything in the blue box instead.

Make sure also to give your feedback online. Dailylook says 50% of its business is based off of user feedback.

5. Rinse and repeat.

By default, you're scheduled for one personal styling box a month. However, you can skip a month, change your delivery date, pause your subscription, or cancel your subscription whenever you want. You can also change your stylist if you feel like your current one isn't a match.

Is Dailylook right for you?

If you like owning stylish clothes from premium brands, but don't want to put in the work of shopping for said clothes, you're the ideal candidate for Dailylook. The process of filling out your Style Profile doesn't take long, and you have a generous amount of time to try out the clothing in your own home. It's easy and convenient to use because you can control when you want to receive your box, plus you're never married to the stylist you're paired with.

Use code "ITRIEDIT20" to receive $20 off your first Dailylook order here