Short Story

What is Short Story

Short Story is a personal styling service created for petite women who are 5 feet 4 inches tall or under. The main goal of the service is to help petite women find clothes that fit their proportions correctly. The company was started by a team of women who understood the difficulty of finding well-fitting, stylish clothes in regular stores. They use their knowledge of petite bodies to select clothes that look good and feel comfortable. Users start by taking a style quiz online. Then, a personal stylist picks five pieces of clothing based on the user's preferences, size, and budget. These items are sent to the user's home in a box. The user can try everything on, keep what they like, and send back the rest. Short Story aims to make shopping easy and give petite women confidence in their style.

Short Story Features

• Personal Style Quiz: You begin by filling out a detailed questionnaire about your clothing sizes, style likes and dislikes, lifestyle needs, and how much you want to spend. This helps the stylist understand you.
• Curated Box of 5 Items: Based on your quiz, a stylist hand-selects five items for you. This can include tops, pants, jeans, dresses, and more.
• Petite-Specific Fit: All clothing is chosen to fit petite proportions. This means shorter sleeves, proper torso length, and inseams that do not need changes.
• Try-On at Home: You receive the box at home and have several days to try on the clothes with your own accessories and shoes. This is more convenient than a store fitting room.
• Pay for What You Keep: You are only charged for the items you decide to purchase. A styling fee is paid for the service, but it is used as a credit toward any clothes you buy.
• Access to Petite Brands: The service introduces you to high-quality brands that specialize in or offer great petite sizing, which can be hard to find on your own.
• Free Shipping and Returns: Shipping for the box and any returns is free. A prepaid return envelope is included, making it simple to send back items.

Short Story Pricing Plans

Short Story does not have different subscription tiers like other software. Instead, it uses a pay-as-you-go styling model. For each box you request, you pay a styling fee. This fee covers the stylist's time and effort to select your personalized items. The good part is that this styling fee becomes a credit that you can use to buy any of the clothes in your box. The final cost depends on which of the five items you choose to keep. The prices of the clothes are based on the budget you set in your style quiz, so you have control over the potential cost.

Short Story Free Plan

Short Story does not offer a free plan or a free trial for its styling service. To receive a curated box of clothes, you must pay the styling fee. However, the shipping of the box to your home and the return of any items you do not want are completely free. This means you can try the service and only lose the styling fee if you decide not to keep any of the five items sent to you.

How to use Short Story

Using Short Story is a simple, step-by-step process:

1. Take the Style Quiz: First, visit the Short Story website and complete the style quiz. You will answer questions about your body shape, sizes, what styles you prefer, and your budget for different types of clothing.
2. A Stylist Curates Your Box: After you submit your quiz, a personal stylist will review your profile. They will choose five pieces of clothing that match your needs and send them to you.
3. Receive and Try On: Your box will arrive at your home. You typically have five days to try on all the items. You can see how they look with other clothes you already own.
4. Checkout and Provide Feedback: Decide which items you want to keep. Log in to your Short Story account to pay for those items. Your styling fee will be automatically applied as a discount. You can also leave feedback on each item, which helps your stylist make better choices for your next box.
5. Return Unwanted Items: Place any clothes you don't want into the prepaid mailing bag that came with your box and send it back for free.

Pros and Cons of Short Story

Pros:

• Specialized for Petites: It directly solves the common fitting problems for women 5'4" and under.
• Convenience: Saves you time and effort from shopping in stores or online.
• Personalization: You get items selected just for you by a professional stylist.
• Discover New Styles: It helps you find new brands and styles you might not have tried on your own.
• Try Before You Buy: Trying clothes at home is comfortable and pressure-free.

Cons:

• Styling Fee Risk: If you don't like any of the items, the styling fee is not refunded.
• No Previews: You cannot see or approve the items before they are shipped to you.
• Potential Cost: The items might be more expensive than what you would find during a sale.
• Hit-or-Miss Selections: Style is personal, so there is no guarantee you will love every item your stylist picks.

Short Story integrations

Short Story is a direct-to-consumer personal styling service, not a software application. Therefore, it does not offer any software integrations with other platforms like Salesforce, Slack, or Google Workspace. The service is self-contained on its website where you manage your account, style profile, and orders.

Short Story Alternatives

• Stitch Fix: One of the most popular personal styling services. It serves a wide range of sizes, including petite. The model is very similar: you take a quiz, pay a styling fee, and get a box of clothes. The main difference is that Stitch Fix is not exclusively for petites.
• Wantable: This service offers different types of curated boxes, called "Edits," for style, activewear, and sleepwear. They also provide petite sizing options. It gives you more control over the type of items you receive.
• Trunk Club: Owned by Nordstrom, this is a higher-end styling service. It gives you access to a huge inventory of brands. They also serve petite customers and allow you to preview your box before it ships, which is a key difference from Short Story.

Short Story API

Short Story is a retail service for consumers and does not offer a public API (Application Programming Interface) for developers. There is no developer portal or documentation available for integrating with their system, as their operations are focused on personal styling and e-commerce.

Short Story Affiliate program

Short Story has a referral program where existing customers can earn credit. By sharing a unique referral link, you can give a friend a discount (e.g., $25 off their first purchase), and you receive a credit (e.g., $25) when they buy something. For a more formal affiliate or influencer partnership, there is no public program listed. Interested fashion bloggers or social media influencers should contact their marketing or partnerships department directly through their website to discuss potential collaborations.