My Versona Experience
Hey, guys!
As a stylist, one of the biggest perks, aside from getting joy out of my work, is getting invited to review boutiques and designers. I was invited to review a boutique in Mt. Juliet called Versona. They sent me a beautiful invitation in the mail to give my thoughts on their new Spring collection, as well as a $25.00 gift card.
Having not been familiar with Versona, upon investigation, I learned that they are a branch of The Cato Company. Cato is an American company that specializes in fast fashion, and I find their clothes to be rather boring, honestly. So, needless to say, I wasn't expecting much upon going.
I knew that Cato's were the type to be found in strip malls, surrounded by generic stores. Versona was no different. I drove about half an hour to the nearest Versona to check out their Spring collection.
My first impression of the store was your standard, run of the mill, generic pieces. It was quite a large store, and I had a laundry list of pieces I wanted to purchase for Spring, so I made sure to give myself enough time to really shop.
I shop differently than most. I always start at the sales rack. The back of the store was filled with sales racks. I grabbed twelve items, including dresses, trousers, blouses, and some jeans. The staff was nice enough, and one girl even offered to start me a room, which in my opinion is the number one thing that you want your customers to have offered to them. With free hands, they can grab more pieces, which ultimately leads to more sales.
I had a dozen items in the dressing room. I went in willing to spend much more than the $25 I was gifted. Upon trying on these items, I was very disappointed to see that after just trying on these garments, that the pieces were already in a state of falling apart. Ripped and or puckering seams, and the fabrics were already piling. I was in the fitting room for an hour, and had a few "close but no cigar" moments, but ultimately, decided that they weren't worth it. Shockingly enough, I managed to find two pairs of skinny jeans on the sale rack that actually FIT me! This was finding the holy grail. I decided to get the two pairs of jeans for $6.99 each, and left the new Spring collection in the dressing room. As I checked out, I saw there was a big display of stationary, coffee mugs, and gifts. I'm a sucker for a good coffee mug, and I saw a turquoise mug with GIRL BOSS in gold stamped on it. So, that was what completed my $25 gift card. I went over by a mere $1.19.
All in all, my Versona experience wasn't terrible, but it wasn't wonderful. I definitely am not your run of the mill fashion blogger with pretty photos that can sell you guys anything that I'm paid for. I like to be transparent with my experiences to steer you guys in the right direction about how to responsibly spend your hard earned dollars. I know a lot of you look to me for fashion advice. So, if you need to pick up a cute gift, go for it. If you're looking for high quality garments that will stand the test of time, I highly recommend you to go somewhere else. Also, a random side note as well, they are a religious company, and you will find bible verses on a ton of stuff. That is odd to me to bring Jesus into fashion, but that's just something that I feel like people use to sell crop tops.
But, that's just me. What do you think, guys? Would you want to buy any of the pieces?