It seems like the subscription service model has blown up over the last couple of years. What started off with a few companies like Trunk Club and Gilt, has turned into a real force and game changer in the way men buy clothing.
Recently a company by the name of Bespoke Post reached out and offered to send me one of their boxes to review.
Before diving into the products themselves, here’s how the system works. First off, you can choose to subscribe or not. The prices for any month’s box are $45 for subscribers and $55 as one-offs. A new box is announced at the beginning of each month and you have until the fifth to decide to buy, skip, or swap it out with a box from a previous month. Shipping happens around the middle of the month and comes right to your door.
Pretty simple and straightforward.
The thing that I really like about their service is that they don’t pigeonhole themselves into one particular category. Most subscription services are based around a specialized product or group of products. Examples would be a shirt mailed to you every month or a new box of grooming products. These are fantastic but can be overkill for guys who don’t go through products as quickly.
What Bespoke Post does is offer entirely different boxes every month. For example, their current selection includes a shaving kit, BBQ tools and equipment, kitchen knives, a gym kit, a starter tie set, etc.
Some of the boxes feel more fleshed out than others. I assume this relates to the relative price of included items. The tradeoff being that a box with fewer items will include pieces which cost more.
Each box’s page is loaded with supplemental content. There are potential add-ons that can be included with the box, blog posts detailing how to best utilize the included tools, photos and descriptions of the products and what companies they’re from, and reviews from other men who have received the box in the past.
After looking through each box, I had them send me their Polished kit.
Included was:
1 Black & 1 Brown 6.5″ Buffing Brush
1 Black & 1 Brown 6″ Applicator Brush
1 6″ Suede Brush
1 Leather Conditioner / Moisturizer
1 Black and 1 Brown Polishing Cream
1 Wax
1 Chamois
This is more than can be expected from a grocery-store starter kit, but not so much that the average user would be overwhelmed by the number of included tools. The fact that there are separate applicator and buffer brushes for brown and black shoes is a great attention to detail and makes shining a much better process.
Included on a physical card are instructions for three different levels of shoe shine and a breakdown of each included product, its use, and its origin.
I spent about half an hour one Sunday morning with two pairs of shoes and was very happy with the results.
I’ve tried many subscription services in the past, but this has been my favorite thus far. The guys over at Bespoke Post seem to think like we do. They create great boxes to fill voids that most men may have in their wardrobes or tool kits. Then they give so much information related to each box that the individual can go as far down the rabbit hole as he likes. I look forward to seeing what boxes they continue to come up with and will be using them in the future.
As a disclosure, after receiving the box, I set up an affiliate relationship with Bespoke Post. If you decide to buy one of their boxes through the links on this review or anywhere else on my site, I get a kickback from them (that honestly will just go to other box purchases for me, haha).