Five Four Club Subscription Box Review - March 2017

Disclosure: This post includes my personal Five Four Club Subscription Box review for which I was not compensated but it may contain affiliate / referral links. Read the full disclosure.

Three Two One…

Five Four Club’s February 2017 box was a collaboration with Poggy The Man. Oh and FYI…if you were ever thinking of going hipster and calling him Poggy Theman, it’s been done!!!

For further detail see video unboxing here.

Alright, so this particular menswear subscription box was ordered by a friend of mine for her husband.

He happens to have a younger vibe than myself or my husband. I always think of him as a bit cooler. Now, with that being said, I like to think of myself as sort of cool and kind of on trend, but it’s feeling more and more like that’s just not the case.

Stay with me a few more paragraphs and you’ll see how and why that notion continues to gain momentum.

I did an unboxing video and the items curated were most definitely items I could picture my friend’s husband wearing effortlessly. So, basically what I’m saying here is Five Four Club had a younger impression in regards to their collections and designs.

Five Four Club subscription will cost you $60 bucks a month and typically include up to 3 items in a monthly box. The February 2017 box included 2 men’s apparel items and a jacket. The jacket however was a part of a first time subscribers offer, so really it had only 2 items.

All the items are original Five Four designs, so you are assuredly getting items that aren’t mass produced and flooding the streets.

First up the Raynor shirt. It’s a button down navy/white checkered shirt. Now I’d normally call it gingham, but something’s telling

me that isn’t a word a dude would EVER use. (oh wait no, that’s not something…it’s the sound of my husband’s eyes rolling).

This shirt I would 100% pick out for a guy and make my husband review the gingham out of it. It’s universal. It could be dressed up with nice slacks and a belt, worn business casual with khakis and loafers, or thrown on untucked with jeans and a pair of sneakers (cue the eye roll, I called them “sneakers”).

The next item in the box was a hoodie. This is heavy weighted no joke hoodie. It’s navy blue and has some noteworthy detailing to it.

The first fabric which is smooth has some chalky colored markings (chalky colored is the best descriptive word I can relate it to) and the other fabric incorporated, although the same color (navy) has a different texture. I like these details, it gives some depth and character.

The zipper is gold (shiny gold). The hood is thick, double layered fabric. It would certainly do its job being stylish as well as functional because of its ability to keep you warm.

Then there is the jacket that came as a gift for first time subscribers. I hate being unkind, but I have to be frank. I wasn’t digging

this jacket, like at all. At least not for a guy my age.

It’s a nylon material (or as I like to call it, plastic) and it’s translucent.

Aaaannnd, it makes noise.

Have you seen the movie poltergeist? The shoes in the church? Uhhh Yeaaaa, go there! Call me crazy, but I don’t think adult clothing shouldn’t make noise.

BUT here’s the thing, I believe there’s a market for this jacket. I can see it being cool in the right niche and age group. I just can’t resolve what that demographic is.

So my initial thought was it could totally fit in a younger male crowd. I frequently take my boys to the skate park and there is a certain style to the boys who hang there. It’s a vibe; and a vibe I would have probably crushed on in my teens. There is something about them that is a blend of dorkiness and edginess.

This jacket covers both of those characteristics.

But, on the other hand, I also found myself remembering my grandpa who whenever we would leave the house would go put on his very light weight, very beige, jacket. Always!

So I found myself also kind of envisioning him and his jacket.

And with the noise that it emanates, it somehow felt appropriate to be worn by a much older man. Don’t ask me how I come up with that correlation, maybe it stems from the poltergeist character with the squeaky shoes.

Although I liked the button down shirt a lot, and the hoody was good quality, I’m not sure that $60.00 a month is a great value for the items. And, technically there would not have been the free plastic (I know…rude) jacket had it not been a new subscriber promotion.

Unless Five Four Club’s monthly boxes up the stakes every other month or so, I’m not feeling the selection is the greatest bang for your buck. However, keep in mind this was my first tango with Five Four Club.

It’s quite possible this was just an off month box. And I’m always open to changing my opinion. Unless it’s about trying Rocky Mountain Oysters, naturally.

The other detail that would possibly deter me slightly from this subscription is that you don’t get the option to review what will be arriving. And I couldn’t quite tell if their design lines are specific to your style preferences chosen during your profile set up.

Although that element would add to the satisfaction factor when you receive a kick ass box.

At this point I’m dubbing Five Four Club’s style ‘The Pharrell’, not to be confused with ‘The Man’. From what I’ve seen on Instagram and other reviews, combined with my direct single experience from Feb 2017’s box, it’s very Pharrell-esque.

Yo, let’s be very clear, I am in no way saying that, like it’s a bad thing. It just means that I need input from those of you who currently pull off the look. My own boys aren’t old enough yet to pull it off without looking misguided. And unfortunately, I’m not currently accepting suggestions for reasons to add to the explain my children list.