Raise your hand if you have something in the closet with tags still attached. Raise your hand if you have something in your closet you wore once. Raise your hand if you have a closet bursting and nothing to wear. Then clothing rental services could change your life…..IF you find the right one for you. If you are interested in checking out rent the runway, please follow this link for 40% off your first 2 months through November 12. Rent the Runway Link

I’ve been researching and digging through the internet trying to find not just any rental service, but one that truly fits me. I don’t necessarily want to rent my entire wardrobe. But i’m definitely someone who likes to try new styles. But so many times when I try something new, it quickly goes to die in the back of my closet after one or two wears. Game over, money wasted. Because of this, I knew rental services could really save me money while giving me that newness I crave in my closet. No matter what rental service you choose, there is one simple rule that will make your life so much easier. Make sure you have good core basics. Your basics for work, home, casual, or whatever that looks like for you. I’ll have some suggestions below if you feel that’s lacking in your wardrobe. Once you have the basics, then you can rent something to keep your style fresh and try new styles without the commitment and extra cost of new clothes every month. Also this saves you when you rent something that doesn’t fit, comes damaged, you don’t like it in person, etc. I also still keep a hand full of occasion dresses on hand. You don’t want to rent something for an occasion, have it not fit or be flattering and then have nothing to wear. I would love to eliminate these eventually. But i’m not there yet.

One thing you also want to be keep in mind no matter which service you choose is sizing. Most services are size inclusive. But some have wider offerings for extended sizes than others. If you are Plus, rent the runway doesn’t have a lot of offerings over XL and 14. If you are petite, there are things that are not marked petite but members will tell you if it works for petite sizing. You need to measure yourself as accurately as you can. Make sure to measure yourself in inches and centimeters since rent the runway has a lot of international brands. Then get familiar with different brand sizing charts or you can also look up as you go. Rent the Runway does not have sizing charts. (definitely my number one con) Rent the runway depends on members reviews to let you know when something runs large or small, etc. However, I found this extremely subjective. I can be multiple sizes depending on the brand. Women’s sizing in the US is so hard! Not to mention Rent the runway carries a lot of European brands where the sizing gets even crazier. What worked for me was googling the brand I was unfamiliar with and reviewing their sizing chart from their website. Since I had my measurements, this made it easier to pick the correct size. That being said, I still failed a lot when it came to sizing.

There are actually way more plan offerings than what is shown. I recommend starting with the 8 item plan for the promo price of $99 a month for the first two months. This is a great way to to figure out if this service is going to work for you. Follow this link to get started Rent the Runway Link After you become a member. You can go to the membership settings page where you can see all the different options for additional items or shipments.

At the time I’m writing this post, the options are as follows for 4 items per shipment.

• 2 Shipments $144 a month

• 3 Shipments $193 a month

• 4 Shipments $235 a month

• 5 Shipments $277 a month

• 6 Shipments $316 a month

• additional items $31 per items up to 24 additional items

So in theory, if you max out at 6 shipments a month at $316 a month and add 24 additional spots for $620 - you could rent 144 items a month for $936. Which is a ton of money but also a fraction of what you would spend if you would spend if you bought 144 items at a department store or boutique. This make it actually possible to rent your entire wardrobe if you wanted to. If I was staying with Rent the Runway, I think my ideal plan would have been 4 shipments for $235 a month with 2 additional items per month at $62 for a total of $297 a month. Based on my experience about half of what I rented fit. So I would probably keep 2 or 3 of the 6 for the month and then swap our until I found more to fit. At this time I am taking a break from RTR to try another service so I can give a more thorough review of renting as a whole and if I actually saved money.

So let’s talk about the basic process. You look through their inventory and build a closet. From your closet you can choose which items you would like to rent on your current shipment. You pick each item unlike some other services where you pick items for your closet but they choose what they send you. It arrives via UPS usually within 1 business day. This can be faster depending on where you live. RTR has multiple warehouses. For me, my closest warehouse is Arlington, Texas near Dallas. If you live in Dallas, you can get same day or next day. In Oklahoma, where I live, it’s usually next day if I order early in the morning. Or about 2 days after if I order later in the the afternoon or evening. I do love how fast their shipping is. Returns are also just as easy. Previously, you would have to take your items to UPS or a drop box if you have a Nordstrom near you. But now, a lot of major cities have a free courier service. After you initiate your return, you will get a text message from a driver with a four hour window of when they are going to pick up your items. You put your bag out on your front porch, and they pick it up. I love that feature. RTR uses reusable garment bags or a durable plastic shopping bag with a zip top for most orders. Occasionally, you will receive a single item in a plastic shipping bag if you did a single item swap or the item is coming from another warehouse.

I think Rent the Runway has the best selection of any of the services I looked into. But with that, you may have a lot of things saved to your closet that are never available or maybe never available in your size. I did find myself constantly having to add more things to my closet due to the availability issues. If there is something you really want to try, scheduling in advance is the best way to get that item. At the time i’m writing this post, I have 600 styles in my closet i would like to rent but only 280 are available. Like a normal closet, sometimes I put things in my closet and just never rent them. I do like the ability to create multiple lists so that I can keep the items organized that I want to rent for specific occasions. My lists are named Church Dresses, Handbags, Work, Jewelry, Coats, Sweaters, and Casual Clothing. This helps me stay organized while sifting through such a large selection. My tip for getting the best selection is to swap on a Tuesday or Wednesday. This is when I noticed the most item availability.

My Shipment by Shipment Experience

1. Shipment - 1 item damaged, 2 items too big, 2 items worn (swapped the damaged item for another item that didn’t fit. Damaged items swap free. I also purchased a blazer that was damaged at had to be returned.

2. Shipment - All 4 items did not fit (one was a second attempt from the previous shipment based on user reviews and it still didn’t fit. Used my fit swap (only available in the first 60 days of a new membership)

3. Shipment - Only 1 of 2 shipments in my entire experience where I could wear all 4 items.

4. Shipment - 1 item damaged (like huge hole larger then 4 inches) Not sure how that was missed, 2 didn’t fit, 2 items fit including the bonus item in this shipment. (Every so many months you can rent a 5th item for free.) Damaged item swapped for another item that didn’t fit.

5. Shipment - 1 item fit 3 did not.

6. Shipment - 5 item bonus shipment - 1 item of 5 fit. Would have bought that item but on closer examination it had a hole.

7. Shipment - 1 item fit. there was a handbag in this shipment too but it was severely worn. I found that to be the case with most of the handbags.

8. Shipment - 2 items fit and 1 of those 2 was a dress I had previously rented. I rented that dress again because it was a special occasion and I knew it would fit and looked great.

9. Shipment - this was the only shipment I did only a partial on. Since a couple of items fit well. I kept those two and swapped two. I got another handbag in this shipment I did end up wearing a few times and another dress I wore twice. This was a pretty successful shipment but I still decided to pause for a while since I felt I was spending a lot and not getting my sizing right the majority of the time.

10. Resumed my membership to try one more month. 2 items didn’t fit. the other two were handbags. I wore one but not the other. The measurements were not accurate on one of the bags I rented for my laptop so it didn’t fit.

11. My final shipment before cancelling again. All 4 items fit. One was a little big but it worked with a blazer.

So if you were keeping score, I rented a total of 43 items. 24 didnt’ fit, 21 fit, and 3 were damaged. So I had a 43% success rate. For the price and how much time it took to sift through the thousands of items to curate a close I could only rent such a small portion of, didn’t work for me. I’m not saying I would never go back. But right now with my current body type and sizing plus my primarily work from home lifestyle. It just wasn’t working for me. I might go back if later if I don’t find something that fits me better later once my weight has stablized. I would definitely go back for maternity. Maternity is super forgiving and I can see it working really well for that. But just not for me at this time.

I do also want to mention the clothing condition. more than half of what I rented was what I would deem severely and visibly worn. The items were more worn than what I would keep in my closet. Usually when something starts to pill, fade, or appear really worn (unless it’s leather) I let it go. This is also why I wouldn’t purchase most of what I rented even though I liked several things. I ended up shopping some sales to find similar items once I knew I liked the brands. It is a great way to see how more expensive pieces hold up over time since multiple people have worn them before you. Also keep in mind that’s sometimes why things that would normally fit you might not. Since so many different people wear these items, you may find them more stretched out than if you were to go buy that same item new. This was definitely the case for the jeans I tried.

I hope this helped you better understand the pros and cons of rent the runway. I tried to be as detailed as possible since most of the blogposts I read were written by people who tried it for only the free trial or to write their article. It’s hard to find reviews by regular people with more normal jobs. Don’t forget to check out my link if you want to try Rent the Runway for yourself. Thank you for using my links! Rent the Runway Link