The Shrewd Idea to Rent a Dress. Is It For You?
The idea to rent a dress or any clothing for that matter may be new to you. Yet it can be a shrewd concept for many. We rent cars, large equipment for home projects and staying in a hotel is basically renting a room for a night. So then why wouldn’t we think about renting our clothes?
Quote of the day: “You cannot push anyone up a ladder unless he be willing to climb a little himself.” Andrew Carnegie
Personally, I remember reading about Rent the Runway back when I was working. My first response was that it was a wonderful idea for those fancy occasions where you need a “special” dress. Just think about it. Usually you’ll spend $100 or more on a dress and many times only wear it once or twice. So what’s the difference with spending $40 to rent one instead? Then the piece doesn’t take up precious space in your closet along with you feeling guilty that you haven’t worn it more.
Full disclosure: I am not an expert and am not being compensated for this post. I have discount codes with both companies but only because I’ve been a customer. There are many other companies with this service, and I’ll be comparing only the 2 I’ve used. I hope to give this information to you as a tool in your toolbox . In this post, I will give my personal experiences but that’s not to say it’s right for everyone.
I’m also aware there are companies that let you rent “normal” clothes also. Some of my blogging friends talk about this. I know there is Nuuly and Armoire and while I haven’t tried either of them yet, it can be a shrewd idea in order to try out new styles or just because you’re tired of what you already have in your closet.
Related post: My newest Obsession with Your Revolving Closet
Rent the Runway
My experience with Rent the Runway is from years ago. I’m sure some of the details have changed over the years. Yet I absolutely loved this idea to rent a dress and used them for a couple of my birthday celebrations along with a couple of galas we attended.
I couldn’t find all of the pictures of the dresses I rented, and since this was before my blogging years, the photos aren’t the best. Both the burgundy sequin dress and the one shoulder dress were from Rent the Runway.
And yes, in the burgundy dress, I’m wearing a wig!
Some of the details and my thoughts:
As I said, it’s been a long time so the details could be different (although I did look at their site to check the specifics). I used to be able to rent a dress for 4 or 8 days. Now it looks like they are giving the 4 day option, 8 day option OR their monthly rental service.
Four days was always plenty of time for me since I was planning on wearing it to a specific event.
I really appreciated the free back up size that was available, since you can’t try the items on until they get to you. I never had an issue with the delivery or the dress, and it was easy to return. There are all sizes available for each piece and now the company has accessories to help you style your dress.
The prices have increased over the years, and it looks like the smallest amount for a dress is now $30.
Discount code: Almost all companies give a code for sharing. With Rent the Runway, you would get $30 on your first order (and so would I).
Wear Wardrobe
UPDATE: Wear Wardrobe has gone out of business but there are other companies that have rental options.
Wear Wardrobe is a very new company that reached out to me to use their service. I was gifted a $75 credit and I wasn’t sure I would use it at first. In fact, my first attempt (5 months ago) to rent a dress with them was not successful (on their part), but since it’s been over 6 months now, I think they have the kinks worked out.
I rented this statement dress for Easter (along with that cute bunny purse) and it was a great experience.
Some of the details and my thoughts:
These items are from a person’s individual closet. So there is only ONE size available for each item. Yet I do love how they have shoes that you could rent also.
Because there is only one size, I researched the brand and sizing separately and had a back up dress from my own closet ready in case this one didn’t fit. (As you can see, it did fit and I would absolutely rent it again. It was SO fun).
Again, I only rented this for the 4 day period, but Wear Wardrobe has 10 and 20-day options (after you add it to your cart) which can be helpful for a vacation or a couple of events.
Their lowest prices are less as I found many for under $30.
Tips and Tricks to Rent a Dress
Renting a dress (or any other item) is not a lot different than shopping for clothing online. There are some tips and tricks to make it easier and more successful.
1- First, I would suggest to quickly skim through a couple of pages of what you are looking for before you narrow it down too much. Sometimes you might get ideas of something that would work that you hadn’t considered. For example, at first I thought I would rent a long dress (since it’s something I don’t wear often), but then I realized that they would probably be TOO long (since I’m only 5’2″ tall) and you can’t alter these items.
2-But after a little skimming, make sure to use the filters. It can be overwhelming otherwise, and you want to make this somewhat fun! For me, I always filter by size, price and color. (I recommend to stay away from the following filters because they can be too subjective: style, age, formality or brand).
3- This is only my philosophy, but I feel like if you’re going to rent a dress, then it should be something different than what is already in your closet. Otherwise, you could just wear your own dress!
4- Like (use the heart feature) the ones that catch your eye. Don’t spend too much time checking all the details now. Just “like” a bunch and then weed through them in the next steps.
5-Once you’ve picked out a couple of dresses it’s time to do some research. Google the brand and sizing. For example for my colorful dress, I looked up “Sachin and Babi size chart”. This gives you the measurements that the company goes by for their sizing.
6-Now read the reviews. Hearing how it fit other women or seeing it styled on real women can be extremely helpful.
BTW, this is where Rent the Runway excels because part of the review includes height, weight, bust size and body shape.
What do you think?? Do you have a special occasion coming up?
If you have any questions, I am an open book!! Feel free to email me at Jtouchofstyle@gmail.com!!
Thank You for Still Reading
I truly appreciate all of your support. Supporting a blog is easy and free. What helps me enormously is to share wherever you can!! You can do this by saving an image to your Pinterest board or sharing this post on Facebook. Or send this post to your friend, and make sure they sign up for the emails.
One way I make money from this blog is that some of these links are affiliate links. Meaning, if you click a link and make a purchase, Jodie’s Touch of Style gets a small commission at no extra cost to you. I do appreciate you supporting the brands that make this blog possible! I am also a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Another way to support my blog – it’s the idea of giving someone a tip for good service or information without having to buy a product.
Why should you sign up for the emails below? I include some personal tidbits in these emails along with other happenings, sales, information and links. So I hope you join me on this journey.
