By Elizabeth Wheless
In the past few years, the fashion community has been increasingly focused on sustainability and how consumerism drives over-consumption. Clothes are often thrown away after one or two wears, contributing to growing landfill waste. Being personally convicted of my own wasteful and excessive shopping habits, I decided to try out clothing rental platforms which might be my solution to my serial buying mentality.
Since starting my journey in clothing rental, I have already learned a few tricks from other SMU girls who use NuuIy, Rent the Runway, and Fashion Pass. This month, I bought a Rent the Runway membership for $144 in exchange for ten clothing items. I wanted to see what all the hype was about and if clothing rental platforms are the best way to try new pieces, while not breaking the bank.
Rent the Runway offers a few different services and picking a plan is the first challenge to navigate the world of clothing rentals. I ended up choosing the “ten-garment plan,” but they also offer a “five-garment plan” or rentals for events based on specific dates. The catch with the ten-item plan, which I didn’t learn until after purchasing, is that you pick out five items every two weeks instead of ten pieces all at once. My items arrived within three days of placing the order and the site has filters that specify your size and style choices. The pieces arrived in plastic garment bags on hangers that had been reused in an effort for sustainability. Upon first examination, I noticed that one item came with a defective zipper and another with a hole which is a downside to the rental experience. Each month, you are allowed one free swap if you don’t like an item or it doesn’t fit. The exchange process was super easy, I simply clicked swap on the app and then left the item on my doorstep, and the next day a courier picked it up and dropped off my new item.
While I’m still getting the hang of the process, it has been really exciting getting new pieces in the mail and picking out options based on specific plans I have that week. Another feature I like is the event rental because I was able to choose a backup size of the same item in case the original didn’t fit.
While there have been many pros to my rental experience, there are certainly improvements that could be made. For example, I wish the inventory on the site was a bit more up-to-date as I’ve seen a few pieces that were from collections three or four years old. Another improvement would be to thoroughly inspect items for quality issues such as holes or defective zippers, before they reach consumers. Overall I have enjoyed the experience knowing it’s not costing me much money compared to buying an entirely new outfit for every occasion. I would for sure be interested in trying memberships on other sites and my discussions with other students about clothing rental encouraged me to give other platforms a try!
SMU Junior Audrey Seeds is a big fan of her Nuuly subscription: “I love using Nuuly for various events like formals or game day because I can get a really nice dress and only spend $100 for six things versus two or three hundred for one thing that I’ll only wear once. I always get a pair of jeans and a fun top so I can just mix up what I wear for that month.”
SMU Sophomore, Sylvie Sausse loves Fashion Pass and also gave me a review of her experience: “I just started using Fashion Pass and love how I can wear something for an occasion once and send it back – it allows me to keep my closet filled with great basics and dress up an outfit with a fun piece!”
Overall, clothing rental is a viable option for the student who loves to have new outfits for various events yet is trying to be cost-conscious and less wasteful with their consumption. Before buying a membership, browse the site and decide which platform best fits your style, budget, and schedule needs! While each platform has pros and cons, rental is worth giving a try and is a more sustainable and cost-conscious option.
