Have You Ever Used Rent the Runway?

This fall has started off strong with amazing, back-to-back weddings of two of our best friends. Thinking ahead and planning for these two weekends, I decided I wanted to try something new, rather than invest in a new (possible fast fashion) dress that I knew I wouldn’t wear it as often as I’d like or reach for one of the LBDs already in my closet.

So, I decided to finally take the plunge and try Rent The Runway – it definitely lived up to the hype! I would 100% do it again and if you’re interested too, here are my key take-a-ways:

• Knowing I needed two dresses right after another, I decided to go with the Unlimited plan and it allowed me to have four items out at a time (woohoo yay for a dress for the rehearsal dinner, too!). IMHO, the cost wasn’t bad at all ($119 plus tax after a $40 discount code) and certainly less than what I would have spent on a dress. Depending on your needs, check out all the plans they offer and look for coupons, too!
• Once I signed up, I started saving favorite styles, but the tricky part was seeing what was available in my size when I needed it. Definitely build in time to search all of Rent the Runway’s offerings and have fun trying out different styles!
• Using this service helped me get out of my comfort zone – not only color-wise (my go-to dresses are almost always black), but also allowed me to embrace different patterns and cuts – and also not pay attention to price tags! I loved wearing designers I admired, but don’t yet have a home in my closet, and knowing I could wear a $1200+ dress, feel fabulous and still return it, ha!
• Read the reviews by item, as without visiting one of RTW’s stores, it can be tricky trying to judge which size may work best for you, but these definitely help. They do have a sizing guide that helps and I would say is accurate most of the time.
• During my membership, RTW had supply chain issues and this snafu affected my arrivals – shipping took 3x as long – but since I planned in advance, everything on my end thankfully worked out and I appreciated their honesty and customer service. But be sure to give yourself enough just in case!

Overall, I loved my RTW experience and would definitely do it again when occasions arise. I will admit that I felt badly about the environmental impact of back and forth shipping of my rejected dresses – I did switch to have my last batch of dresses messengered to my husband’s office, which honestly was only due to the above issues, and I would consider that avenue going forward to minimize the impact – but reminded myself that renting was better than buying new and possibly something that wouldn’t get much use again after these two weddings… although I’d love for my three looks to live in my closet permanently 🙂