What Renting My Clothes Has Taught Me About My Style and Money

My name is Alissa and I’m a Rent the Runway Update user is how I feel like I should start this. I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I’ve been renting my clothes for months. Let me back up though and tell you WHY I’m renting clothes. Picture this, January 2018. New year, new start, all that good stuff. I look at my bank account and deal with the fact that I’m still buying clothes for the blog vs. building a true career wardrobe.

Now,2018, I spend $95 a month on designer items through Rent the Runway Update in order to curb impulsive spending and have been able to save more. Sure, some might say that I should just NOT buy anything for a few months and save even more. To them I say, you don’t know me. I’m not the type of person who does well with just “Oh I’m not going to shop this month.”

To me though, using Rent the Runway Update has been an amazing experience of understanding quality and fit in my body. I finally became realistic about what is going to look good. Paper bag waists are never going to work on me.

Finding My Ideal Style… and Some Quality Issues

My ideal style is Rebecca Taylor meets the sleek design of Vince. I would have never known that a DVF wrap dress is actually totally not worth the money. I have been very surprised at how unimpressed I am with the classic DVF wrap dress. Almost every month I choose one of them to see if I just haven’t found “the one” but it’s just never happening. They are incredible flattering, but I would say the quality is the price range of Nordstrom Rack + on sale. I’d be happy to purchase for $150 if it’s in a classic pattern, but definitely not worth the $350+ (at a minimum) price tag. I’ve been so surprised at how many designers I’ve found to be “meh” when I get to try them on.

There are also quite a few brands that I’ve learned just do not allow for curves. I’m not going to try to make it look good on me. I’m focusing on finding the fit that makes me feel the best. Draper James? Adorable, but doesn’t hold up after two wears. Rebecca Taylor? There for every single dress. I cannot get enough and I always try to get a piece from Rent the Runway in my shipment.

How Update Works

I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to use Unlimited enough to get the price to be justified. However, I knew that I could do four items a month. My goal for every month is to do two work dresses and the other two items are “fun” ones that I choose based on any events that month.

Typically there is one piece that just doesn’t work. It’s either a fit issue or just doesn’t look like it did online. If I wanted to, I could swap it out, but it’s not worth the $12.99 fee. That is the one downside. I wish if I had an item I can’t wear for a month I could just get a credit or return it for another.

The Thrill of Getting a Package

I realized that part of the thrill of buying clothes is getting something delivered.  After tweeting this, so many of you agreed with me. I don’t know what it is, but there is a small high when you walk home and see a new package. Even if it’s boring stuff, it’s still exciting to have a delivery. I get so excited when I get that Rent the Runway notification that it’s time to pick out my new clothes for the month and that my package is on the way.

Items I’ve Rented

All of these items I liked enough to wear them on the blog. Truthfully, not everything makes it to be photographed but I’m trying to be better about it. I especially love Update when it comes to mid-season items as April and May were awkward transition months and I liked not buying weird in-between things.

I got this one on a whim and it’s surprised me. Although I haven’t bought any of the items I’ve rented, this is the one that gave me the most pause. Even with the discount I get after renting an item, it was still a little high for me. However, this dress was so comfortable, flattering and had incredible detailing that did make it feel very posh.

This Milly dress was gorgeous, but very tight. So tight I didn’t really want photos standing up because I was insecure about my stomach. I’ve found that a lot of Milly dresses really pull in the chest and hips area so I’ve stopped choosing items from them.

Draper James – this is cute but I wouldn’t check out the rest of the brand. The fit was fine and the quality was extremely mid-tier. The collar on it came slightly wrinkled and no matter how much I steamed it, it wouldn’t relax. Perhaps it’s also just this dress, but nothing really stood out to me about it that made it worth buying.

Tibi – I loved this dress but I wouldn’t have rented it as one of my work dresses if I could have seen how low it would be. Definitely not something I can wear to work (I have it this month) without a tank top underneath it. It is one of my absolute favorite colors so I am a little bit of a sucker for it. This is one of those “meh” items that just took a little imagination to make it work. I added this belt and it completely changed the outfit.

DVF – I want to love every single thing about this dress. The dots, the fabric. It’s all so good. But it’s not all good together. Her wrap dresses are sometimes borderline indecently low and the top and bottom are made out of two different fabrics. The bottom was silk and the top is a cotton-ish material and I often dealt with static and the skirt part flying up.

Final Thoughts

Overall this has been the best thing I’ve done to discover my style at the age of 27. I love that Rent the Runway Update allows me to get everything from a weekend dress to a career staple that lets me play around and define my style. While I always know what I DON’T like, it’s been harder to say what I DO like. It’s definitely also helped me save money because the set $95 is so easy to budget and I can factor it in like a bill.