Fashion

YAY OR NAY? CLOTHING SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES

09/15/2019

It finally happened. I gave this whole “clothing rental” thing a try.

Other than a one-item/one-time foray into Rent-the-Runway, this was my first real go at it. I know, I know- I might be the last one to arrive at this party. In my defense, renting your clothes has always felt like an odd concept to me. As a fan of the “shop your closet” concept (which I talk about HERE), remixing my current wardrobe is the way I prefer to go. And if I am going to spend, I’d rather focus on building out a killer wardrobe vs. shelling out cash each month on things I can’t even keep. Right? Wrong.

I was offered a free month from Nuuly, a new service launched this summer that offers users the ability to rent up to 6 pieces at a time for just $88 a month. Unlike the formal wear offered from Rent the Runway, Nuuly’s inventory hails from Free People, Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, and 100+ third party brands (including AGOLDE, For Love & Lemons, Capulet and LoveShackFancy), not to mention all the vintage band tees and perfectly worn-in denim that your little heart could desire. It seemed like a no-brainer.

HOW IT WORKS

Choose 6 items. (Four tops and the same dress in two sizes? Six pairs of jeans? No prob. The choice is yours.)
Wear them like you own them. As in you don’t have to worry about laundry or repairs. Nuuly handles it for you.
Buy, return, + refill. If you fall in love with something, you can keep it. Send back what you don’t want (free returns, of course) by your billing date.
Repeat.

The best part? Shipping is free and items arrive within 2 days in the cutest little shipping box I ever did see. And if you’re not sold yet, there are no hidden fees AND you can suspend your account at any point in time. (Traveling for a month? Put your account on pause and pick back up when you’re ready- with no penalties.)

And now for a cute and quirky instruction video.

For everyone out there (myself included) who can’t do math in our heads anymore, basically, Nuuly offers subscribers temporary use of roughly $800 worth of retail merchandise at a tenth of the price (um, score!)

I picked a solid array of goodies- two blouses, the dreamy pink ruffled maxi pictured here, a sequin mini skirt, a gold lamé dress, and a pair of leopard print overalls. My theory was this- if I’m just renting, why not try out a few funky trends that I wouldn’t want to buy/invest in long term. And that gang, is the crux of what makes clothing rental so much fun.

Sure, it would be nice to be able to afford every appealing trend, big or small, that shows up on your Instagram feed. But in reality, why would anyone want to buy them all? A lot of the really sought-after trends aren’t relevant for long, so when given the option of simply renting them, who wouldn’t say “Yay!”