No. 93
Is it a sweater or a coat? Easy…a sweater coat!
Next question. Where is it from? Another easy one…Rent the Runway!
For those of you that know me, or keep up with me on Instagram, you’re probably well aware of my apartment situation. After about two months of living out of a suitcase and working off of a limited wardrobe (all of my other clothes are locked up in the basement of my apartment building, but thats another story), I was in desperate need of some new additions to what I was wearing. I did not want to spend a lot of money though because I did not actually need new clothes. I’ve just been unable to access the clothes that I do have. It was this that prompted me to try out the Rent the Runway Update membership!
Many people are probably familiar with Rent the Runway for renting a dress for a specific occasion. They also have memberships that they launched a few years ago, of which there are two tiers. The first is the Unlimited membership, where you can rent four pieces at a time and swap them out for new items as often as you want. You can also keep the pieces for as long as you want (I think…don’t quote me as I don’t have this membership tier). The second type of membership is the Update. For this one, you again rent four pieces at a time, with the difference being that you keep them for a month. At the end of the month you can swap them out for four new pieces. Just in case you were wondering the Unlimited membership costs $159, while the Update membership costs $89 per month. You can also get a discount off of your first month as well!
Ok, now for the good stuff…my honest opinion on RTR! I truly think that their business model is a genius idea! I have definitely enjoyed having access to designer pieces that I normally wouldn’t be able to afford. I also like how easy the shipping process is, whether receiving or sending the clothes back. However, as with every thing there are always bound to be some downsides. One of things that is tough is getting your hands on the pieces that you want. There have been a lot of occasions where a piece I wanted to rent was not available. There were also times where I chose one piece, and while I was picking out my other items, the piece I’d chosen first was then no longer available (talk about frustrating). So basically, the process of choosing the pieces you want can be a bit stressful, unless you go in knowing exactly what you are looking for. Another downside with the memberships is that you only get one size of each piece, and no backup size like you normally get when you do a one-off rental. Because of this you have to be super diligent with reading the reviews to make sure you are getting the right fit. There have been times when 3 of the 4 pieces I got just didn’t fit right. The RTR team is definitely good about helping you to switch them out, but when you do this, you have to pay for the shipping costs, which I find to be a bit annoying. Overall though, these are really the only annoyances that I have with the membership.
With the downsides of the membership out of the way, I want to point out that I really do like the service and would recommend it to people. If you are a fashion lover like me, or perhaps someone with champagne taste on a beer budget, then this is a really great way to satisfy your wants without bankrupting yourself. I also think it is a really good way to experiment with some fashions that you normally might not wear. Using RTR, you can try out a hot pink fur coat (check out this hysterical article on one from their site) without spending hundreds of dollars on it. This way if you hate it, you haven’t lost a ton of money. Or, even better, if you like it RTR gives you the option to purchase the pieces you rent at a discount!
So there it is, my honest opinion on an RTR membership. I hope that I was able to provide you with some good insight into it, and potentially help you to decide if it is something you want to pursue or not. As I said, I would definitely recommend this service, but my last piece of advice to you all is to go into it with the proper expectations based on my comments above. If you have any other questions at all, leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you!
P.S. - Keep scrolling to see this look, featuring the Line + Dot sweater coat from RTR!
P.P.S. - I also just want to point out that this is in no way sponsored. Everything above is my honest opinion, and I tried out RTR as any normal consumer would have. :)
Shop This Look
Click on an image to shop each piece directly :)
