A Year of Renting Clothes: My Favorite Items and Why

It’s no secret I’ve been using the Rent the Runway Update program to save money on clothing and also figure out exactly what IS my style. Well, I’ve done great on the saving money on clothes and am somewhere in the middle of figuring out what my style is. Today I thought I would break down what my favorite items have been that I’ve rented since starting RTR update over a year ago!

One of the biggest advantages of using update is that it allows you to do more occasion-dressing. By that I mean this: I don’t worry about getting something new for a social event or special occasion. I just factor that into my monthly pick. Just by chance, some of those one-time event dresses have become favorite items that I have rented multiple times!

First, let’s review how it works and why I chose the update plan.

How It Works

Rent the Runway Update allows you to choose 4 items a month. My month cost is $95 with tax and shipping. You can add an extra item for $25 extra a month. Four items is perfect for me as that’s basically one new item for my wardrobe per week. I get it shipped to our office. The only downside is that Wichita only has two UPS drop off locations which are on opposite sides of town and my life.

Unlimited doesn’t work for me as I would be exhausted trying to keep up with the wearing, returning, wearing, drop-offs, etc. I would basically spend my entire time waiting on shipping, wearing once and then starting the cycle all over again the next item.

My Favorite Items

DVF – Truthfully, DVF dresses are very flattering, but extremely unprofessional for the office. They are often entirely too low and cut for someone much more flat-chested. This is an entirely new silhouette and I LOVE it. I have to use a safety-pin to make it not be quite as low as it could be, but I get so many compliments on this dress! It’s a rare long-sleeve dress fine. I’ve actually considered buying this. However, it’s about $300 even with my rental discount so I will wait for that to go down.

Erin Fetherson – The texture and movement of this dress is unreal. This dress was just fun to wear and I dressed up with a cape blazer for a work event. I also really loved that the under-slip wasn’t static or clingy so I didn’t have to wear any shapewear with it and could relax. I highly recommend this dress for a cocktail or spring event.

DVF – This dress is a classic example of a DVF wrap dress. It’s super flattering, fun and has a classic shape. But, as I mentioned above, it’s also extremely low-cut and I have to use multiple safety pins to make it office-appropriate. It’s a fun print (polka dots in multiple colors) and has a top made out of a cotton fabric and the bottom is silk.

Milly – Okay so I am realizing that there’s something about having a monthly “update” like this means I get pretty extra. I really like that every month I get to update the vibe of my closet and I remember this being the perfect summer shipment from RTR Update. The banana leaf print is perfect for summer and I loved this one. It showed some skin but not too much, had pockets and was so flattering. Totally not something I could wear other than on the weekend, but it was fun and I remember feeling so flirty in this.

Halston Heritage Jumpsuit – This jumpsuit was the exact vibe I needed to start off 2019. When I first got it my BFF Kara literally was speechless. It’s good. But not so good you look try-hard. It’s the perfect mix of va-va-voom with sweetness. For me, you can dress it up or down depending on what you need and I wouldn’t save this only for special occasions. I consider this jumpsuit the perfect introduction if you are trying to get into them.

Rent the Runway Update Cons

Sometimes the only bad thing about Rent the Runway Update is that you rent the perfect item a month before and then return it. I would have loved to wear this for Abbamania I am going to this week but it wasn’t on the calendar when it was time to swap.

There are quite a few items that I’ve tried a new brand and not gotten the right size. Then I was stuck with that ill-fitting dress. I don’t love that I would have to pay to swap an item and let them know within 48 hours if I need to do that.

Nothing has been damaged that I’ve gotten, but sometimes clothes just aren’t laying right. Whether that’s because they are worn down or just happen to not lay well, it’s a little frustrating. This dress was a good example of something I thought I would love but the dress just didn’t “feel” like it was worth the retail value. Part of that could have been RTR.

Rent the Runway Update Pros

I have to say that Rent the Runway has amazing customer service. I had a package stolen from my front porch and while it was a pain to deal with, RTR was pretty good overall. Due to this I had to report the issue a couple of times and make sure I wasn’t charged extra for the stolen items, but every time I called the customer service was great.

I’ve been able to eliminate a lot of brands from my *want* list due to their style, quality or whatever. I like that I have a chance to try a lot of different brands and able to figure out what works and what doesn’t.

I love that in a year that I am saving every single last cent for the wedding, I know my exact costs for clothing every month. I’ve gotten a lot better about reading reviews, figuring out how to measure myself to see what size to get and what I want to portray that month. It’s fun to see the clear vision I have for each month and what my style is.

Overall, there are a lot of positives and I’ve never felt like clothes weren’t clean or had a truly bad experience. I highly recommend it, especially if you want to limit your spending. Knowing I have a set amount to spend and not going a penny over has truly been awesome!