In 2019, I got my first “big girl” job — that is, a job which required me to be in the office every day and to dress professionally while doing so. I was certainly out of my element. Until that point, my wardrobe relied heavily on basic dresses and skirts made of elastic jersey cotton. Nothing wrong with that, per se, but I needed to up my style game and add pieces into my outfit rotation that would be sharp and work appropriate. As a relatively recent college graduate, my problem was a lack of funds; I certainly did not have enough in my bank account to justify a shopping spree. So what could I do?
A few months prior, I had utilized a clothing rental service, Rent the Runway (RTR), to select a gorgeous merlot-colored lace dress for a friend’s wedding. Using its website, I selected the dress in my size and reserved it for a four-day window for a grand total of $60, certainly way less than I would have paid for that dress had I purchased it at retail price. The rental came wrapped in a garment bag — along with the same dress in the next size up in case the one I ordered did not fit — and I looked great at the wedding without a hitch. When the event was over, I simply put the dresses back in the bag, sealed it with a return label which was also included in the package, and sent it back to the Rent the Runway warehouse.
Recalling how simple my experience with Rent the Runway was, I found myself going back to the website to dig a little deeper on its closet subscription model. At the time, Rent the Runway was one of very few companies to offer a service like this, which entailed paying a flat-rate monthly fee for “unlimited” access to thousands of clothing items and accessories from an online database. As someone who loves the thrill of online shopping, subscribing to Rent the Runway’s unlimited plan was a no-brainer; I could add designer items to my bag and have them at my front door within two days for $149 per month.
With the most basic model of the RTR subscription, which was all I could really justify in my budget at the time, I was able to rent four pieces at once and return them via a prepaid shipping label whenever I was ready to try out new items. I began dressing in a way I could have never pulled off before — sleek, trendy, classy (read: expensive) — and felt more confident than ever. I became a rental addict, eager to try new things in my wardrobe all the time. My favorite perk, however, was that I could wear an item for as long as it stayed clean and I could return it to the warehouse soiled or stained without ever being penalized for it. (I also saved plenty on dry cleaning bills.)
If you were paying attention to the timing of my decision, you would notice that I began my subscription just a few short months before the pandemic began. I enjoyed plenty of professional clothing, in addition to some gorgeous pieces for Shabbat and Yom Tov, before the world came to a halt. In March 2020, I contemplated giving up my subscription since I had nowhere to be, but I decided to continue with the hopes that things would reopen shortly. We know now this didn’t happen, but I’m glad I kept the subscription anyway, because during the shutdown I took up running and weightlifting, and soon enough none of the clothing that lived in my closet fit me!
Using RTR during this time carried me through multiple size changes. Without it, I would have been stuck purchasing clothing in sizes that would be short-lived, but thanks to the seemingly endless RTR inventory, I never had to overhaul my wardrobe while losing weight. And when my office reopened, I resumed my selection of high-end workwear — this time, in an entirely new size.
At this point, I was sold on rental subscriptions. Rent the Runway had saved my wardrobe, but were there other companies who could do the same? In the beginning of 2021, I left my office job and I no longer needed access to such luxury fashion. With other rental subscription companies popping up left and right, I thought this would be an opportune time to try them out.
Over the course of several months, I tried similar plans from Nuuly, which operates quite like RTR but offers “mid-range” clothing brands like Madewell and Anthropologie for a lower flat-rate fee; Lord & Taylor’s Le Tote service, which offers items from Lord & Taylor stores; Ralph Lauren’s rental subscription, which is exclusively for RL clothing; and Haverdash, a brand-new service (at the time). which came at the lowest price point.
I rotated through the other clothing rental companies, all of which had pros and cons. The main pro for each was the cost: RTR is the most expensive of the bunch, beating out the next most expensive option by at least $60 with Nuuly costing $89 per month for the same subscription model. The major con, however, was the selection of clothing; in this sense, you get what you pay for, and nothing stacked up to the range of options from RTR.
This was especially true as an Orthodox renter, as a better selection meant more modest possibilities as well as higher-end items suitable for synagogue. I found that the lower-end services offered plenty of casual items, such as tank tops and jeans, most of which were never going to be added to my wardrobe rotation. Ultimately, RTR won out as the best available clothing subscription service.
At the end of 2021, I resumed my unlimited plan with RTR with yet another impetus for a new wardrobe: I had just found out I was pregnant with my first child. My body was about to change completely. In addition to plenty of bump-friendly options from the regular selection, RTR also had a special selection of maternity clothing that I was able to maximize throughout my pregnancy. Following my daughter’s birth in 2022, the subscription continued to pay for itself as my body went through more drastic size changes, and I never once had to overhaul my closet as I lost the 55 pounds of baby weight.
In 2023, RTR changed its subscription model from “unlimited” — in which you could rent a certain number of items at any point during the month at your discretion — to a “rotation” plan, which limited the frequency of “swaps” per month. Despite being disappointed in the change, which meant my access to inventory was limited, I decided to continue my plan at the most basic level: five items at a time with one “swap,” equating to a total of 10 new items per month to try. RTR continued to carry me through more life changes, including my second pregnancy. Now that my younger daughter is a few months old, I continue to rely on my RTR subscription for workwear and formal pieces that I don’t want to purchase outright.
As of today, I have been a loyal Rent the Runway subscriber for five years. According to my RTR account, which I access via the user-friendly app, I have rented a total of 698 items valued at $244,524. In a lifetime where I could have never purchased a wardrobe at that price, I am certain the subscription has paid for itself — and then some. I’m glad to be a part of the renting revolution.
For 40% the first month of Rent the Runway, visit rtr.app.link/e/pqvfSb4ovNnb.
Channa Fischer is the digital editor of The Jewish Link and the resident 20-something in the office. She resides in Washington Heights.
