Have you ever wondered how your favorite influencers have a new designer handbag every week and why you never see them in the same outfit twice? You know the movie The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants? What if I told you this concept can not only be applied in real life, but also to a lot more than just pants. Oh, imagine all the items we could share!
In recent years, designer rental companies have become increasingly popular. The concept is not new, however. Such companies have been around since the early 2000s.
Renting designer pieces instead of buying them is the most fiscally responsible and ethical way to wear designer clothing. Instead of just hoarding something in your closet, pieces are able to be worn once and then returned for the next person to wear. This is a lot easier on your wallet, as you never have to pay full price to rent a designer piece. This process is significantly easier on the environment as well, as pieces are more continuously used and shared instead of just worn once and then tossed aside.
Here are some of the best and most credible sites to rent designer pieces from:
1. Rent the Runway
As the name suggests, fashion lovers can quite literally rent items from runway shows, for as low as $30 a piece! Rent the Runway has thousands of options and carries numerous popular retailers and over 750 designer brands. The brand offers one time rentals starting at $30 and a monthly membership option with trials starting at $69. In addition to a wide variety of designer pieces, the brand is also size inclusive and offers styles ranging from size 00-22. So how does it work?
According to the brand’s website, the process is simple and convenient. For one-time rentals, customers select their delivery date 1-2 days before their special event and may keep items for 4 or 8 days at a time. The rentals will be delivered dry cleaned and ready to wear. A free backup size is even included with every order to ensure that the items fit! Once the rental period is over, customers ship the items back with a prepaid shipping label.
Various membership plans are also available and are completely customizable. Each plan starts with 4 items at a time and allows customers to keep items as long as they’d like. Members can even choose how many shipments they want to receive per month, and swap out or keep items based on their needs.
2. Nuuly
Nuuly Rent is a clothing rental subscription falling under the URBN parent company umbrella, which comprises global brands such as Anthropologie, Free People, Urban Outfitters and more. For $88 per month, members are able to rent any six items they choose. After locking in their monthly choices, members can begin to expect their items. Members will not be able to order any more clothes after their choices for the month are locked in, but they can continue to add to their online Nuuly closet for when they send back the items and their Nuuly subscription unlocks again. If they really love something and can’t part with an item, customers have the option to buy. However, keep in mind that all purchases are final sale and cannot be returned.
The brand also offers Nuuly Thrift, a new community resale marketplace where anyone can buy or sell apparel, accessories and shoes. Unlike Nuuly Rent, Nuuly Thrift is for more than just URBN brands, and allows anyone to sell pretty much anything! A nice perk? When an item is sold on Nuuly Thrift, customers can either deposit the money directly into their bank accounts or convert their earnings into Nuuly Cash. With Nuuly Cash, the value of the money increases by 10% when spent back at any of the URBN brands.
3. Tulerie
Created by a couple of friends who discovered the joy of sharing clothing, Tulerie is an app aiming to redefine the way people wear clothes and think about fashion. The Tulerie mission is to change the way consumers think about their wardrobe and expand their love for fashion in a way that is friendly for both the environment and their wallet. Community members are accepted through an interview process. Once accepted, members can access thousands of designer pieces from brands like Christian Dior, Gucci, Bottega Veneta and more.
This all sounds great, but how does it work? Community members can join as a Borrower or Lender. Once accepted, Borrowers can scroll through a wide arrangement of closets and make requests from Lenders once they find items they’d like to borrow. After selecting a delivery date, members can rent items for 4, 10, or even 20 days! On the last day of the borrowing period, Borrowers simply place the item in its original packaging and send it back.
As a Lender, members are able to rent out their gently used designer clothing and accessories right through the Tulerie phone app! Upon receiving a request, Lenders have 24 hours to accept it. Tulerie automatically creates shipping labels for all requests, making it incredibly easy for items to be shipped out. After the items are received back, the Lender professionally cleans the items (using the cleaning fee paid by the Borrower). And that’s it! Easy peasy.
4. Gwynnie Bee
Gwynnie Bee is a subscription based rental service with inclusive options ranging from sizes 0 to 32 and specifically catering to women sizes 10 to 32. What’s unique about Gwynnie Bee? The brand offers a free trial in which customers can rent two items at a time for one month. After the trial ends, pricing is subjective to however many items the customer wants to rent at a single time, with the priciest box allowing members to rent up to 10 items for $199. There are a lot of options, however, with plans starting at $49 per month.
Members can enjoy free shipping, free dry cleaning, unlimited exchanges, and more. If a customer really loves an item, they are also able to buy it and keep it! By joining now, new members can enjoy 50% off their first month.
I encourage you all to do your own research and to incorporate more sustainable fashion practices in your life, regardless of what that looks like!
Featured image via @Tulerie. Design by Her Campus Media/Nechama Lock of Unsplash.
