My Love Hate Relationship with Rent the Runway

 Let me start this one off by saying, I am the WORST when it comes to purchasing clothes. I can window shop for days, but to actually commit to purchasing or, god forbid, trying on clothes…I just can’t do it. This specifically becomes an issue when I have a special event coming up and need to find something schnazzy to wear…basically, I’d just wait until the absolute last second, and settle on something cheap. So, when I heard about Rent the Runway a few years ago, I was intrigued. At a point where I was sick of wearing less than flattering dresses  that I found last minute at Forever 21 and H&M, and feeling as though a professional in her late 20’s needed to up her attire standards, I decided to give it a go. And let me tell you, I have been a huge fan since. So much so, that I even purchased a Rent the Runway Pro membership because I knew that I’d be renting enough dresses (hellloooo “the age of weddings and poshy galas) to more than make up for shipping and insurance costs if I didn’t have the pro membership. As an FYI: With “pro” membership, you don’t pay shipping fees, insurance fees, and you get a free birthday dress! (plus, they always run discounts for Pro-members)  My honeymoon phase with Rent the Runway was in full bloom.  So, it may be fitting to throw in the positives of Rent the Runway now:

1. 1. Designer Dresses @  Macy’s prices: The quality of these dresses is unmatched. I mean, these are $500-$1000+ dresses that you’re renting for prices as low as $35. By renting these dresses, I’ve realized how different material can really affect how a dress looks and feels on your body. 
   2. Back Up Dress: One of the major qualms with renting a dress that I hear among many of my friends is fear of it “not fitting.” Rent the Runway allows you to order 1 free back up size in your dress. So, if you’re unsure or in between sizes, this is a huge relief.
   3. Reviews: Rent the Runway’s website is pretty sweet. They encourage you to leave reviews of your rentals and take photos. I’ve found this to be SUPER helpful when trying to find a dress. I look for someone with a similar shape and basically base my decision on their feedback and how flattering the item was on them.
   4. Easy Delivery/Return Process:  They mail you the dress(es) in a garment bag via UPS. It gets delivered to whatever destination you choose: For example, if I’m traveling, I’ll typically have it mailed to my destination so I can 1) have it for an extra day and 2) not worry about packing it. I usually opt for the 4 day rental and just find a drop box at some point on Sunday, which is typically my final day to have it. *PRO TIP: If you have your rentals delivered on a Thursday, you get an extra day with said attire, since UPS doesn’t operate on Sunday 🙂 RTR provides the return label, so you literally just need to put it in the bag and drop it off. Done and done.
   5. Reduction Closet Congestion: How many times do you buy a dress for an event, only to never wear it again? Whether you just don’t want people to see you in the same dress or your shape changes and the dress no longer fits, there are so many reasons our formal attire in particular ends up sitting in the closet.
   6. Experimentation: I am known to stick to the same pieces/styles of clothing for extended periods of time. Ive just never been super adventurous when it comes to fashion. There’s something to be said for this non-commital relationship I have with renting. I’ve rented pieces like jumpsuits and rompers…who am I?!? And guess what, I’ve loved them!

Here are a few pics of my rentals:

But then, the Honeymoon Phase ended…

 I believe in the first two years of using this service religiously, I only encountered two snags in our relationship. One time a dress that I ordered must have been ruined by a previous renter (insert evil eye. Get it together sister).  RTR let me know (almost immediately at the time of the incident) and allowed me to select from ANY of the remaining dresses (including the uber expensive dresses) to replace it. The woman I spoke with was SUPER sweet, and very accommodating. No biggie. The second snag (and this was partly my fault) had to to do with the return of the dress. I had relied on a hotel service to give to UPS and apparently the dress came back a day late. The person I dealt with was less than friendly, and I was a little peeved. But I paid the fee and moved on…in the mean time, I started to hear a few stories of RTR-gone wrong experiences: from absent dresses to damaged clothing…but I kinda took them with a grain of salt because I had been relatively happy with the service.

And then…

    Fast forward to this summer. In preparation for my crazy month of weddings in September, I upped my Rent the Runway game. First, I decided to RENT the dress I wore as the maid of honor for my sisters wedding. I know. That’s a lot of faith for a dress you’re literally getting the day before you need to wear it (ok, two days before). But, I had been so happy with my previous rentals (even promoting it to my bridesmaids and wedding guests), that I wasn’t nervous.  Second, I decided to test out Rent the Runway Unlimited (not inclusive of my Bridesmaid dress). Basically, for the entire month of September, I would be able to keep 3 RTR pieces and switch out whenever I’d like. Knowing that I had three weddings, it was already worth it to me. Now, I don’t know if there’s something crazy going on at  headquarters or I’ve just had a couple of bad incidents, but I feel like things are getting a little shaky and it makes me sad. So what happened?

1. Well, similarly to my past experience, the dress that I was going to wear for my sister’s wedding, aka the one she approved and went with her color scheme/style, must have been ruined by a previous renter. Unlike past experiences, I only found out about this because I logged onto the site to check my Unlimited Order and noticed that my Bridesmaid Dress order (placed months before) was a different dress! Mind you, this was the Monday before the wedding, so inventory for that coming weekend was sparse. I understand that certain things are out of their control, but given the lack of communication and my sense of urgency, it would have been nice to get something more than an SOL excuse by their team. I did find another dress that was slightly large, nothing a few safety pins and body glue couldn’t handle, but I felt like more should have been done. Like, maybe comp me the dress or just be a little more sympathetic to my conundrum and take responsibility.
2. As I mentioned before, I had been a huge fan for quite some time. I’ve basically told everyone that Rent the Runway was gods gift to the fashion and time challenged soul. So, my sister ALSO decided to rent her dress for her rehearsal dinner. Once again, something happened to her original choice dress, finding out only days before. Luckily, she did find another dress and she looked bomb. But, I mean, if Rent the Runway can no longer deliver the original order to their customers, on a consistent basis, then maybe they need to re-evaluate things a bit? It just seems like it’s been happening a lot more lately.
3. My sister, going off of my continued support, rented a dress AGAIN for another wedding she’s in. She was supposed to receive it yesterday (Thursday), but did not. When she went to track it she got a “label created” notice. Obviously, a bit concerned since she leaves for the wedding this evening and the dress was supposed to be at her house yesterday, she was a bit concerned. Eventually, she was able to get a hold of someone and they assured her that the dress was out for delivery now and they would give her a 25% off discount (one would hope since she’s getting the dress a day late and I’m pretty sure that when my dress arrived a day late, I got charged a pretty hefty fee.)

Now, on the plus side, I still love the quality of the dresses I get, and for the most part, I’ve dealt with some very nice people. I don’t think I can give a fair review of Rent the Runway Unlimited since I only did it for a month and needed to use one of those dresses as a back-up MOH dress due to the issue above. The shipping is a little annoying because it can take quite some time for Rent the Runway to receive your return (you can’t order anything until they have your rental back) and for you to receive your new order. Realistically, you’re looking at  3 items a week and that’s if you have it timed to perfection. I liked having the option to test out some clothing styles, and despited a minor shipping issue, everything came as expected. Perhaps, if they figured out a way to make the shipping process more efficient, I’d consider testing it out again when I don’t have weddings. It can’t fully replace your closet…unless you plan on rocking the same 3 pieces of clothing for a week..I mean, you do you. So, I’m kind of on the border line of whether or not it’s worth it. Below are a few Unlimited pieces:

 So, is this it? Probably not. I’m still a “pro” until April of 2018 and despite these few snags, I have faith that Rent the Runway will address some of the issues that seem to be popping up a lot lately. The concept is fantastic, I think there’s a lot of room to fine tune the Unlimited membership, the pro membership is a no-brainer, and the quality of their products for the price are next to none.  Do I still recommend Rent the Runway? Absolutely.  I choose love over hate…and because I still loathe the process of purchasing formal attire. Until next time…

~Christina