Rent, Wear, Repeat

I’m not shy about renting clothes! I rented my senior homecoming and prom dress on Rent the Runway, both dresses and experiences, I still think of fondly. These days, as I consciously try to shop less, I've found myself turning to renting clothing – whether it's for a concert, a special event, or simply to fill a gap for a travel wardrobe. I got more curious about clothing rental after reading Tiffanie Darke's What to Wear and Why: Your Guilt-Free Guide to Sustainable Fashion. There's an entire chapter dedicated to renting that got me thinking about how this could fit into my life, particularly her emphasis on renting when you need it, rather than as a constant rotation.

So, it's with all that in mind that I'm ready to share my verdicts on four clothing rental apps I personally use, each rated on a scale of one to five stars.

Tulerie 3.5⭐:

Selection: Tulerie is truly unique in its rental pieces that are available. From 16Arlington to Zuhair Murad. FASHION! My own favorites section has items from Gucci (dresses, tights - which I just need to buy honestly, rompers), Missoni, Zimmermann, Chanel (skirts, earrings), Farm Rio, Chloé, and The Row. It's a treasure trove for anyone seeking that distinctive, hard-to-find luxury.

Onboarding:  I joined Tulerie a long time ago, like pre-COVID long ago, and at that time you had to schedule a call with one of the founders to join the platform. Not quite anymore! Tulerie has changed its access levels, which I don't love, but understand. 

You begin as a free "Member," which has limited options to rent, you can upgrade "Community Member" after a quick call or virtual interview, and unlock "All Access" to the full closet, which includes more of the high fashion designer pieces by maintaining a good borrowing history with three or more 4.0+ star reviews. From my experience, you have to prod the person you're renting from to leave you a review, which is super annoying if that's what is required to get to "All Access," which I've got one more rental to go. I feel like you can get most of the things you want at the "Community Member" level, but there are also a lot of things you can't get.

User Experience: The app itself is perfectly functional – not overly flashy, and easy to navigate. You can filter by category, designer, size, color, and what's available in your tier! The images of clothing are mainly stock, with a handful of pictures of folks wearing the pieces, with some reviews from people who have rented.

Initiating a Rental: Once you select your piece, you can send a rental request for 4/10/20 days to the lender. They then have to approve and will send you your package to arrive by the date you requested. Sometimes they will send it earlier, which is kind!  

Pricing: Sellers price their own items on Tulerie, which is fine, but sometimes I do think they are on the higher end. There are a lot of fees, imo. A cleaning fee, which is set by the lender and can sometimes be $0, a service fee from Tulerie (I'm guessing percentage-based), and a shipping fee of $20. One weird note, you can't pay with a debit card, only credit?

Every once in a while, I see Tulerie run some kind of promo. They just ran a Memorial Day promo, but very rarely do I see coupon codes come in.

The rental process is pretty contingent on your lender. Did they send it on time? What condition did it arrive in? Did it fit? Did you ask enough questions about the measurements? You'll get a reminder when you need to ship it back, and I do appreciate that they send you a label!

Customer Service: I'd say the level of service is pretty high overall. I've had an instance where I complained about pricing and they stood by it, which was annoying, but my other interactions, about cancelling after a rental I didn't need, were pretty helpful.

 My rentals:

Remember that Versace Barocco All Over Skirt? An absolute showstopper. I rented it for four days for $73 (after a $20 credit, darling) but mainly for Drake's "It's All a Blur" tour, and while it was spendy for what was essentially a slip skirt, I was living for the moment.

Chanel-O! Those Chanel earrings I rented for my birthday were $85 for four days. I didn't just wear them; I lived in them. Working from home, the party, delivering treats to the news room after the party... they were going with me everywhere. Honestly, this was such a great rental, the lender was lovely, and I didn't have to pay for a cleaning fee. 

By Rotation 4⭐:

Selection: By Rotation is a wonderfully expansive, peer-to-peer rental platform across the UK and the US. Their selection ranges from all the Reformation you could dream of, Cult Gaia, Silk Laundry, and Farm Rio, all the way to Jacquemus, Alexander McQueen, and even vintage Gucci. There's even an array of Indian occasion wear like lehengas and saris, which your girl needs!

Onboarding: Anyone in the UK or the US can download the app from the Apple or Google Play store and create an account. When you join ByRo you get 15% off on your first rental request with code WELCOMEUS15. You're welcome.

On By Rotation, you build credibility through positive reviews from lenders, so to be able to borrow higher-end pieces, you have to have 3 positive reviews, which, in my opinion, is more attainable on By Rotation. I will say if anyone from ByRo sees this that a cancelled rental should count as a review. I've had a rental get lost and one not get approved the other day! That should count!

User Experience: I quite like the By Rotation app. It's easy to use, and the search function is great. There are all the filters like shipping option, category, brand, size, color, location, price per day, etc. The images of clothing are varied, with stock images and pictures of real people. By Rotation has influencers and celebrities (called Rotators) on the platform, so there are some pieces that you can rent from, say Akash Mehta or Ellie Goulding.

Initiating a Rental: Once you select your piece that's under the 3 review threshold or above, you can send a rental request for whatever date to the lender. Each lender can set how many days a rental is, so that will vary. They then have 24 hours to approve and will send you your package to arrive by the date you requested or earlier. I've had lenders send me pieces earlier than I requested, which I've been quite grateful for.

Pricing: Sellers price their own items, and I feel like the pricing is slightly more reasonable on ByRo. There are fees as well. A cleaning fee, which is set by the lender and can sometimes be $0, a 20% service fee from ByRo, and a shipping fee, which the lender sets. Sometimes I have to pay the shipping on the renter's end and it can be annoying. One more thing I have to worry about, you know?

Similar to Tulerie the rental process is pretty contingent on your lender. Did they send it on time? What condition did it arrive? Did it fit? Did you ask enough questions about the measurements? You'll get a reminder when you need to ship it back, and I do appreciate that they send you a label! There are some clothes managed from ByRotation aka they manage the sellers closets (noted on the profile). I wouldn't worry about those clothes.

Customer Service: I'd say the level of service is good. ByRo is good about if things don't fit. They'll let you send it back and refund you site credit, which is helpful. Recently, they helped me cancel an order from an unresponsive lender.

 My rentals:

Excuse this picture of me. It was the only one I really got >.< I rented this Farm Rio set for $52.02 for three days. The price included a $12 cleaning fee,  $12 shipping fee, a 20% service fee amounting to $10, but I also had a 20% coupon. Overall, this set got to me earlyyyy so I was able to wear it 3 whole times. I wore the skirt to work once, the full set for Bad Bunny, and the full set again for a spring menu tasting at True Food Kitchen with a friend. I had never tried anything from Farm Rio before, but I loved this set! I would rent it again.

This coat was a whole ordeal, and not what I initially wanted—TLDR it worked out. Plus, it was the right coat for a COLD spring trip to NYC. I rented it for a week for $109.20, and it kept me warm and protected during our trip and also doubled as a great blanket on the plane. I didn't have to pay a cleaning fee which was wild, $19 shipping, and the service fee was $18. 

Initially, when I read What to Wear and Why Your Guilt-Free Guide to Sustainable Fashion, one of the rental suggestions was to rent coats to help get through the winter, which was genius. I also don't super LOVE my day-to-day peacoat, so I wanted to try out some different coats. The only challenge was that most of the more "high-end" coats required three reviews.

Pickle 2⭐:

Pickle is another peer-to-peer fashion rental marketplace. What's interesting about Pickle is that you can opt for speedy same-day local courier service (mainly for big cities like NYC), but there's also nationwide shipping.

Selection: Pickle is a wasteland in the best way. From Anna Sui !!! to so much Missoni (bless) to Acne and designers like Tom Ford. Plus, Gucci, Roberto Cavalli, Pucci, and more. In terms of selection, Pickle seems to offer the most. Oh, also, you can rent a bunch of Indian clothes too!

Onboarding: Anyone in the US can download the app from the Apple Store and create an account. 

User Experience: Pickle's interface is intuitive. You'll see your recently viewed items, trending products, what's available to rent today, and other curated categories. Where Pickle really excels is gamifying the rental experience with lookbooks that can be public or private, and by featuring users and their closets. I even have my own lookbooks for work, black tie events, and coats! You can also create shared folders with friends, which is a neat way to plan for a party or a wedding together.

I particularly love Pickle's "Looking For" section, where users can request specific items. You can then share items you've seen or even things from your own closet!

The app offers robust search functions, allowing you to filter lenders by criteria like "fastest response time" and "top rated," in addition to standard filters such as size, color, and brand. There's even a Pickle AI image search that helps you find similar products available for rent on the platform.

One drawback that I've found is Pickle's notifications. You can enable them in your offer settings, but communication about messages from renters or customer service is hit or miss for me. Sometimes showing up on my phone, sometimes not.

Initiating a Rental: Once you've decided on what to rent, you can submit an offer. This is also where you'll see what options you have for delivery (courier, shipping, or pick up in person. You can also filter out your delivery preference ahead of time in your initial search which saves a lot of stress and time imo). Currently, there are no rental restrictions for new users, so you could rent anything from a Hermes Kelly to a Chanel SS23 logo dress right away. Once you submit your offer, you wait until the seller accepts or declines the rental.

In this phase, you can choose courier delivery (mainly in larger cities), hand off which is coordinated between the owner and the renter, or shipping. I will say that the shipping cost on Pickle is wild and inconsistent. This seems to cover insurance for the owner. This is a big difference compared to services like ByRotation, where you can ship items back using your own chosen method of postage.

Pricing: The pricing on Pickle is fascinating. When I first glanced through the app I was surprised at how much cheaper items were compared to Tulerie or ByRo. It seems like rental platforms have some overlap in terms of users, but there are a lot more general users and also influencers like the Pheloungs on Pickle. 

Customer Service: Initially, I watched a few TikToks about Pickle before my first rental. Some folks had noted that clothes can be sent in unideal condition and that you need to clarify with the lender the condition, who is dry cleaning, so I took that into consideration for my first rental. Each seller has their own fit refund policies ranging from no fit refunds, 50% refunds, to 100% refunds. Pickle does have a guarantee that if the item comes in unusable condition, you can report it within 12 hours, and they will grant you a refund. 

 My rentals:

Initially, I had wanted to rent a Rat & Boa dress from ByRo for the Gnx Tour, but the seller ghosted me. I have been renting enough recently to realize that you need a backup plan, whether that be from your own closet or a different app. 

In this case, I tried Pickle! I always like to browse through these apps when I'm not looking for rentals and save a variety of things. So, I found this Acne Danella dress, which retailed for $850, and I rented it for four days for $75 (Plus an additional $21 return shipping?!), which was a little more than I wanted to spend, but this dress was perfect for the concert. 

This dress came a day before the concert, which made me anxious, but hey, it got here. It was a great dress. It fit perfectly, and most importantly, I felt great in it! It ended up POURING in St. Louis, so I had a clear poncho on top of this dress for a hot minute. 

Overall, I am glad I tried Pickle and something new for this concert. It was more than I initially wanted to spend, but I ended up making it two and wearing this for my friend Shelly's birthday dinner.

I got invited to a wedding in late July, and nothing in my closet felt inspired, so I thought I'd try renting from Pickle again. I really was set on this Farm Rio Palermo dress. It was kinda tough at first because all of the rentals I had seen, which were priced reasonably, turned out to not have shipping, and then what went from a $50 rental went to like a 75$ to like a $85 rental. After a few rounds of submitting offers (tiresome and not worth it tbh). I found some middle ground with a renter for $89 to rent this dress for 9 days. 

Then, the week of the wedding, I was confirming whether the seller had shipped the item out. Much to my chagrin, they said they had not shipped and would not be able to. They didn't even cancel the order. I had to reach out to customer service, which didn't refund the full amount, so I had to contact them again. Also, I want to add that customer service did not offer to do ANYTHING! The seller dropped the ball on me, and I was left to find something else. No promo code, no discount, no credits. Crazy honestly. For this experience. I took my 3 stars down to 2.

Rent the Runway 3.75 ⭐:

I think most folks know about RTR as it's one of the older and more established rental platforms.  It's essentially an e-commerce platform offering rentals, subscriptions, and purchases of designer apparel and accessories. I rented my senior homecoming and prom dresses from RTR, plus a few other dresses for weddings. After 2019, though, I stopped using RTR for events. There wasn't a specific negative reason; it just became more expensive, and it was often easier and more practical to wear something I already had in my closet for weddings or to buy something I was going to wear for several occasions.

Selection: Overall, I think Rent the Runway's selection has diminished, leading me to deduct one and a quarter stars. I'm not very impressed by their current offerings, including the brands available. It seems much of their selection is now tied to their subscription service, which I dislike but understand.

Onboarding: Easy! After creating an account, you have two main ways to use the platform: you can rent a specific item for a one-time event, or you can sign up for a subscription service, which allows you to select pieces according to the chosen model.

Initiating a Rental: So easy. Browse based on your zip code, date range, size, etc. Then, once you land on something, you can rent it. You get an extra size too, which I've always thought is just good business.

Pricing: RTR seems more affordable now. Previously, quality dresses often ranged from $80 to $120, but today you can easily find good options between $40 and $80, with many even on the lower end of that spectrum. I recently rented a dress for four days for just $56, thanks to a 30% off coupon (RTR is generally good with discounts). Since I wore it twice, that price was something I could live with.

Customer Service: I didn't need to get there, which is something that I am truly grateful for, but I have no doubt that RTR wouldn't make it right if something went awry.

My rentals:

You may recall that this Kate Spade summer lilies halter dress was not my first pick, but it ended up being perfect. RTR sent me an extra small and a small. I am wearing an extra small here. Both fit great, but the length on the extra small was better! I rented this for four days, and I felt fabulous in it. I would really like to buy this dress if anyone ever sees it for sale, send me the link! I didn't intend to get something from RTR to round out this post, but I'm glad I did. Sometimes we have to return to our roots, and in my case, my renting roots.

Renting is a fun way to breathe new life into your closet, but it's not without its shortcomings —you have to do your homework, and then there's some follow-through. While platforms like Rent the Runway are a great entry point, the real fun and fashion gems are found through browsing! Ultimately, you'll need time and patience to navigate the process, but the payoff is getting to wear something truly special, even if it's Chanel earrings for a few days!

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