Clothing rental companies have been around for a while, but they’ve gained a ton of momentum over the last couple of years and continue to grow in popularity. New clothing rental companies and subscription services are popping up more and more.
Not only that, but several brands, like Vince, have started offering rentals, so you can rent specific styles for a certain period of time, where before, you would have to purchase these items if you wanted to wear them.
Renting clothes may be an especially great option for petites who struggle to find clothes that fit. Many rental services begin by asking you to complete a questionnaire to better understand your typical sizes for various types of clothing, your body shape, and body type. These questionnaires usually ask some fairly basic questions like the following:
- What best describes your body shape? Pear, Straight, Hourglass, Apple, or Inverted Triangle?
- Select sizes you typically wear.
- What size types do you typically wear? Regular, Plus, Petites
- What are your inseam, bust, and waist measurements?
- What style types you’re interested in exploring, like classic, athleisure, casual, chic, glam, boho, preppy, etc.
Then, your recommendations are curated to fit your unique body size and shape based on your responses to the questionnaire. These questionnaires simply enable the company to provide you with clothes that are most likely to fit your size, shape, and style.
What’s the Appeal of Renting Clothes?
There are many reasons people find renting clothes appealing. One person’s reason(s) for renting may be different from another person’s. Some expecting mothers may prefer to rent maternity clothes, instead of buying them, because they’ll only be able to wear them for a short period of time. Others may need to rent a suit for an upcoming job interview that would be much more costly to purchase. Some may have a career in broadcasting where they often appear on TV and want to maintain a stylish and polished appearance. Others may simply be fashionistas that love keeping up with the latest fashion trends.
As you can imagine, the list of reasons why people elect to rent clothes goes on and on, but here are some benefits of renting clothes over buying:
First, renting clothes allows people to easily experiment with new designers, styles, and trends without having to purchase the items. If you’re purchasing an article of clothing, you’ll probably be more likely to play it safe and stick with styles that you’re comfortable with and are confident you’ll get lots of use out of them.
Second, renting clothes allows people to wear styles that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to wear because they’re simply too expensive to buy. I once rented a designer suit for a job interview that retailed at over $1,000. That is way over my budget, and I’d never feel comfortable purchasing such a pricey suit– even if it does make you feel and look like a million bucks. Thankfully, I was able to rent it, along with a couple of other items, for around $75.
Third, renting clothes is great for the planet. Renting gives clothing many lives. When you’re done with a particular garment or ready for something different and new, someone else can rent and enjoy it. This cycle then repeats itself over and over again. Unlike certain clothes that only get worn once, are hung up in the closet and never worn again.
Fourth, renting clothes can save you money and precious closet space. We all have items in our closet that we never wear and are just taking up space. It gets expensive to buy clothes impulsively (it happens to the best of us!) only to never wear them or only wear them once. Unfortunately, I have many clothes like this just taking up closet space.
As a petite, it’s difficult to find petite-friendly brands and styles, but renting clothes is an efficient way to discover some brands whose clothes fit your specific body type. There are many brands that offer petite-friendly styles but don’t offer petite sizes. So, unless the size explicitly states, “petite,” it’s hard to know what specific styles are well-suited for petites. But, we know they’re out there. It’s just a matter of finding them, and renting can be a great way to do so. Here are some clothing rental services that offer several petite-friendly styles:
Rent The Runway
I’ve personally used Rent The Runway several times. Their website allows you to filter clothes by your body type, where you can select petite, straight & narrow, apple, athletic, bump friendly, full bust, hourglass, and pear. Their petite-friendly collection consists of over 100 pages worth of clothes, so there are tons of petite styles to choose from.
Your rentals will be delivered in a garment bag, dry-cleaned, and shipped in a zip-up, Rent The Runway bag as shown in the pictures below. Inside will be your return label, so no need to submit a return request, download, and print a return slip or shipping label. Rent The Runway make the process of renting clothes super simple and convenient.
Armoire
Armoire is a clothing rental service that allows its members to rent clothes for a monthly fee. You can choose from one of three plans: 4-item plan, 7-item plan, or unlimited plan.
Armoire doesn’t have petite sizes available currently, however, members are connected with a personal stylist who selects styles based on your specific sizes, measurements, and body type. Memberships include a monthly, complimentary one-on-one appointment with your stylist. You have the option to connect with your stylist in person or over the phone.
Nuuly
Nuuly has an entire collection dedicated to petite clothing styles. They offer one membership subscription, which allows you to rent 6 items per month for $88. You get to select whatever six items you’d like, keep them for a month, then return them. If you fall in love with one of your rentals, or all of them, you have the option to buy. You don’t have to worry about repairs or laundry before returning your items, so it’s an extremely easy process.
Clothing rental services are becoming increasingly popular as people become more knowledgable about its positive environmental impact, desire to experiment with new designers and styles, and save time and money. Renting clothing over buying is a much less stressful, much more efficient, and exciting way to shop. If you give renting clothes a try, I hope your experience is as positive as mine has been.