Women who love fashion love Rent the Runway. It puts the high-end brands and designer labels from the runways and magazines directly into your closet. It’s for women who want a continuously fresh and new wardrobe or who need formal wear but don’t want to buy a gown that might only be worn once or twice.

With Rent the Runway, you choose exactly what you want rather than have a stylist choose items for you. Different membership options let you either keep an item as long as you want to or be required to return it within a certain time frame. There are options to purchase items you love at a discount from retail prices, too.

Items are sent to you in a fabric garment bag that you save for returning them. Try everything on as soon as you receive your bag. If an item is the wrong size or unwearable due to damage, you can call customer service and they will immediately process a replacement item. There’s no need to do laundry – items are cleaned upon return to Rent the Runway before they are sent out to the next recipient.

For special events, items can be reserved up to four months in advance. For those who live in Manhattan, same-day rental can be scheduled for certain items in stock and in some areas next-day rentals can be scheduled. For holidays it’s recommended that you reserve the dress you love as early as possible to make sure it’s in stock when you need it.

Rent the Runway also has a number of brick-and-mortar stores throughout the United States that offer the same services as the website, but with the bonus of seeing the clothes in person before you rent them.

Prices

• One-time rentals start at $30 per piece and you may choose a four-day or eight-day rental period.
• The Unlimited plan offers four styles at once that can be exchanged an unlimited number of times for $159 per month with a $99 trial for first month.
• The Monthly plan offers four pieces per month for $89 per month with a $69 trial for first month.
• Shipping and insurance are included in the monthly fees.

Some users claim that the fine print leads to exorbitant charges if clothing isn’t returned properly, so be sure to read the contract carefully before accepting the terms. Other users have complained that under the Unlimited plan, in order to return the clothing in a timely manner and be able to take advantage of the maximum amount of items you can receive each month, it takes a lot of trips to a UPS drop-off location, so budget that time in.

The Bottom Line

Customers love being able to rent a dress for one event. They’ll even deliver to hotels if you don’t want to travel with your garments. Women who love to shop for the latest trends find that the Unlimited plan saves them a lot of money. You can update your wardrobe regularly without closet clutter and buyer’s remorse.