An insight
I Tried Sustainable Fashion
Is renting clothing really the greatest idea? Here are my thoughts.
Over the past month and a half I have been on the lookout for clothing that will not only broaden my style but also not break the bank. Today, women’s clothing choices are limited and styles seem to repeat across brands. Now that the world is locked down and it is not safe to go to the mall each weekend, I had to introduce myself to the online shopping mall. There was a lot of trial and error and I ended up spending more than I originally intended, so after I noticed my pocketbook was hurting I said, “To heck with that, something has to change.” And here’s how that “change” went.
Being in lockdown is hard enough as it is, so how could I find suitable clothing options without leaving my house?Online shopping has always been a struggle for me, so would the world of personal shopping and mystery boxes, make the countless hours and stress disappear?
I spent days researching the best clothing boxes for women and rental services that were worth my money, but something still wasn’t quite sitting right with me.
Every site that I landed upon seemed great on the surface but either the price was too high, it wasn’t my style, or you didn’t get to try enough pieces at one time. Here are a few of the websites that helped me in finding the best option for me.
Finally, after much thought, I decided to try Haverdash. Haverdash is a clothing rental company that matched my style somewhat and was a pretty low price for “endless” styles each month. I was hesitant at first because they don’t offer a free trial of any kind. However, I was lucky enough to receive a $30 discount based on a referral code.
The Haverdash rundown:
You rent “endless” styles throughout the month for $59(unless you have a discount). You get access to 3 styles at a time that you must return before receiving your next 3 styles.
If you decide that you can’t part with a piece, you can choose to buy the piece at a discounted price(only a 30–50% discount).
You can’t cancel via email, you must call the company to cancel your subscription before your next payment.
Here are my thoughts on renting clothing via the internet:
To keep things short and sweet, it is clear to say that I will not be continuing with the service for August.
I did receive a few nice pieces each round, but I would never think of buying anything to keep because I am already paying the $59/month, which adds up in the end. The clothing has all been worn before you, and even though they say that everything is dry cleaned, I still don’t like the idea of paying for clothing I can’t keep.
In each box, I never wore all three pieces because the style just wasn’t completely me. I was wasting money on clothing I didn’t want.
This month I received a total of three boxes which equates to $19.67 a box. I don’t see renting clothing as such a good idea for your pocketbook. It’s a better idea just to buy your clothing and then sell it in the future for a discounted price to keep your closet tidy.
The idea of sustainable fashion for the environment seems all great until you get down to having to go through the process of returns each time you want something new.
Is this a real sustainable idea anyway? The shipments are all sent in boxes that you throw away and each box contains tissue paper and plastic bags which you send the clothing back in. This is hurting the environment more than helping!
To recap, I think renting clothing is a great idea, but all of the kinks haven’t been worked out quite yet. You shouldn’t have to break the bank to try out-of-the-box clothing options, right?
If you want to try Haverdash for yourself and let me know what you think about sustainable fashion choices, here’s your chance:
try.haverdash.com/Amelia307
