As I finish my college career and begin life as an intern, I realize that life might be a little hard. Working without pay sucks. Fortunately, I have another job where I earn a livable amount, but in order to further my career, I need to start going on interviews. I need to look the part in order to hopefully get the part! I have the credentials down, the only part that is lacking is my appearance, specifically my wardrobe.
I have never been in a professional setting on a daily basis and it is hard to look good in the college girl clothes that fill my closet. Fortunately, I have discovered a cure - online rentals!
I first heard of sites like Rent the Runway and Bag Borrow Or Steal a while back, but I never thought about actually trying it out. That all changed when I realized that I needed to enter the real world...on my own. I couldn't (and still can't) afford all of the nice bags and cute dresses I used to get when I was dependent on my parents, so I revisited the idea of online rentals when a friend of mine brought it up in conversation.
I checked out the sites. Then I went to my favorite online coupon code site, Retail Me Not. I found some codes, so I rented a school bag and some sunglasses from Bag Borrow Or Steal for, get this - free!! I got to keep them for 3 months each (the max rental time, with the lowest weekly rate) and after that, I just returned them in the prepaid packaging that was provided.
After that I was hooked. What a great idea!
I tried Rent the Runway for the first time in late December 2010. I was in Miami for New Years and had yet to find the perfect dress. Everything that looked good enough was way overpriced and I didn't have the extra cash to spend. Then I remembered that I could rent a dress. I checked out the site and found the perfect LBD. I was able to get 2 sizes for the price of one to make sure it fit perfectly. I spent an even $50 on the dresses (that retailed at about $600 each!) for a total of 4 days. I sent it back when I was done and now I have beautiful pictures...and a fuller wallet.
RTR and BBOS is perfect for people who have lots of events to go to. In NYC, they even have same day delivery. When you wear a cocktail dress, it is usually for a special occasion and I would personally never be caught twice in the same dress! So why spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a dress you'll only wear once anyway? And as far as bags and accessories go, I usually get sick of a bag after a while and frankly, I can't afford to spend hundreds to thousands on a nice designer bag. Having a bag like the ones on the site make you appear successful and give confidence, but at retail price, it's just not possible for most people. But with BBOS, a 3 month lease on a Louis Vuitton will only cost you a fraction of the retail price.
Have you every used these sites? Are there other rental sites you use? How much have you saved?
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