Rent the Runway: For When You’re Riding the Sustainable Struggle Bus

In the interest of being fully transparent: I’m on the struggle bus.

My intentions are pure. I want to reduce fashion waste and overcome my shopping addiction. I hate the concept of over-consumption and the toll it takes on the environment. I despise the decimation of impoverished garments workers’ basic human rights to enable corporations to mass-produce cheap, trendy, and plentiful garments for greedy Westerners like myself.

BUT. But.

I love having variety in my wardrobe, and the thrill of wearing something for the first time is something I simply cannot replicate. I’ve gotten better since starting this blog, but I can’t honestly say that I’ve completely ceased all impulse buying. Fighting the overwhelming perception that you have absolutely NOTHING to wear is a challenge. I recognize that it’s a cognitive distortion and that I have plenty to wear; the feeling of having no viable sartorial options stems from ennui, imperfect fit, or lack of creative vision. I get it. And yet.

Despite the undeniable environmental impact of frequent clothing purchases and associated increased manufacturing to meet the demand, I adore new clothes. Ergo, embracing sustainable fashion has been a genuine struggle. The issue for me is that, despite having a strong sense of my own style aesthetic, I love to experiment. Fashion is a playful and joyful endeavor and I enjoy exploring the boundaries of what I can and cannot pull off.

Instead of denying myself one of my only genuine pleasures in the apocalyptic Hellscape of our current reality, I decided to purchase a Rent the Runway subscription. Like many comparable subscription services, RTR allows members to pay a monthly fee to rent anywhere from 4-16 items per month. At the end of the month, you slap on a prepaid shipping label and send the clothing items back into the void, where they’re dry-cleaned and prepared for the next sorry soul who simply can’t live without a constant influx of shiny new things in their closet.

There’s absolutely no shame in RTR’s game. Like many other fashion girlies on a budget, I started perusing RTR years ago to rent a dress every now and then for a formal event. Over time, they evolved to incorporate mid-range designer clothing and accessories for all occasions (not just formal), to rent for more than the 4-8 days that are standard for non-members looking to rent a dress or gown for an event. I chose the most basic plan, which allows me to select four items from a relatively limited supply each month.

While I still believe that the ideal approach to creating a sustainable wardrobe is to maintain a limited number of high-quality, multi-purpose items that can be styled in creative ways and worn repeatedly over time, there is a problem with strictly adhering to this strategy. For the most part, your limited clothing items HAVE to be relatively neutral and simple in order to maximize their versatility. There are only so many ways you can distinctively style a rainbow jumpsuit before it becomes camp. Subscription services like RTR allow you to experiment with clothes that don’t quite conform to your current wardrobe’s aesthetic, if you happen to be in the mood for a loud pop of color, a wacky pattern, or a daring cut that you’re not necessarily certain that you intend to wear repeatedly for years to come.

As an example, I love bold, eye-catching colors, but I tend to favor colors that can be easily mixed and matched with black, blue, gray, brown, or white. So I wouldn’t necessarily purchase a blouse with such a vibrant ombre pattern to wear to work, but I will wear it once.

Similarly, the flared trousers with a front slit are distinctive enough to be of questionable neutrality and versatility, which means that I wouldn’t wear them frequently enough to justify their purchase.

While this blouse is undeniably fire, it’s unlikely that I would wear it over and over again, lest I become known as the Girl With The Ombre Blouse. I fully embrace outfit-repeating, unless the outfit is SO over-the-top distinctive that it dominates the look, leaving little to no room for styling in creative ways. Yet I happen to adore over-the-top distinctive clothes.

I’ve mentioned before that fashion should be a source of joy, rather than a chore. Avoiding bold statement items that can’t realistically be worn in many different ways in the interest of reducing garment waste has felt like a chore. A necessary chore, but a chore all the same. Rent the Runway allows me to inject a little more joy into the pursuit of sustainable fashion. Bye-bye, struggle bus!