Rent the Runway.  Sounds glamorous,  n’est-ce pas?  I recently signed up for a one month trial of Rent the Runway Unlimited.  Imagine the Netflix DVD service plus high end shopping.  You choose the item you want to wear, you wear it, and you return it through the mail or in a locker around the city.  Then new ones appear!  Hooray!

This system is so easy to use that I immediately had my four items.  First up was a 3.1 Phillip Lim top for Thanksgiving.  I got so many compliments and even the words “like Michelle Obama” were thrown around.  I found a new brand to follow, Waverly Grey.  They made a work top that said “professional and attractive,” my preferred combo.  All my items arrived dry cleaned and in perfect condition.  However, some turned out to be for summer, or too small, so I didn’t wear them.  But what did I care, I had RTR Unlimited!  As I kept going, I noticed my RTR experience was a bit of a roller coaster.

Excitement

I was elated at the ease with which I would be able to have new and dry cleaned items to wear whenever I wanted.  It seemed way too easy to just get a bundle in the mail the next day (there’s a distribution center in the DC area, allowing super quick shipping).  In fact, the week started to feel longer, as in, “it can’t be just Tuesday…I only ordered this jacket yesterday…”  All the same, the compliments from my coworkers were pouring in and I really did love a lot of the pieces.  I also loved not taking them to the dry cleaners, and just dropping them off in a locker at the nearby WeWork location.

Security

I got into a routine.  I wore the pieces (yes, I call them pieces now), decided to return them, dropped them off with a smile to the desk clerk at WeWork, selected the next set of pieces, and looked for them in the mail the next day.  It was like clockwork.

Disillusionment

But of course the highs got a little less high with each shipment.  I started to not be able to find anything to wear that wasn’t from Rent the Runway.  I was hooked.  And feeling almost desperate for that next shipment wasn’t a good feeling.

Release

Maybe it’s an addictive personality predisposition, but I knew I needed to take a break from Rent the Runway.  Sure, it is great and I got to wear some really expensive things I would never buy for myself!  But I also started thinking about everyday clothes more than I wanted to.  I will truly miss receiving the blue bag in the mail, full of goodies for me to try on and dress to impress!  But January is probably the perfect time to detox, not from Rent the Runway, but from myself.  Maybe I’ll do my own Uniform Project.

If you want to see what the magic is all about, you can try a month of RTR Unlimited for $99 (down from $159 normally).  And if that’s not enticing enough, RTR is having a sample sale (white cinder block walls, cupcakes and all) in Cady’s Alley, Georgetown.  The sale will run through December 23, with items marked way, way down.  Seriously.

I can highly recommend RTR’s Unlimited service.  It’s especially good for the holiday season (party dresses!), wedding weekends, or injecting something new into your sense of style.  But it’s extremely easy to become addicted: the sign of an excellent service!