In the past few years, there has been a huge increase in clothing rental programs. Clothing rental services are a great way to play with fashion while limiting your spending, helping to reduce the footprint of fast fashion, and it's just plain fun!

I have reviewed Rent the Runway's Unlimited Program here if you are curious about that program.

Earlier this year, I decided to try the Infinitely Loft  rental program. So, how does this program work? 

1. After signing up for the rental service, you build a closet off their website. The closet is essentially your wish list of items you'd like to rent. They recommend you keep 20 items in your closet. 
2. Loft will choose 3 items to ship to you from your closet. You do not have control over what is selected, so make sure you're only adding items to your closet that your really want! You can prioritize items, but there is no guarantee those will be available and included.
3. Once your box arrives, wear the items as many times as you'd like. Your shipment comes with a free return label, so once you're ready for your next items all you have to do is drop it in the mail.
4. Once you have initiated your return, go online and mark you previous order as returned. Loft will start preparing your next box from your closet. (Make sure you're keeping your closet up to date so that they can send your next box right away!) 
5. If you really love something that you are renting, you can purchase it at a discount. 

There are some pros/cons to the rental service that I've highlighted below. I used this service for one month during the summer. Read on for the details and let me know if you have any specific questions!

||Lemon Flutter Shell in Forever Navy (available in the rental program)| Kendra Scott Charlie Grace Hoop Earrings (similar style here)||

PROS:

• If you've shopped at Loft before, you know your sizes so everything fits right. I never was worried that something would show up without fitting. 
• They pick your items for you from your closet. 
• The biggest benefit I saw from this was that I didn't waste time every few days choosing what I wanted. With Rent the Runway Unlimited, I could spend an hour choosing my next shipment because there was so much to browse through. While that was fun it was not really the best use of my time. 
• I got 9 items in my month of a $64.95 membership, so each item cost just over $7. This was a great price per item. 
• A big win over Rent the Runway's Unlimited program, was that as soon as I dropped my box in the mail I was able to mark my box as shipped for return, and then they would start preparing my next box. Rent the Runway doesn't start preparing for your next shipment until they receive it back. 
• The LOFT Infinitely customer service was top notch. Any time I had questions or concerns, they were easy to get a hold of and quick to respond. 

CONS:

• The selection is small. They recommend keeping 20 items in your closet for there to be a quick turnaround between shipments. I struggled to keep 10 items in my closet that I actually wanted.
• They pick your items for you from your closet. 
• You'll notice I have this as both a pro and con. It is a pro because I really believe it saves you time, but it also means you aren't guaranteed the items you really want. You get to prioritize items you want, and they'll try to get those to you, but you aren't guaranteed them. I had prioritized items in my closet and never received them in a shipment. 
• Not every item is available in all sizes. There were some tops and dresses that I would have loved to include in my closet, but they didn't carry them in all sizes so it wasn't an option. 
• They shipped items to me in a box, but I mailed them back in a bag. It seemed really wasteful, especially considering half the reason I was interested in the rental program was to be more environmentally friendly with my closet. I wish I could have placed a return label on the box they sent the clothes in originally. 
• Speaking of shipping, there was one time none of the items in my closet were available after I returned my previous shipment. I never received notification of this or was told to add more items to my closet. I had to reach out to see what the hold up was before being told that nothing I wanted was available. I wish they would have communicated with me so I could have tried to find other pieces to add to my closet. (Although as I mentioned in my first bullet point, I struggled to find enough that I wanted.) They did offer me a discount on my second box to make up for the trouble, but I never renewed. They could have improved this process since I was subscribed, as I did provide my feedback to their team, but I feel it is worth mentioning here as well. 
• You have to return all 3 pieces at one time. Even if you love something and want to keep it longer, unless you decide to purchase it, all items go back at the same time. 

While I did enjoy the service for a month, I haven't renewed it. There wasn't enough inventory that I wanted to rent in order to keep my Loft Infinitely Closet full of enough items. I could see the benefit of using this service once a season for a fun way to switch out clothes, but there isn't enough inventory for me to use it more often than on a once a quarter basis. I did just browse through their selection and it looks like they have a ton of fall pieces available for rental now. I definitely think it is worth a try for one month, but I don't know that I can recommend it as a long term closet update service.

Have you tried it? I would love to know your thoughts!