The fashion rental revolution: Everything you need to know about renting designer clothes

Renting top designer fashion clothing is a whole lot better for the planet, writes Mary Cate Smith

Sat, 17 Dec, 2022 - 21:12

Mary Cate Smith

I'm not saying that this year’s Christmas party should resemble the last days of Rome but it could certainly do with an injection of dopamine dressing. Opulence is back but this time, it’s different. Think fringing, feathers and Studio 54 sequins — but make it sustainable. Your muse? Liberace, if styled by Greta Thunberg.

But how can I possibly look my best with a post-Covid body when I’m staring down the barrel of a frigid winter where a 30-minute prepaid electricity card is top of my Christmas wishlist?

Yes, splashing out on a new dress can spark joy. But austerity reminds me that maybe that puff-sleeved acid yellow jumpsuit I’m ogling won’t make it to 30 wears and therefore, is not a good investment.

While designer fashion comes with a hefty price tag, fast fashion fuels pollution, waste and excessive water consumption.

What if there was a way to satisfy your shopping impulses without polluting the planet?

In the spirit of panto season, I say “oh, yes, there is!”

There has been a major drive over the last five years to build a circular economy in Ireland and apparel and accessory rental services have been popping up to meet that need where users can rent an item for a fraction of the cost of buying it.

With several Christmas meet-ups planned for the coming weeks, I rented from a slew of different Irish fashion rental services to see how easy it really is to rent your outfit. Here’s what I found. It’s a win-win — your wallet and the environment will thank you.

Greens are Good for You

Greens are Good for You has a bricks and mortar fashion rental store in the heart of Dublin. Run by Johanna Dooley and Kara O’Sullivan, it’s a veritable treasure trove of glitter and glam with other brands such as Gabsluck and Aisling Kavanagh Design housed in the same building.

You can hire clothes and handbags by category or by edit and there are outfits suitable for parties, weddings, graduations and any special occasion you may have coming up.

I rented the baby blue Simone Rocha tulle dress. It costs €115 for three days, €130 for five days and €145 for a week. Cleaning and shipping costs €15 both ways but there is also an option to click and collect at the Dublin store, thus avoiding postage fees.

My dress retails at approximately €1590; it’s the kind of thing you would wear once for an occasion so renting it is the ideal scenario. It was so much more cost-effective and eco-friendly than ordering a glut of dresses in several different sizes online, not bothering to return them and ultimately sending them to their final destination in a landfill somewhere.

Greens are Good For You also has a peer to peer lending facility available on its website which is an ideal way for those with an already-bulging wardrobe to increase the longevity of their clothes and make some money whilst doing so.

It oozes millennial appeal and 20-something influencers such as boxer Mary Kate Slattery and TikTok creator Lauren Whelan have been spotted out in dresses from the edit.

“We only carry brands that align with our same vision and vibes. Hope Macaulay is a favourite, an amazing Belfast knitwear brand that is doing really well for us,” says Dooley.

The point of difference for this brand is that each piece is a show-stopper in its own right. If back-dipping, thigh-skimming, feather-trimmed, flesh-flashing outfits are your thing, then go green with Greens are Good for You.

No appointments are necessary to try clothing on and the store is open seven days a week.

greensaregoodforyou.com

I rented the baby blue Simone Rocha tulle dress. It costs €115 for three days, €130 for five days and €145 for a week. Picture: David Keane

Rag Revolution

Rag Revolution is run by Edel Lyons whose experience runs the gamut from fashion blogging to marketing and business administration. Edel has exquisite taste and offers some truly fashion forward brands, including Rixo, Reformation, and Queens of Archive, co-founded by Irish designer Sarah Plunkett Chadwick and has been worn by the likes of Laura Whitmore and Holly Willoughby.

I rented the Queens of Archive Chrissie NYC dress for 7 days, which cost €90. A 3-day hire would have cost €85 so I figured it was worth renting for that little bit longer. It’s an open backed floral maxi dress with balloon sleeves — ideal for a Christmas party, winter wedding, christening or any occasion that calls for glam with long sleeves for added warmth.

While Rag Revolution offers a try-on service for certain products at peak times, it’s based in Dublin so that wasn’t an option for me but I already knew that size medium would fit me perfectly as I had tried the brand before — it used to be stocked in Arnotts.

The dress was delivered straight to my door by UPS and I got a text saying what time it would approximately arrive down to the hour. Standard delivery and collection cost €13.99. With the try-on service, it’s €19.99 or express delivery and collection is €25.

The cost of the dress to buy new is €380.95 excluding customs tax and shipping. You don’t have to clean the dress before you send it back, that’s included in the price.

The entire process from start to finish was so easy with Rag Revolution. What I really loved was that a customer service agent is available to chat over email or on the phone. In fact, I mislaid my label (totally my fault) and Megan explained the steps to printing out a new one.

The variety and quality of the brands stocked at Rag Revolution is sublime - there’s some more risqué dresses for 20 somethings, long-sleeved dresses for anyone worried about the weather and tailored suits that can be worn by any age group.

theragrevolution.com

Happy Days

Happy Days is a fitting name for this bright and breezy fashion rental store, based in Leopardstown, Dublin. The shop currently stocks about 400 dresses and a small edit of coats and bags. There are plenty of items available for the dressier occasions but the nice thing about Happy Days is that it also stocks a selection of less dressy apparel from Kitri, Stine Goya and Reiss.

I visited the Happy Days store and rented a jacquard floral dress from one of my favourite brands, ROTATE Birger Christensen. You can also rent online with ease but I was in the area. It was €70 to rent for 3 days (it was a 2-day trip) and next day delivery was €15 but I picked it up from the shop itself and dropped it back.

Something I really love about Happy Days is that it rates highly on the sustainability charts — owner Rachel Hennessey buys all her stock from second-hand outlets like Depop, Vestiaire Collective, and eBay so the shelf life of the clothes is extended. Another boon of Happy Days is that its sizing goes up to a UK26 and it hopes to add bigger sizes as it grows. Judging by the queue for the fitting room on a weekday, it seems to be in major demand.

happy-days.ie

Luxe Library

If you’ve ever deliberated over the 30c extra for a large coffee, you’ll probably not find much justification in spending several thousands of euro on a designer bag. Run by fashion maven, Eavan Agnew, Luxe Library stocks some of the most covetable ‘it’ bags on the market from Stella McCartney’s iconic Falabella tote (€50 per week) to Chanel’s caviar wallet on a chain (€280 per week).

I rented the Joan shoulder bag from Saint Laurent, which cost €95, shipping just €5 both ways.

Renting a bag is definitely something I would do again. I’ve racked up a serious amount of poor quality bags from the likes of Topshop, Penneys and River Island over the years to match specific occasion wear and most of them have disintegrated after a couple of wears.

Agnew has a small curated edit of handbags but each one is finely selected and will appeal to different tastes. I’m already dreaming about renting the Dior Bobby bag (€290 per week) in the future.

luxelibrary.ie

Dressed Up

Dressed Up is a designer dress rental service run between Wicklow town and Dublin. This service would appeal to those on a tighter budget — there’s a Self Portrait dress available to rent for just €10 per day which is great value when you consider the dresses can fetch up to €700.

Some dresses on the site are only available on a three-day rental minimum so do check before you add to cart — as it could be easy to rack up a serious bill by ordering multiple items.

There is an eclectic range of designers at Dressed up from Australian cult brand Aje to British celebrity favourite Nadine Merabi and the more affordable wedding guest favourites like Irish brand, Folkster, and Ted Baker.

I rented the Folkster Madeline midi dress, a sage-coloured floral midi dress for €22 per day which could be worn for an occasion but equally works for an evening meal out at a nice restaurant. I also rented the Rebecca Vallance Valencia silk dress, an asymmetric one shoulder piece suitable for a night out which was €25 per day.

Dressed Up includes your pre-paid return label in the original postage bag and you can return it at any local post office.