Nuuly is My New Clothing Rental Obsession

One of the great things about reaching ‘a certain age’ is that I now have a wardrobe of what my mom would call foundation pieces and closet staples. The foundation pieces include basics like black skirts in every possible length, a range of camisoles and tank tops that work underneath jackets and sheer tops and dresses, jeans in lots of different washes and styles, and other basics that never really go out of style. The closet staples are nicer pieces I’ve scored on sale or inherited from my mom over the years – St. John jackets, timeless Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein dresses from my TV days, cashmere sweaters, and other things I only wear once or twice a season.

Having a closet full of basics means I can look for statement pieces when I’m shopping now, but along with everything else, clothes have gotten soooo expensive. I like buying trendier pieces from Free People and Anthropologie, but most dresses now cost around $200 apiece, and that quickly adds up to an absolute fortune if I want to buy two or three pieces at once.

That’s why I’m SO EXCITED to tell you about my experience with Nuuly — and before we get started, I’ll say up front that I have zero affiliation with the company. I tried it on a whim last month and I’m completely obsessed with it now, so I thought I’d share my findings with you, as well as my referral code, which gives you $30 off your first month (a significant discount) if you join.

What’s Nuuly?

Nuuly is one of those clothing rental services you’ve probably been seeing ads for online, sort of like Rent the Runway. From what I’ve seen, there are about a dozen major clothing rental companies out there right now, and each one seems to have its own vibe and featured designers. Nuuly has lots of options, but most of its inventory comes from labels like Free People, Anthropologie, Farm Rio, Selkie, For Love and Lemons, and trendier brands, as opposed to couture/corporate workplace options. It’s great for those of us who work in more casual environments and like trying out new trends without spending hundreds of dollars on them.

 

How does Nuuly work?

Getting started was really simple. I created an account, chose six pieces of clothing I loved, and placed my rental order for them. Once I placed my order, I was charged $98. The clothing arrived at my house in a reusable shipping bag two or three days later.

One of the reasons I ordered from Nuuly was its much-used review system, which is very similar to the helpful reviews you can find on sites like Anthropologie and Free People. Nuuly members are mostly young women who love taking pictures of themselves in their outfits, so you’ll often see dozens or even hundreds of reviews on clothing items, and many of the reviews include a photo, the size of the outfit pictured, and the user’s age, weight, bra size, and body type. In other words, it’s really easy to get a good idea of exactly how each piece will look on you. Nuuly users run the gamut in size, from XXS to 3X, so you shouldn’t have a problem finding examples of clothing on someone whose build is similar to yours.

Once your Nuuly shipment arrives, you keep it for a month and wear each piece as much or as little as you like — and this brings me to another reason I placed an order. If you want to turn in your outfits and get more pieces sooner, you can! Simply put them back in the reusable shipper, attach the included shipping label, and take it to any UPS location for free shipment back. Once UPS has your items, Nuuly will unlock your ability to order six more pieces, and charge your card and send them to you as soon as you place the rental order.

Conversely, if life is getting busy and you don’t have time to choose six pieces of clothing every single month, you can pause your membership as opposed to cancelling it (which saves all the pieces you’ve put in your virtual ‘closet’ on the site). This means that if you only want to use Nuuly at certain times of the year, that’s not a problem. My interest in clothing waxes and wanes, so I appreciate the ‘pause’ option and will probably use it when things get busy.

You can also rent up to four additional pieces from Nuuly each month, at a cost of $20 per item.

I decided Nuuly would be a cost effective plan for me because 1. I will have 18 outfits to wear over the next six months, for the same price I would have paid for 3 Free People dresses, many of which I end up wearing only a handful of times, and 2. I can BUY clothing through Nuuly from my favorite brands at a fraction of the cost. More on this in a moment.

What else do I need to know about Nuuly?

You can add pieces to your online ‘closet’ at any time, even if you’re not in a position to rent them yet. You can also create multiple closets for different events or times of year. Looking at clothes on Nuuly and saving pieces I like is now one of my favorite things to do (it beats doomscrolling!) and I like the idea of having closets ready to choose pieces from quickly when the day rolls around to order new rentals.

I’ve seen some girls complain on TikTok that their sizes are always out of stock on Nuuly, but I’ve only rarely seen something I like being unavailable, so maybe it’s the sorts of clothes college-age girls are renting that are out of stock and I’m not choosing those. I’ve also heard that if you really want a particular piece and it’s out of stock, you’ll often find it’s available if you simply wait a few hours and check back. I’ve tested that theory and have found it to be the case! But honestly, even if something I want isn’t in stock, it’s not a problem since I have an online closet full of options to choose from.

Nuuly discourages members from cleaning pieces of clothing themselves, since Nuuly has its own special cleaning and sanitization process. That said, you CAN clean something if you think it needs it, you just don’t have to. All the pieces I received had no odor whatsoever, and that was probably my biggest reservation about ordering ‘used’ clothing, so I was very relieved and impressed. The website also states to not worry if you rip or stain a piece of clothing – Just send it back and they’ll handle it.

All the pieces I received in my first shipment looked like they had been worn a few times, but nothing looked particularly worn, faded, or unwearable. I’ll go into the particulars down below.

Anything else you want to tell me?

Oh HECK YES. Here’s one of the things I love most about Nuuly:  Once all your clothing arrives, you’ll see a discounted ‘buy’ price for each piece you’ve rented, in the event that you want to keep it. And in many cases, the prices are pretty spectacular! All the pieces I’ve rented for this month are available for between 48% and 72% off if I decide to buy them. I just have to click on the ‘buy’ button and Nuuly will charge the piece to my card. If you love Free People as much as I do, you know that sales on any of the pieces you would actually want to buy are pretty much unheard of, so being able to buy a slightly used dress I’ve been looking at online for months — at a fraction of the retail price — is exciting. Also, right now, Nuuly is offering an additional $20 any clothing purchase with a code that’s at the top of the website. I don’t know how often they offer discounts, but I like it.

Another cool feature is Nuuly’s online thrift shop, which is available to members. The thrift shop offers Nuuly rentals for sale, the prices are fantastic (like, $30 for a $200 dress, for example), the selection is massive and includes many items I had already saved to my rental closet, and the website promises that the clothing sold in the thrift shop is in the same condition as the clothing sent out as rentals. I ordered a few pieces from the thrift shop and they’ll be shipped out along with my next Nuuly order. I’ll let you know what I think.

Can I see what you got?

OMG yes. I chose pretty well this month, and I’m getting a lot of use out of what I rented. I’ll warn you – It’s all Free People; Nuuly’s Free People selection was initially why I decided to try it out. I’m excited to order some brands that are new to me (like Farm Rio) in my next shipment.

Okay, let me show you my rentals!

I’m wearing this Portland Striped Pullover from Free People today! It’s a perfect example of a look I have been wanting to try but never would have ordered, because I wasn’t sure I could pull it off. The sweater is oversized, so I got it in an extra small and I love all the different ways I can style it.  It also looks great over jeans and with a tank top underneath instead of a buttondown. I’m thinking of buying it — Retail, it was $168; I can keep it for $72.23. It arrived in perfect condition.

 

I can’t stop wearing this Freya Floral Mini Dresss from Free People! The velvet is super soft and I love the way it looks and feels and fits. It’s short, as you can tell, so I wear a knit mini skirt underneath it so that there are no wardrobe malfunctions! This dress looks like it’s been worn a few times, but it’s in great shape. It retailed at $198; I can keep it for $102.96. I might keep it, but I’m also thinking of renting it again in the fall (since the time to wear it has pretty much ended for this season), possibly getting an extra small, and buying it then — or I might just keep an eye out for it in the thrift shop, where I suspect it’ll be even cheaper.

This picture is cracking me up, because I hadn’t done anything with my hair and the whole thing is giving major Laura Ashley vibes, ca. 1991. 😂 This is the Jaymes Midi Dress from Free People in extra small and it fits like it was made for me — I love the neckline, immediately fell in love with the dress, and I’ve worn it a lot. It works for so many different occasions. It retailed for $168 and I can keep it for $87.36, which I was planning on doing UNTIL I found the same dress in green in the thrift shop for… I think it was $40. It might have been $30. I bought that instead and will rent this one again down the road if I just have to wear it in red.

 

This Jaci Sweater Dress from Free People is another I would never have had the courage to buy — but now I LOVE it! It’s an oversized sweater dress made from the softest, coziest material and I just love it with tights and boots (and again, a skirt underneath because it’s short!) It retailed for $168 and I can keep it for $62.16 — Once again, I think I may rent it again next fall/winter, this time in an XS, and buy it then.

 

I love this Garden Glory Mini Dress from Free People in XS and have been wearing it often — I get lots of compliments on it, which is nice! It retailed for $248 and I can keep it for $99.20. In this case, the bow on the front is getting a little worn, so $99.20 seems too high. It’s nothing anyone would notice while I’m wearing it, so as a rental, it’s perfect.

 

This Mont Blanc Sweater Dress was the only rental I didn’t end up loving. It wasn’t bad – It was just very form fitting and the zipper made the collar sit in an awkward position on me. This dress was a medium and retailed for $168. I could have kept it for $47.04

Another thing I’ve loved about renting these clothes is having an opportunity to wear them in real life for a few weeks before I decide whether I want to buy them. I’ve discovered that some items I’ve initially loved have faded in my mind after wearing them a few times (like the Garden Glory dress), and some things I was on the fence about, I’ve decided to buy after wearing them and hearing positive feedback.

If you want to try Nuuly, use my referral code and get $30 off! I get $10 off one billing cycle for every friend who joins, but I can only use one discount each month, so it’s a ‘meh’ deal for me — but a very good one for you!

I’ll keep you posted about my Nuuly rentals each month. I’m thinking that if/when I get tired of Nuuly’s selection, I’ll just switch to another rental service and try out some new designers.

Let me know your thoughts/questions in the comments!