Well hello there! It’s Nuuly review time and I have a confession: I realized I did not do my one year review of Nuuly last year like I had planned. Nor did I publish said post in January… like I had planned. But January was a blur so I think I’ll get that review together this week or next. Two Nuuly posts in a row? Why not you know? There are no rules anymore.
I was really on the fence last year of continuing with Nuuly. But I remembered that the best times to rent were January / February. So I continued on this year, since it’s not an annual thing and you can cancel or pause any month. I really like this flexibility because I am fickle at best, indecisive at worst. And you know what? I am SO glad I chose to continue in January, as I did not buy one thing last month! That’s right not ONE piece of clothing, which is wild and should be studied by psychologists. I do think that having ‘new’ pieces without a purchasing commitment aided in this unintended shopping strike. (The shopping strike ended this month because I purchased two pieces from this rental. Wait — did I do a dry January but with shopping? Is this growth?)
This is the 3rd January I’ve rented Nuuly and I gotta say, January is the perfect month for rental services. I didn’t feel like buying anything new but I liked having something new. Not to sum up the Nuuly review post I’ve yet to write but January is rental month. Hands down. And this one did not disappoint. Which I know is a wild thing to say when I am in charge of my selections, but a rental box can go downhill fast. This I know. I’ve had a few months were I didn’t like a thing I rented. But this month was almost a perfect score, in my book. Okay enough chitchat – let’s get to it!
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If you are new here, I wanted to try out a clothing rental service and I chose Nuuly. Nuuly charges $98 once a month and you get to choose 6 items to wear all month long then you send the pieces back. You can check out the Nuuly website here.
Each month I calculate the cost per wear for each pieces in my nuuly box. Here are the numbers: each box is $98 for 6 pieces. (For consistency, I’m leaving out taxes here since it will differ for each state.) So if you take the $98 divided by the 6 items, it’s about $16.33 per item, if you wear each item one time. Every item’s cost of $16.33 will be divided by the frequency of wear. (i.e. Cost of item rental ÷ times piece was worn = rental price per wear). Just to go a step too far, I’ve also broken down each piece with a rating system and a review for each item below.
MY RATING SYSTEM:
⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑ = would consider buying full price / will miss it when it’s gone!
⭑⭑⭑⭑ = really liked it, would prefer to buy on sale
⭑⭑⭑ = on the fence, liked it but can’t see myself wearing that often / buy on sale only
⭑⭑ = liked but didn’t wear it at all or found it hard to style
⭑ = didn’t like it / didn’t fit
Madewell Sherpa Reversible Jacket
Madewell Sherpa Denim Jacket | ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑
TIMES WORN OVER THE MONTH: 10
CONDITION: NEW WITH TAGS
COST PER WEAR: $1.63
Oh man, did I hate sending this one back, but in the end I couldn’t justify buying a heavier jacket when we are having such a mild winter this year. On the other hand…maybe a jacket like this is perfect for a mild winter? I wouldn’t need a coat then… either way, it’s too late because it’s in the mail and out of my hands. It’s up to fate now. If it comes back to me via returned mail, then I’ll know it was meant to be. Maybe I will regret not keeping this one, (as I do sometimes!) because I sure did love this jacket while I had it. I loved reaching for it because it worked as a denim jacket or a sherpa jacket, which is surprisingly very versatile. The two options swapped out vibes very nicely. I think the sherpa jacket was my favorite look wise, but the denim jacket side ended up being the warmest because the sherpa was the inside lining.
And it was new with tags, which is my current kink from Nuuly; the joy I felt ripping off that tag to wear for the first time. Priceless. (Well actually $16.33, but I digress.)
For this jacket, I decided to go with the large. I probably could have gone with medium as it runs pretty oversized. But I never want to chance it with coats / jackets, especially when renting them for a temporary time period. So I always err on the side of large as I’d rather the coat / jacket be too big than too small any day. If you are a true medium, stick with a medium.
You can find this jacket here.
Final Verdict: Returned
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Citizens of Humanity Striped Tee
Citizens of Humanity Striped Tee | ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑
TIMES WORN OVER THE MONTH: 5
CONDITION: NEW WITH TAGS
COST PER WEAR: $3.26
My friends, meet my kryptonite: the striped tee. I couldn’t count the amount of striped cotton shirts I’ve bought in my lifetime because I don’t have that many hands and boy do I need those fingers to count. (I’m kidding, of course. I use a calculator.) Now over the years I have recognized and tried to rectify this weakness of mine; the mystifying lure of a striped long sleeve top that bewilders and excites me. And believe you me, I’ve tried to rein it in as much as possible. I allow myself one stripe top a year. But this one got me. It’s a thicker, 100% cotton tee with a BROWN STRIPE. You see, I’ve never owned a brown striped tee before! I had no choice but to purchase this one. The war was over before it even begun.
Joking aside, this is a really nice tee. It’s a mid-weight, high-quality cotton with a boatneck neckline. It’s Citizens of Humanity so it is more expensive, but the quality is there. This top was new with tags, too and it was an honor to rip the tags off and claim her as my own. I washed it and it washed out beautifully; no fading, no size or fit difference. Once I saw how well it washed, I was sold.
Now I thought all along this was the large but it’s actually the medium! Therefore this shirt runs VERY oversized. I thought this was a loose fitting large, but it is in fact an oversized medium. So keep that in mind, if you choose to shop this top. It runs big! Since I rented this one. I got a 23% (so precise) discount which sealed the deal for me. It’s a keeper.
Find this top here at Nordstrom | or here at Shopbop
Final verdict: Kept
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Faherty Tried and True Chambray Shirt
Faherty Chambray Top | ⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑
TIMES WORN OVER THE MONTH: 4
CONDITION: NEW WITH TAGS
COST PER WEAR: $4.08
I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned this but I have an internal struggle with chambray blouses. I *think* it’s scar tissue leftover from the 2010s. If you blogged in the 2010s, you get it. Chambray shirts and colored jeans were hand in hand and not far from that outfit was a pair of wedges and a chunky necklace. I left a lot of those mistak– er, trends — in the past and but in doing so my brain has made a hard connection to those trends and a chambray top. We paired chambray shirts with EVERYTHING and so I think I ended up with chambray top fatigue from a decade ago. I’ve picked it up again over the last few years but in the end it’s usually a return or a resell for me, never a staple.
But then I thought you know why not give chambray a try again? Renting one can’t hurt. And it didn’t. I loved this one, it’s soft and I loved the darker hue, it feels elevated and chic. Obviously the chambray is versatile in spirit, but there is something about the darker rinse that makes it a touch more versatile to me. I absolutely loved this one and invited her to live with me forever. (Editor’s Note: Forever in blogger years is vague and undefined.)
I knew better than to mess with Faherty and so I sized up. I find that brand runs snug all across the board for us with curves or boobs or hips. The large fit me perfectly AND I can get it buttoned without a gap in the middle of the buttons. This alone calls for multiple accolades; no gaps with a buttoned blouse for a D-cup lady is what we in the industry call a Unicorn. And this Unicorn came home with me.
Final verdict: Kept
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Madewell Striped Sweater
Madewell Striped Sweater | ⭑⭑⭑
TIMES WORN OVER THE MONTH: 2
CONDITION: GOOD
COST PER WEAR: $8.16
If I had to give you one piece of advice for Nuuly, I’d tell you to stay away from wool items. I know this and I still rent wool items so you know take my advice that I don’t even heed myself. This sweater had shrunk a bit from laundering and I checked and it’s wool. I will be honest in the fact that I don’t know how they launder their items, or even if they do. And the website is vague. But I would assume they’re laundered because…I mean yuck if not. God, I hope they do. Anyways, I assume they use dry cleaning tactics because sometimes I get something that smells vaguely like our local dry cleaners, so that’s the connection I’ve made. This could be untrue though because again I HAVE NO IDEA AND THIS IS ALL INTERNAL DIALOGUE SAID OUT LOUD.
All of that to say, someone washed this and it shrunk. I’m in the large but it fits like a medium and I’m pretty sure it’s because it shrunk up because this isn’t typical for Madewell larges. Plus it looks different / shorter than on the model. That’s my opinion and speculation of course. Overall it was in good condition, it looked great, but it felt shorter than I thought it would be.
This one got sent back. I liked it, I wore it, I returned it.
Final verdict: Returned
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Farm Rio Matching Blouse + Pants
Farm Rio Paisley Top + Pants | ⭑⭑
TIMES WORN OVER THE MONTH: 1
CONDITION: GOOD
COST PER WEAR: $16.33 each
If I had to guess, this next statement is probably going to be in my nuuly annual report. I don’t think I like Farm Rio. Maybe that’s a broad statement but I rent Farm Rio a lot with Nuuly and I rarely like it. Again, I’ve not looked at my posts from last year yet but I’m finding this to be true, according to my memory. And maybe that’s unfair to put on a whole brand, but I find that I rent their pieces and then get them and find it hard to wear. I rented this outfit to wear on our little anniversary getaway but after I wore it one day as a trial, I realized it was just too much. Too much volume, too much pattern, just too much for me. No shade to FR, but I think that I might be a little boring for their styles now. It’s not you, Farm Rio, it’s me. *single tear emoji*
This outfit was in good condition. You could tell it had been worn but it still has lots of life in it, not a snag or flaw to be seen. The fit was true to size for Farm Rio. I am in the large of both. They both fit a touch big on me but nothing notable. The mediums would have been snug at the waist and the buttons. I didn’t want to risk it.
This outfit was Nuuly x Farm Rio so I think that means it exclusively lives on Nuuly, if you want to rent it. But I did find a similar set on Anthropologie right now. (Which I almost like better to be honest…)
Find a similar top here | find a similar pant here.
Final verdict: Returned
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This month was a success in my book! I wore everything and everything fit! I feel like that never happens. I’ve already placed my nuuly order for February and I’m actually really excited for it to come this week. If you are interested in trying Nuuly, you can use my link here and get $30 off your first month and I get $20 off my next one 🙂
