It's that time of year again: spring cleaning which means out with the old, in with the new, and I'm channeling my inner Marie Kondo. I started with my abyss of a closet, and I found a lot of old, barely-worn clothes that I'd forgotten about. Pieces I wore for an event one time, or a dress I bought on an impulse that I never ended up wearing again kept showing up like bad TV shows on my Netflix feed. It made me wonder how much money I had wasted for things I'd only wear a couple of times.
After dropping off an oversized trash bag of clothes at Goodwill, I realized I needed a better system so I could wear new clothes and try new trends without letting things pile up in my closet or wasting money on pieces I'd only wear once. I recently saw a stat about how women only wear 20% of what's in their closet and a majority of their clothes are only worn a handful of times. I'm definitely guilty of this. Scrolling through my Instafeed, I kept seeing my favorite bloggers using the hashtag #LeTote. They were sporting all kinds of different styles: a chic turtleneck, form-fitting pencil skirts, silky bomber jackets, and bold jewelry, so I decided to check it out. Le Tote is is an online fashion subscription service that lets you rent clothing and accessories for as long as you want before returning them and getting a new tote. You can even keep the pieces you like at a discounted price.
At the risk of sounding cliché - I felt like this was the perfect solution to my spring cleaning problems. Renting a new look every week thought old clothes piling up in my closet sounded amazing. I signed up for a month to give it a try. I started with Le Tote's styling quiz and answered some questions about my fit and fashion preferences. They let you choose the types of clothes you like - different types of pants like cropped, denim, or trousers and different tops like sleeveless, off the shoulder, or tees. They had every style of clothing I could think of. I'm pretty open with my style and I like variety, so I checked a lot of the boxes. Based on my picks Le Tote recommended some items for me and I got to preview them. I wasn't totally in love with a pair of wide leg pants, so I swapped them out for a pair of cropped jeans I had my eye on when browsing the site.
My first Tote arrived a few days later, neatly packaged, with a prepaid envelope for anything I wanted to return (no laundry required - big bonus!). The main thing I was concerned about was the sizing. It can be hard to find the right fit because you never know how one brand's size will compare to another's, but Le Tote normalizes sizing across brands so I didn't need to worry. I tried on a graphic tee with a bomber jacket and the cropped jeans, and I was in love. The pants were just the right amount of stretch and the bomber jacket me feel on trend - totally Insta-worthy. This was exactly the kind of look I was searching for, but with the added comfort of knowing that it's a look I can swap out for a new one in a couple weeks without adding to my closet clutter.
The recommendations Le Tote gave me kept getting better and better over time, which encouraged me to try some looks I didn't think would work for me but I was actually able to pull off. I definitely noticed there were a couple of pieces I kept wanting to put back in my Tote, so I ended up buying them at a fraction of the retail cost. Honestly, with the amount I was spending before on outfits that I only worn once, that alone more than justified my subscription. Signing up for Le Tote has been the best decision I could have made for my closet, and I'm always excited for the next new look to arrive right on my doorstep.
UPDATE 4/27/18: The amazing team at Le Tote is offering a special limited-time offer for new customers! Follow this link to get $20 off your first month of membership with free shipping!
