We’ve discussed the benefits and pitfalls of dealing with Rent the Runway before, but I had a not-so-great experience shopping their clearance sale and wanted to warn you. Periodically Rent the Runway liquidates their heavily-rented inventory with a clearance sale.  The dresses and accessories are previous rentals and clearly show signs of fatigue.  In fairness, RTR sort of discloses damages – for example below they indicate the garment has pick/pull flaws, but don’t show the specific item for purchase. All items are final sale, so you better know your size and be ready to accept whatever arrives.  Keep in mind most of these dresses are stretched from the myriad bodies that have inhabited them.  Whether you find the savings significant will be a matter of perspective.  A Proenza Schouler dress that retails for $1,525 sells for $455 on clearance.  But you are still shelling out nearly $500 for a used frock, and not lightly used at that. The accessories might be a better value if most of them weren’t completely fug.

My negative experience involved some crazy price fluctuations on a dress.  After some back and forth the issue was favorably resolved, but the entire experience left a bad taste in my mouth when it comes to shopping RTR’s clearance.