Out-of-the-box fashion fixes are sustainable and cost effective
There are over 340 million people in the United States and they all need clothes, but the traditional method of purchasing body coverings has waned. Fewer and fewer people are frequenting department stores and boutiques, causing establishments to declare bankruptcy or close altogether. Macy’s, for example, was established in 1858, making it the oldest American department store still in operation, but it is in the process of closing 150 of its stores (30%) by the end of the 2026 fiscal year. The pandemic is partly to blame.
The convenience of ordering online with the click of a mouse, often from Amazon, is another factor.
JUMPER AND SHAWL from Stitch Fix worn by Lisha Yakub Sevanian.
There are new and unique ways to get our fashion fixes, including try-to-buy clothing subscription services, many of which have stylists on staff to customize fashion boxes based on a client’s completed questionnaire. Stitch Fix is one of them.
“What I like about Stitch Fix is there’s someone on the other end who says ‘I think this is good for you,’” says Lisha Yakub Sevanian, a subscriber since 2017, who lives near Larchmont Boulevard. The independent filmmaker and mother of two young children explains, “They send a box with five things. Most of the time I like all five. Once they sent teal jeans that I never would have picked out on my own, but I could try it on with the stuff I have at home, and it worked!” Founded in 2011, Stitch Fix has a reported 2.3 million subscribers. They charge a $20 style fee for each box, plus the cost of any clothes kept.
Other purchase-oriented subscription boxes are tailored to specific interests or body types. Plus-size? Dia & Co has you covered. Petite? Short Story caters to the height-challenged. Gym-rat? Try Fabletics. Should we mention unmentionables? Elite by Adore Me will arrange monthly lingerie deliveries. There’s Menlo Club for men and Kidpiks for children.
Clothing rentals
The average person has 26 pieces of clothing in their closet that they never wear, so why watch your clothing investments go out of style or fail to work the way you hoped? Rental subscriptions, where you select which items you want to rent for a month, such as Rent the Runway, have proliferated for just that reason.
“I didn’t know how to dress after COVID,” says visual marketing professional Ann Griffith. “I felt like my size had changed. I knew I was going to dress differently when I went back to the office and I didn’t have the clothes I would need.” She appreciated that the community of subscribers at Rent the Runway wrote detailed reviews that helped Griffith learn what worked for her. “I could sort [their inventory] by body type and found really good everyday dresses I could wear for work or to lunch at the Ebell [of Los Angeles.]” Established in 2009, Rent the Runway’s 174,000 subscribers can sign up for five, 10 or 20 items per month, starting at $94 per box.
IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE, Andriana Manfredi, with her husband Adam (known as performer IN-Q), wears a Nuuly shirt.
Nuuly is another rental subscription option. Owned by URBN, the parent company of Anthropology, Free People and Urban Outfitters, they carry roughly 19,000 styles, many from their own brands, although they represent over 400 designer and contemporary labels. Nuuly’s 300,000 subscribers pay $98 to rent six items a month that they select themselves. Clothing can be purchased for a separate variable fee.
“I’ve been using Nuuly since the beginning of the pandemic,” says actress Andriana Manfredi (whose latest film, “Crossroads,” began streaming at the end of March). “Nuuly has all the brands I really like. I love clothes, but I am a frugal person and don’t feel good buying a jacket for $300. I bought a jacket from Nuuly for $80 [after renting it and liking it]. Brand new it would probably be $300.”
Manfredi has a lot of social engagements and doesn’t want to repeat outfits. “I like to get dressed in more expensive clothes and then give them back. It’s good for the environment. I don’t love fast fashion. This is more sustainable.”
Beverly Grove resident Christy Brooks Fey agrees that sustainability is one of the plusses of her Nuuly subscription, explaining, “I don’t want to feed the machine of mass-produced clothes.” Brooks Fey often rents trendy pieces to add to her classic wardrobe. “It’s fun to try things [for the month’s rental] I wouldn’t normally try rather than purchasing it forever.” She also likes to rent pieces she would consider buying. “I have a pair of Levi’s right now from them that I will probably buy. They are in great condition and fit perfectly. I can buy it from Nuuly for 30% less than what I’d get it for at retail—$80 versus over $100.”
Clothing tips
Another way to add new pieces while addressing fashion waste is to recycle abandoned clothes we harbor by hosting a fashion swap party. At this trending sustainable event, friends and friends of friends gather around nibbles, wine and piles of clothes emptied from their closets that are looking for new homes.
Vanessa Diaz has been participating in clothing swaps for three years. It reminds her of the charitable mindset of recycling clothes she learned as a child, stating, “I grew up near the Mexican border and always gave away my clothes. My mother would bring them across the border [for those in need].” The public relations professional particularly enjoys the camaraderie of the swap parties and knowing that clothes get another life. “I work from home, so I give away blazers. The best thing I got was a Stella McCartney dress.”
CLOTHING SWAP participants: (top to bottom, left to right) Alia Karim, in a red swapped sweater, Vanessa Colosio Diaz, Morgan Gossett, Annie Bickerton, Giustina Clarence Smith, Chrissy Cartwright, Simone Price.
Photo courtesy of Amie Roten
Emily Getoff has been clothes-swapping since college. Now married, she hosts swaps twice a year in her Mid-Wilshire home. At her parties, participants share stories about the clothes they are donating, which makes acquiring them even more meaningful, adding, “A friend brought a dress she had once worn at her rehearsal dinner. It makes it feel special.”
At her last event, the political consultant hosted 35 people. She says, “On average each person left with three to ten items.” Getoff is mindful of opportunities to do something philanthropic, so she donates whatever is left over. She brought approximately 15 bags of clothing to the nonprofit TransLatin@ Coalition.
The next time you look in your closet and think, “I have nothing to wear,” consider clothing swaps and subscription boxes. With apologies to Mark Twain, “Clothes make the woman. Naked people have little or no influence in society.”
Category: Real Estate
