Haverdash Clothing Rental Review
What Is Haverdash?
Haverdash is a women's clothing rental subscription that charges a flat fee of $59.00/month to try out an unlimited amount of dresses, tops, and bottoms from brands like Lucky, ModCloth, French Connection, and BB Dakota. You'll receive three pieces at a time from a virtual "closet" that you fill from their wide selection of trendy and classic styles.
I've tried a couple of different clothing rental services recently (such as Vince Unfold and Le Tote), and I've found that each one works a little differently. While it was fun to add new styles to my virtual closet with Haverdash, I had a hard time getting the sizing right and wasn't able to choose the exact items I'd get in my next shipment. I recommend being diligent about return shipments to get this most out of this unlimited rental program.
About Haverdash
The Subscription: Haverdash
The Cost: $59.00/per month for unlimited three garments at a time.
What You Get: Three clothing items at a time to wear as long as you like with the option to buy them at a discount. Swap your three pieces for a new set of items as often as you want within the month.
Ships to: Any street address in the United States. No US territories.
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
Pros & Cons
| The Pros |
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| The Cons |
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| Is It Worth It? |
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| I'd Recommend Haverdash If You |
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How It Works
Haverdash is an unlimited rental subscription, meaning you pay a monthly fee to get access to a catalog of clothes you can rent. Browse around and add looks you like to your "virtual closet"—this is where Haverdash looks when deciding what to send you. Haverdash lets you rent a set of three clothing items per delivery. Wear those pieces for as long or as short a time as you want. Once you're done with them, you can just send them back to Haverdash using the prepaid shipping envelope you get with each order. (No laundering required!) Haverdash will then send you another set of clothes to try. You can repeat this process as often as you want within each month for the flat $59.00 membership fee. You're also welcome to purchase items you like at a discounted rate.
Getting Started
When you make an account, you'll go through a short "style profile" to tell Haverdash what sizes and brands you typically wear.
Then, Haverdash recommends brands and sizes for you based on your answers. This creates a good baseline but I know that even within a brand, I can wear various sizes. It often depends on the style/cut of the item, not just the brand.
One nice thing about Haverdash is that you can browse their selection (and filter by size, color, or brand) before you even subscribe to the service. Clothing types are broken down "What's New", "Dresses", "Tops", "Bottoms", and "Now Trending."
When you click into an item, you'll see images, a size chart, product details, and available sizes. If you've made an account, which you can do without subscribing (ie: putting any money down), Haverdash will automatically make a size suggestion for each item based on your "size profile" answers. These pants were featured in a lot of the ads I saw online for Haverdash, so they must be popular—sadly, that means they weren't available in the size Haverdash suggested for me. This happened to me a fair amount of times when I looked at items I liked. In addition to the size suggestion, Haverdash provides a size chart for each garment, but I didn't find the chart to be super helpful. For instance, I always used the measurements as a guide when looking for bottoms to fit my hip measurements, and sometimes, I still didn't get the right fit.
Your Virtual Closet
Once you're signed up, you'll see a little hanger icon at the top right corner of the screen—this is how you get to your Virtual Closet. Your closet helps you keep track of pieces you have On The Rack, any items you've put On Hold, and what you have At Home. Let's go through what each one of those means...
On the Rack
On the Rack is where things you add to your virtual closet end up. This is also where Haverdash looks to pick the items in your deliveries. Note that you won't be able to choose the exact pieces that you get in each shipment, but you can mark an item as a "priority." Haverdash does its best to send those sooner than later, but there aren't any guarantees.
This part is important—you need a minimum of 8 items in your On the Rack section before Haverdash will start your first delivery. So, make sure you go a little wild at first. Haverdash actually suggests keeping at least 20 items in your On The Rack section at all times for the best experience. The more items you have On the Rack, the better.
On Hold
The On Hold section is for items that you might not want in the near future, but that you don't want to forget about. For instance, you might use this section to store looks you might want for upcoming seasons. I actually used this section to keep track of pieces that I liked, but weren't currently available in my size. I'd sporadically check back on them hoping they'd become available, but sadly I never caught my size in time. I wish they had some sort of notification for this situation, so that as soon as my size became available, I could put the item on my rack.
At Home
At Home is where you'll find the three items that are either on their way to you or that you currently have, well, at home. The At Home section is also where you'll go to tell Haverdash whether you're going to buy or return what you got. (More on that a little later.) I noticed that the At Home section is the only place where I saw the price of the items I got. This means that once you send your items back, you won't be able to see how much they cost to purchase. Haverdash doesn't list a retail price, just the percentage off and the price they'll sell the item to you for (which, honestly, seemed a bit high for many of the brands I received).
History
The last section of your closet is easy to miss but contains valuable info. It's an understated link at the bottom left corner of the page that says "View History." If you click into it, you'll see all of the clothing items you've rented in the past with the rating you gave them, the size, and when each item was shipped and returned.
My First Haverdash Delivery
Once you have at least eight items on your rack, you'll get an email letting you know that your first delivery is being prepared. You'll also receive another email once it ships, along with a tracking number. The full turnaround for my shipment was four days, meaning I signed up on a Thursday, my order shipped out on Saturday, and I received it on Monday. This may differ for you slightly depending on the day of the week you sign up.
The Unboxing
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I received my first shipment a few days after signing up in a brown box with Haverdash branding on the outside. The items came wrapped in tissue paper with a Haverdash sticker and welcome card.
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Here's the welcome card, which is the only paperwork I got in the shipment. It has a short welcome message on one side and the Haverdash motto on the other: "Life's too ___ to wear the same thing twice."
Lastly, I got a prepaid mailer to use for returning items I don't want to purchase. This thing is really roomy, so I didn't have a problem fitting all of my returns inside.
The Clothing
My first delivery arrived and I was a little shocked by how much everything would cost to keep. This is good news for getting value out of a rental subscription but not great if you want to keep everything! The brands I received weren't ones I was super familiar with so they personally didn't warrant the cost.
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My first Haverdash delivery included:
- LUSH Surplice Black Heart Print Top, Size Small - Haverdash Price $62.50 (11% off)
- Mustard Seed Light Blue Chambray Jogger Pants, Size Large - Haverdash Price $57.00 (10% off)
- Re:named White Polka Dot Mariah Jacket, Size Medium - Haverdash Price $81.50 (15% off)
The printed top has tiny white hearts against a black background with a semi-low-cut V-neck. It fit pretty well, but I definitely didn't think it was worth $62.50, especially for a top that has presumably been worn by other people before me. I'd expect to pay that much for a brand-new, retail-priced item. I love the look of chambray joggers, however, even though I ordered a large these pants were a bit snug around my hips and the bottoms looked too loose. I thought the jacket was really cute since it combines my love of polka dots AND denim jackets, but I didn't get $90 or even $81.50 vibes from it. It looked practically new though, which is maybe why it wasn't discounted very much.
Want a quick rundown of what else I got in my other deliveries? Read on!
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My second Haverdash delivery included:
- Le Lis Tie Waist Pink Denim Pants, Size Large
- Jack By BB Dakota Tie Shoulder Jersey Jumpsuit, Size Small
- Naked Zebra Drawstring Black Dress, Size Medium
The pants here did not fit me very well, so the photo you see is the only time I had them on. That black jersey jumpsuit? Andy, who took this photo for me asked "Is it vintage?" because that's how worn it looked. Definitely not a new-looking piece like the other ones. I think the material is just prone to pilling. The black dress I'm wearing in the last pic was perfect, and I swear by that silhouette. I forgot to take a screenshot before returning them, so I missed the price to purchase information on this shipment. The fact that Haverdash doesn't just show the price permanently leads me to believe that it does change, perhaps based on how often the piece has been rented.
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My third Haverdash delivery included:
- Levi's Secret Admirer 311 Shaping Skinny Jeans, Size 30 - Haverdash Price $62.50 (10% off)
- Yumi Belted Stripe Dress, Size Large - Haverdash Price $72.50 (42% off)
- Leota Skyler Summer Night Cropped Jumpsuit, Size Medium - Haverdash Price $94.50 (36% off)
Hey, those jeans almost kinda fit okay! They were too long, of course, so I had to cuff them at the bottom. I still wasn't "purchase them" in love though. That striped dress was a hot mess on me, and honestly, I think the size was just way off. I felt like it made my figure... nonexistent. Pockets though! The jumpsuit was to die for, and I was really tempted to buy that baby, but... $94.50? Nah.
Making Purchases
Even though Haverdash is a rental service, you have the option to buy items that you simply cannot imagine parting with. They offer a discount that is sometimes pretty good, and sometimes only 10% or so. It makes me wonder how that all works. Like, does the discount get greater the more an item is worn? Or do you still only get 15% off regardless of whether you're the first or the tenth person to wear something? I'm sure they have some sort of pricing algorithm.
If you find an item on a brand's website that is cheaper than the price listed, Haverdash WILL price match it. But this doesn't apply to third-party sites like Nordstrom Rack.
Returning Items
If you choose to return your items, you'll want to do what Haverdash calls "Return Notify." What that does is alert Haverdash that you are sending your clothing back, so they can get started prepping your next delivery. You 100% want to remember to do this because it cuts down on the wait time in between shipments.
An important note is that you must return all three items together unless you want to purchase something. If you only send two of the three pieces back, because you want to wear one item longer, Haverdash will assume you want to purchase that last item and charge you for it.
When you return your items, it will also ask you to rate each piece, how often you wore it, and what you did or didn't like about it. This rating will show up in our history which is a nice way to remember how things fit for future closeting.
Laundering & Damaged Items
A big question I had about renting clothes was around cleanliness. Are the clothes clean? And what happens if I return something that's damaged or stained?
Haverdash will take care of laundering your clothes once you return them. If you want to wash a piece on your own (for instance, if you want to wear it several times before returning it), you can. It's just not required that the clothes are returned clean. Haverdash does ask that you follow the care instructions on the garment if you choose to do so.
As far as damages go, Haverdash recognizes that normal wear and tear happens, so if "clothing gets snagged, spills find shirts, and hems fall out, you will NOT be held accountable."
How many items can you try in a month?
"Unlimited" sounds awesome and everything, but with all the shipping back and forth, I was curious just how many deliveries I could really receive in a month. The number you'll be able to get depends on many factors, such as how long you want to wear each piece, what items they send you (for example, if you get three dresses, you might take three days to wear them all, but a jacket, a top, and a pair of pants could be worn all at once), and how well you stay on top of the returns process (ie: doing your "Return Notify"). I struggled with staying on top of that last bit, especially since my orders ran into a holiday (*shakes fist at the 4th of July*). Plus, there's no mail (nor mail pick-ups) on Sundays, and there were times when I simply missed my mail carrier or didn't make it to the post office in time.
Looking back at my emails, there is usually a 2-day window between when Haverdash says my next shipment is being "prepped" (a.k.a. when I completed the Return Notify step) and when it shipped. Shipping took 2-3 days, depending on the day of the week when the order went out.
Long story short, I managed to get a solid THREE deliveries in a month, which translates to nine clothing items, by being diligent (but not perfect) about the process. I could probably get four deliveries (or 12 items) if I was really on top of my game. Five though? At least for me, I don't think that's really possible.
Canceling Haverdash
If Haverdash isn't for you and you'd like to cancel you can do so by phone. Phone support is available between 9am and 6pm ET Monday-Friday. Be sure to call before your next billing date (which you can find in your account). Once you cancel, you'll have a few days to get your last round of clothing back to them if you haven't already. The person you speak to on the phone will give you your return due date.
So, is Haverdash worth it?
I received nine clothing items for $59.00 within a month's time with Haverdash. That breaks down to $6.56 per rented item for roughly 4/5 days each (or you could roughly say that I rented clothing for $2/day). Although having an unlimited amount of deliveries sounds alluring, with the prep and ship time, there was still an average of four days in between shipments, not to mention Sundays and holidays that ate up more shipping time. Even though Haverdash suggested sizes based on my profile, and despite my careful attention to the size details for each item before I added it to my closet, the pieces I got didn't always fit me well. This proved to be a little frustrating because I couldn't exchange just one item for a different size. While Haverdash has a cute selection of clothes, and I found a lot that I liked, not everything was available in my size. My thoughts are that Haverdash will probably be great for someone who wants a constant flow of new pieces to wear and prefers shopping online to IRL, which is what rentals are all about. It could also be great for someone who doesn't have a ton of access to on-trend clothes where they live but wants to stay current.
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