Express Style Trial: Is it Worth it to Rent

You would have to be living under a rock for the last couple of months if you haven’t heard of Express Style Trial. Basically, Express has joined the “Clothing as a Service” platform of marketing where you can rent clothing versus purchasing them. If you have, in deed been living under a rock, that is or, just disconnected from social media, then please keep reading. I promise to give you the good, bad, and honest truth about my experience.

Express Clothing as a Service

The Express Trial Style is a monthly subscription of which you pay one flat fee of $69.95 to rent 3 pieces. This is similar to other rent-a-clothing experiences such as Le Tote, Rent the Runway, and Infinite Style by Ann Taylor. Click here to read about personal stylish subscriptions. Again, if you think I’m speaking fashion jargon, let me explain the basic process.

These subscription boxes are designed for “The consumer who is more interested in access versus ownership” according to Express CCEO (Chief Consumer Experience Officer).

How it Works

Pay a monthly flat fee to rent 3-4 pieces
Select pieces for virtual closet and/or complete your style profile
Rent pieces for as long as you continue your subscription or purchase items at discounted price.
Return items and repeat. (free shipping)

Ok, to be perfectly honest, when I first received that email informing me of Express Style Trial back in November, I knew beyond the shadow of doubt that I would sign up. I absolutely love Express! 95% of my work attire is purchased from Express. I mean, it would only make sense that I rent from them to refresh my wardrobe. Right?

To Express Style Trial or Not Trial ?

I had done my research on other subscription boxes (i.e Le Tote, Infinite Stlye) and knew I wanted to try one. I just had to make sure that I could justify spending $69.95 to rent clothing. So when I saw Express’s Trial, it was practically a no brainer.

Well, that’s what I thought until I signed up for the trial, started adding pieces to my closet, and just before entering my credit card (CC) info….I read the FAQs.

Why? Express Why?

Again, full transparency, I was really unimpressed with the selection you get to choose from. Most pieces were from 3 months prior and trending out of season. Again, I frequent Express and am very familiar with their collection so I noticed this off bat. But, because I also have a habit of letting pieces expire in my cart before purchasing, I was pleased to be able to add a couple of those pieces to my closet.

The disappointment came when I stumbled upon the 8 item closet requirement in order to receive a box and 20 items to ensure a “smooth experience”. I only had 4 items in my cart that I wanted to rent. Why would I possibly add other pieces that I would absolutely never wear? That would be a total waste of my money. This was an immediate turn off. I graciously closed the website and purchased similar items … less that the cost of that subscription.

Express Style Free Trial

Obviously I ended up trying Express Style Trial so fast let’s forward to two weeks ago. I received a email for a free one month subscription. I would assume that Express didn’t gain as much traction as they had originally planned, so they’re offering a free one month trial to unique subscribers. Since FREE is always in my budget, I figured it would be no harm no foul. (Be prepared to still enter your CC)

Also, to my pleasant surprise, there were new arrivals which gave me a better selection to choose from. I’m sure that the selection is now on average 1-2 months behind, but atleast it’s in the right season. I even noticed that Express had added a New Arrival tabs to the website. Following direction from the site (which is simple and super user friendly) I was finnally able to add 20 pieces to my closet. I also marked 3 items Priortize to ensure items I really wanted would be delivered.

The Process

I’ve pretty much already explained how the process works above. So no need to go into further detail. One thing to note is after finally enter my CC, I was sent an email stating that my box was being prepared. It took about 2 days for my items to show in my box, and another 2-3 days for them to arrive at my door step. In my opinion this is very reasonable and covenient.

I love the way my items were packaged. For the life of me I couldn’t get a good picture of the packaging and was too anxious to continue so I opened it. Again, I love Express clothing so there was no reason to think opening the box would be any different than me opening something that I’ve purchased from their site. I did decide to go ahead and purchase the pair of pants (which is why my box is only showing 2 items). That process is really simple, they’ll go ahead and charge your card on file. This was a steal by the way…. I purchased these pants for only $10! Seriously thinking about purchasing my entire box.

Box it Up

In conclusion, I kinda think that I’m back at square one. Is it worth it? Practically speaking. As you can see in my virtual closet above, I have a couple of items now, 19 to be exact. But can I really keep it at 20 each month? Will I add items I know I would never wear, just to ensure “a smooth experience”? Will the selection available become more of what’s currently for sale?

Secondly, is $69.95 monthly worth it to rent from Express? Where’s the consumer cost savings? Express has great sales weekly, plus I shop here often to receive points and gift cards. You can potentially wear up to 9 new items a month. So that’s averaging about $7 per item. But I wear my pants at least once a week for me years at a time making them pennies a day. They also offer great discounts on the clothing. But once you tack on what was spent for the subscription, are you just back at square one?

The benefit of the subscription for a blogger would be the ability to constantly shoot new content by adding revolving pieces to your repetoire. I could even see some using it to rent pieces for special occasions. But for the average everyday working woman, I would suggest purchasing great capsule pieces that stand the test of time and trends.

Un-Boxed: Express Style Trial Work Ootd

Again, I absolutely love Express, and I’m not saying that I will never use Express Style Trial again. I’m only stating that for the time being (well after this trial is over) I’ll just go back to purchasing items off the rack or website. I personally believe that Express would be more profitable if they gave us “working women” an option to purchase these rented pieces without a monthly subscription. Again, building a timeless wardrobe is always more cost efficient.

Continue to be classy and fashionable.