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Nov 03, 2024

Best Clothing Subscription Boxes For Women 2024 - Forbes Vetted

Even if you love to shop, trying things on in stores can be time-consuming. So skip the dressing rooms: The best clothing subscription boxes for women deliver a curated assortment of clothing and accessories right to your door, minus shipping fees or complicated commitment levels. We compared dozens of brands and pored over hundreds of customer reviews before choosing our top 12 winners. Stitch Fix is our best overall pick due to its ease of use and stylishly curated options, while Wantable is our best value pick for its budget-friendly selections.

The best clothing subscription boxes for women make it easy to refresh your wardrobe without a major ... [+] investment.

To create our full list, we scrutinized the fine print and found which services offer the best styles, size ranges, delivery frequencies, prices and easiest cancellation policies. All of our selections were also reviewed by deputy editor Kari Molvar, who has over two decades of experience covering women’s apparel. Whether you’re looking for office-ready outfits, everyday basics or luxury dresses you can rent and return, here are the best subscription boxes for women that we highly recommend.

Stitch Fix

Size range: XS to 3X; Plus and maternity options available | Frequency: Weekly, monthly or on demand | Featured brands: Madewell, Vince, Good American | Shipping: Free shipping and returns

Stitch Fix scored highest in our review for its ease of use and stylishly curated clothing—the service works with more than 1,000 brands, including Madewell, Vince and Good American. After taking the style quiz and setting your budget, you’re sent a box (or “Fix”) with five items, which you have three days to try on (you can request more time in the app). Deliveries can be scheduled weekly, monthly or on-demand (no recurring subscription).

Prices are reasonable: The $20 styling fee is applied toward any items you buy, and you get 25% off your entire order if you keep all five pieces in your box. You can also shop à la carte for items without subscribing. As far as cancellation goes, the easiest way is to do so is on the website two weeks in advance; you can also call customer service.

Wantable

Size range: S to XXL | Frequency: Monthly or on demand | Featured brands: Free People, Thread & Supply, Rhone | Shipping: Free shipping and returns

If you like the fashion variety and outfit-planning ease of a subscription but want to keep costs down, Wantable is a well-priced option. You start by setting a budget for your stylist and picking a pre-set box theme (such as “style edit” or “active edit.”) You can preview and edit your selections, as well as request specific items—Wantable works with brands like Free People, Thread & Supply, Rhone and more.

Boxes contain seven items, and you have five days to try on everything. Keep only what you want (the $20 styling fee is credited toward anything you buy), and you’ll get 20% off your total order for keeping at least five items. If you need to cancel, you can do so anytime before your next box or contact customer service for shipments that are already in progress.

Rent the Runway

Size range: 0 to 22 | Frequency: Weekly, bi-weekly or monthly | Featured brands: Gucci, Veronica Beard, A.L.C. | Shipping: Free shipping and returns

Rent the Runway was the first, and is still the best, designer rental clothing service. The monthly subscription gives you access to five items at a time, from brands such as Phillip Lim, Gucci, Veronica Beard, A.L.C. and other luxury labels. The service is particularly great for evening wear and wedding guest dresses, as well as chic work outfits. Dry cleaning and minor repairs (along with accidental spills) are covered at no additional cost.

You can hold onto items as long as you want, or swap and exchange them at set intervals: The basic plan ($94) offers one monthly delivery while the unlimited plan ($235) grants you up to four deliveries per month. Also nice: You can purchase items you want to keep at a discount, which varies by the item. Keep in mind that cancellations must be made about three to five days before your next rental date.

Nuuly

Size range: XXS to 5XL | Frequency: Monthly | Featured brands: Anthropologie, Madewell, Lilly Pulitzer | Shipping: Free shipping and returns

Finding fashion-forward work clothing can be difficult, but Nuuly allows you to rent six different pieces every month (dry cleaning and repairs are included in the cost of the service) and send everything back by the next billing date. The brands available on Nuuly feel fresh and current—they range from Anthropologie to Agolde to Levi’s—and there are different categories for loungewear, casual clothing or formal wear.

Users say the work clothes transition well from the office to after-work drinks, and they appreciate the helpful filters on the website that allow them to search for specific pieces based on occasion, brand, color, size and even weather. If you want to rent more than six items a month, you can add up to four bonus items for $20 each. To cancel, send back any unpurchased items before your billing date and select “cancel subscription” within your account.

Armoire

Size range: 0 to 24 | Frequency: Monthly or on demand | Featured brands: Boden, Paige, Rag & Bone | Shipping: Free shipping and returns

Similar to Rent the Runway, Armoire is a rental subscription service but its price point is slightly more affordable. The brand mix includes Boden, Paige, Diane Von Furstenberg and Rag & Bone. You can keep styles as long as you want or swap them out, and the idea is to build a capsule collection you can easily rotate every few weeks. Dry cleaning and minor repairs from wear and tear are complimentary.

Three different plans range from $89 for four items with one swap per month to $249 for for six items with unlimited swaps. The initial style quiz identifies your fashion preferences and sizing, and then the stylists—and the algorithm—start to learn your preferences. Cancel or pause your subscription anytime, so long as it’s at least 72 hours before your next renewal date.

Dia & Co

Size range: 0X to 5X | Frequency: On demand | Featured brands: 11 Honoré, Estelle, Ever-Pretty | Shipping: Free shipping and returns

Dia & Co carries an extensive selection of size-inclusive brands, including 11 Honoré, Estelle and Ever-Pretty. The Dia Styling Box includes five hand-picked items, including clothing and accessories, based on your styling quiz preferences. You’ll have five days to decide if you want to keep or send back items (if you buy one or more items from your box, the $20 styling fee is waived).

You can request a complimentary extension on your try-on period, and cancel your box anytime before it’s shipped. The clothing is well-made and on-trend for parties and events, with shoppers especially keen on the assortment of tops, sweaters, dresses, pants, jackets and workout clothes.

Short Story

Size range: 00P to 20P | Frequency: Monthly, every two months, every three months or longer | Featured brands: Amour Vert, Good American, Liverpool | Shipping: Free shipping and returns

Short Story is entirely devoted to clothing tailored to petite frames (FYI: “petite” is about height, not size). After taking a short quiz, you’re matched with a stylist who handpicks five to six items for you to try on, ranging from denim to work skirts to floral dresses. You have five days to decide what to keep—items typically cost between $35 to $150—and you can mail back anything you don’t want using the pre-paid return label.

The $25 styling fee is credited toward any current box purchases, and while there are fewer brands in the mix (since not all offer petite sizing), Short Story does an excellent job of curating chic, eye-catching outfits from Amour Vert, Good American, Liverpool and more. If you need to cancel or skip your order, you can do so one week in advance.

ModLux.Rent

Size range: XS to XL | Frequency: Monthly | Featured brands: Vince, BCBG, Cynthia Rowley | Shipping: Free shipping and returns

If you like to switch up your look often and want access to fashion-forward styles, ModLux.Rent might be a good option for you. For one monthly fee, you can select five items at a time and keep them for as long as you want—ideal if you have a trip or special event coming up and want to plan out several outfits. The subscription price includes unlimited exchanges, so you can freshen up your wardrobe at any time.

Expect to find everything from dresses, tops and bottoms to jackets and outerwear on the site. There’s a nice mix of bold patterns and more wearable neutrals, and you purchase what you rent for a reduced price. You can cancel subscriptions at any point—cancellations take effect at the end of the billing month in which you cancel.

Fabletics

Size range: XS to 4XL | Frequency: Monthly | Featured brands: Fabletics | Shipping: Free shipping on orders over $50, free returns within 90 days

If you’re constantly going through workout clothes, Fabletics’ membership gives you access to hundreds of pieces at up to 50% off and a member credit each month. Expect to find everything from low-impact bras to sweat-wicking tanks to buttery soft leggings. Users say the workout clothes fit well, feature comfortable stretch and hold up after multiple washings. New styles are added each month, so the selection never feels stale. You can cancel at any time for no cancellation fee.

Vivrelle

Size range: N/A | Frequency: Monthly | Featured brands: Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent, Celine | Shipping: Free shipping and returns, priority and overnight shipping costs an extra fee

Statement bags and jewelry are a big investment, and you may not always feel like you get good cost per wear. Vivrelle makes luxury accessories—from designers such as Bottega Veneta, Loewe, Saint Laurent and Celine—more accessible (albeit on a short-term basis) by offering handbag and jewelry rentals at more palatable prices. Vivrelle carries both classics and trendy new offerings, sources hard-to-find pieces, and offers unlimited stylist appointments so that you can get styling help or a fashion expert’s second opinion.

You can’t pre-reserve an item; they’re first come, first served, so if you have something you really want for an event, you may want to try to get it early. Vivrelle has four different subscription tiers—from $45 to $309 per month—and you have the option to buy items you can’t bear to part with at members-only prices.

Vince

Size range: XXS to 3XL; 00 to 38 | Frequency: Monthly | Featured brands: Vince | Shipping: Free shipping and returns

Vince Unfold makes luxury part of your everyday. The beauty of its stylish offerings is that they transition easily from your workday to nights out—think sleek blazers, chic wide leg pants and cashmere everything—all in wearable, muted colors or discreet prints. The brand also offers extended sizes up to 3XL. This service has unlimited exchanges, and you can keep items for as long as you’d like. In order to receive shipments, you have to maintain 10 items in the wish list section of your personal edit on the site. You can opt to keep rented styles at a discounted price.

Haverdash

Size range: S to XL | Frequency: Monthly | Featured brands: Rebecca Minkoff, Faherty, Vince | Shipping: Free shipping and returns

For when you don’t have an unlimited budget, Haverdash is an inexpensive way to achieve a nearly instant closet refresh. It has a wide variety of selections from brands including Faherty, Rebecca Minkoff, Vince and Levi’s. Another plus: Haverdash has maternity offerings, which can be helpful if you don’t want to buy an entirely new wardrobe while pregnant. Each box includes three styles, which you can wear as many times as you'd like.

Your subscription includes unlimited shipping and exchanges for a flat monthly fee. Haverdash has an extremely in-depth cleaning process between wearers, and the brand packs each box by hand so everything that arrives to you will have a like-new feel. New members can take advantage of Haverdash's 30-day free trial; cancel anytime to avoid being charged the following month.

At Forbes Vetted, we’ve tried on, evaluated and put a lot of clothing and accessories through the wringer to rate the performance, quality and value for your money.

To determine the best clothing subscription boxes for women, we read hundreds of product reviews and evaluated options from both established and newer-to-market brands.

When deciding which subscription box to go with, there are a few key factors you should keep in mind. We’ve outlined the most important ones below:

There are two primary types of clothing subscription boxes. The first is one where the service curates a box for you, you try everything on when it arrives, and then you keep and pay for only what you want (in addition to a small styling fee). The other type offers a rental service in which you choose the clothing you want to borrow, keep it for a period of time and then return it in a bag with a prepaid label. Rental services have extensive cleaning, inspecting and packaging protocols. That cost is built in to the overall cost of the service, so you don’t have to pay for dry cleaning after wearing items.

Different services have different style profiles—some are luxury, some are geared toward work and others specialize in more casual offerings. Before committing, think carefully about your needs and what will be most helpful to you over the long term. Services such as Stitch Fix and Nuuly have a wide variety of options, while others, like Vince Unfold, are limited to a specific brand.

In general, subscription services require a monthly fee or charge a minimum styling fee per box (this is the case with Stitch Fix, Wantable and Short Story). Services that offer luxury items, like ModLux.Rent, are understandably more expensive, while services like Wantable and Haverdash are more affordable. Shipping is usually free—meaning, it’s actually built in to your monthly or yearly membership fee. Take note that some services, such as Rent the Runway, charge a slightly discounted fee for your first month, but the price will go up starting on month two.

Some companies will ship you a box on an as-you-wish basis, while others will send you something each month, depending on your plan. Every company has a different policy when it comes to selections and swaps, so take care to read the fine print beforehand. For example, Stitch Fix curates a box for you, but you can’t edit it before it ships. Vince Unfold allows unlimited exchanges, which is a bonus. Nuuly offers an amazing selection from great designers, but you can’t swap out items mid-month if you decide something doesn’t work for you.

One of the most frustrating things about clothing rental services can be size availability. In some cases, they don’t carry your size at all—although some services, like Armoire and Dia & Co, do a better job with inclusive sizing. In other cases, the size you want always seems to be out on loan and you feel as if you never get access to the good stuff. Our advice is to plan ahead and try to order special occasion dresses or outfits early if you can.

Based on our extensive research, we recommend Stitch Fix as the best clothing subscription box for women overall based on its sheer number of options, inclusive size range and customizable features. With a styling fee of just $20 per box (which goes towards your purchase if you decide to keep anything), it’s an accessible option that’s great for first-time clothing subscription box buyers.

This depends on the type of subscription box you choose, as well as your personal shopping habits. Some services, including Stitch Fix and Wantable, offer a discount on your order if you decide to keep every piece in your box. This ends up being more cost-effective than buying each item separately, but only if you can see yourself getting use out of everything you’ve been sent. More realistically, a clothing subscription box is about saving time and effort rather than money. Having a curated set of stylish pieces sent to your home can be worth it for those with hectic schedules who don’t have the time to update their wardrobe.

Finding a great wedding guest dress can be complicated, and it’s even trickier when you have lots of weddings to attend in one season. Several services offer gorgeous occasion dresses, but we like Rent the Runway and Nuuly for their wide range of formalwear options, with designers including Saloni, Staud, Halston and Proenza Schouler among many others. If you’re in need of a show stopping bag or jewelry for an event, we like the chic options from Vivrelle.

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