How do you update your work wardrobe? Gwynnie Bee is a clothing rental service with plenty of work-ready options. The service has a few fun prints and casual pieces, but I think it’s strongest as a collection of workwear items. This subscription will keep you looking professional and capable, no matter the situation. If your style is more about comfortable, casual clothes, you’ll find some pieces on Gwynnie Bee, too, but not as many. You’ll see some of those items in my review!
Through my Gwynnie Bee subscription, I rented a black and white floral blouse, a pair of raw hem gray jeans, a pair of cheetah print jeans, and a pair of white tie-dye jeans. I liked the raw hem gray jeans the most, because they went with lots of outfits and had the best fit. This subscription doesn’t fit my personal style very well, but I recommend it if you want clothes that will make you look effortlessly put-together.
What We Like About Gwynnie Bee
Gwynnie Bee orders come in a brown cardboard box, with the clothes wrapped in tissue paper. Each box comes with its own prepaid shipping envelope, even when one order arrives in different boxes. I’m expecting the extra mailers to come in handy at some point!
Gwynnie Bee was originally founded as a plus size rental service, serving sizes 14-32. They now carry sizes from 0 to 32, but they’ve kept their focus on plus sizes and most of their product images are of plus size women.
Gwynnie Bee works hard to make sure it’s easy to find clothes that fit you well. There’s a section of their website that takes you to clothing selections curated for different body types. For example, they have a collection of clothes that flatter an apple body type, an hourglass body type, and so on.
There’s also a feature called GB First Fit, where they ask members of various sizes and ages to review a piece of clothing before listing it on the website. That way, you’ll always have a member’s opinion to refer to before renting something. Aside from that, you can browse customer reviews with pictures and personal opinions on fit. I love to see photos of people wearing clothes outside of a photoshoot setting, because it helps me decide whether or not to try something out.
One of the great things about this service is that you can see their full selection before you sign up, so you can decide whether or not it’s right for you. Their clothing tends to skew toward more formal clothing, but you can find the occasional whimsical print item.
Gwynnie Bee has a great selection of dresses, no matter what your size, and I think that’s their strongest clothing section. However, they don’t have as many options for separates, and you’ll only find a few dozen shirts, pants, and skirts.
What We Don’t Like About Gwynnie Bee
Gwynnie Bee has kind of a convoluted pricing system. The cost of your monthly plan depends on how many items you’re borrowing at a time. You can rent anywhere from 1 to 10 items at a time, and with each plan, you get unlimited sets of rentals each month. If you get 10 items per order, you can expect around 30 items over a month, if you diligently send items back each week and get 3 shipments over a month.
Gwynnie Bee’s selection of clothing feels much more limited than what’s available through other services. They only have a few dozen pant and sweater options. They have a good number of dresses, though, so this might be a good option if you wear dresses to work often. There are a lot of other rental subscription services with more options, and Gwynnie Bee is around the same price as all of those better options.
Gwynnie Bee is focused on professional styles for work and some classic, low-key casual looks. There isn’t a lot of variety in the styles they have on offer. Their styles weren’t quite right for me: I’m pretty satisfied with the basics I have in my closet, and I don’t have to wear office clothes too often. Their style selection seems like it could be fairly hit-or-miss, depending on your wardrobe needs.
Lots of rental services will choose items for you out of items you’ve already favorited, and Gwynnie Bee is the same. I really wish I had more control over what I was able to rent, because I wish I had been able to show more variety in my review than just 3 pairs of jeans. I had other items in my favorites section, I swear! There were some nice sweaters and skirts I wanted to try out.
I also struggled with the sizing for Gwynnie Bee. I felt like 3 out of the 4 items I tried fit very awkwardly, and I’m not sure why. Maybe I just chose unflattering clothes. I didn’t find their Size Advisor as helpful as I’ve found similar services on other websites.
High-Rise Vintage Tie Dye Skinny Jeans by Vintage America Blues
These white jeans are a little outside my comfort zone, but I was drawn to the fun design on them. The angular tie-dye has blue and some subtle pink and lavender in there.
I decided to pair these jeans with a bulkier boot, to offset the brightness of the jeans. I really like the contract between the dainty white jeans and the combat boots! That’s a combination I might try again in the future.
Tie-dye is super popular right now, and I like that Gwynnie Bee included these jeans in their collection. It’s definitely a bold way to join in that trend! These pants have a raw hem, too, to double down on the trendiness.
Raw Hem Jet Social Standard Skinny Jeans by Sanctuary Denim
These jeans are fairly plain, but I think they fit me the best out of all of these options. They were made of a solid, stretchy denim. In the product photos, it looked black, but here it’s definitely gray. Either way, these were fun to wear.
Since these pants are plain but well-fitting, I decided to wear them with these metallic red loafers. It’s nice to have a basic item that you can use to showcase a statement item. I love these shoes, but they don’t go with everything!
My only complaint is that these are a little short. They’re cut at an odd length, at least for my height. They’re not labeled as ankle jeans, but they hit above my ankle bone. Personally, I prefer a looser fit for ankle pants. Something about the combination of tight, short pants makes me think of Pee-Wee Herman.
Printed Asymmetric Hem Blouse by Vince Camuto
I love the atmospheric, sophisticated black and white pattern on this shirt. The waist is nipped in with elastic, and I imagine this would look great on someone really curvy.
I didn’t love the cut of this shirt, though. It has kind of an awkward, baggy shape that isn’t super flattering. The long ruffle in the front looks awkward to me, and I think the ruffled bottom looks strange, too. You can especially see how oversized it is from the back. I probably should have sized down for this one.
I was hoping for something that I could wear with dark or black jeans, but I’m not sure this shirt goes well with jeans at all. I think this shirt would look better with a skirt than with pants, to continue the gently flowing silhouette. It’s a thin polyester, and I found the shirt a little too thin to wear during winter.
Ami Shadow Jag Wash Skinny Ankle Jeans by NYDJ
These jeans have a subtle cheetah print against the gray fabric, and I love cheetah print! They’re not too flashy, but fun to wear with a printed shirt like I did here. I think these could be worn for an edgy look with a moto jacket, or with an oversized sweater for something low-key.
These were slightly loose on me, and I already sized down once. My personal pet peeve is jeans that are super stretchy and lose their shape after just a few hours of wearing, and these definitely fit into that category.
Final Thoughts
Gwynnie Bee has plenty of styles that will help you look put together, whether you’re heading into the office, attending Zoom meetings, or just running errands. There’s a great selection of sizes, and lots of subscribers will appreciate the emphasis on finding the right fit for your body type.
They have a nearly endless supply of dignified, flattering dresses, but their other apparel categories fall short. I don’t think they have a large enough selection to justify their prices. Gwynnie Bee was one of the first clothing rental services around, but it doesn’t stand up to its competition. I think Le Tote caters to a similar kind of customer, but has a better selection and lets you choose your own rental items.
