The Ms. Collection is a clothing rental service that gives you access to a rotating wardrobe. Each month, the company chooses a selection of clothes for you to rent. With some plans, you can get more than one pack per month. They have clothes for the office, going out, or even just running errands. It’s a great way to try new styles and supplement the clothes you already own.
In my Ms. Collection pack for January, I received a faux leather burgundy skirt, a long gray and burgundy sweater, and a flowy blue printed top. The sweater is my favorite piece this month, because it’s easy to wear and drapes nicely. I recommend this service to anyone who wants to look professional and put together with new clothes on a regular basis.
What We Like About The Ms. Collection
The Ms. Collection is a clothing subscription service with 4 subscription options. I chose the Standard subscription, which gets you one shipment of 3 items for $59 a month. If you want more clothes, there’s also the Premium subscription, which is $10 more for 4 items of clothing each month. If you want unlimited packs, you can get unlimited shipments of 3 or 4 items at a time.
The Ms. Collection has a styling component, which is a little different from other rental services. That feature might make this service more appealing if you want an expert’s input when you rent clothes. You can put in specific requests to your stylist, like if you’re going on a vacation soon or have something special coming up.
My pack arrived really quickly, even though it arrived soon after Christmas when the postal service was in turmoil. The 1-day shipping worked out!
The presentation is very nice, and I like that there’s no unnecessary plastic packaging. The twine tying the clothes together is cute, and it minimizes waste. The box came with a card explaining the service and a card listing the costs of all the clothes.
Every box also comes with a prepaid return envelope, which makes returns a cinch. I love returning rentals via USPS, because you can schedule a pickup right from your house. In pandemic times, the pickup service is even more valuable, because it means I don’t have to visit the tiny, crowded post office nearby.
With this service, you get $20 in credits each month, and you get $10 off if you keep everything in your pack. I especially like the $20 credit, because that’s a decent chunk of change toward a piece of clothing if there’s anything you’d like to keep. Use them whenever you can, because they don’t roll over to the next month! The Ms. Collection also offers member discounts on all items, and you can get up to 50% off. The discounts come in handy because most items are $60 or more at full price.
As a subscriber, you can prioritize certain items as your “Top Requested Items.” I added a few, but they weren’t included in my pack for the month. The stylist at The Ms. Collection did send me 2 items from my wishlist, but my third item was chosen by them. The third item is a seasonally-appropriate sweater, and it’s reasonably close to my sense of style.
Another thing I appreciated about this subscription is that the member page clearly tells you when the next billing date will be, so you can plan for your next charge or even cancel before then:
With rental clothes, you don’t need to worry about laundry. It cuts down on a chore, and it also saves you from having to deal with the laundry instructions, especially with materials like wool or leather.
If your New Year’s resolution is to own less, clothing rentals are one possible way to help you expand your closet without creating clutter. Modern life dictates that most of us need clothes for lots of situations: working out, socializing, professional life, and relaxing. If you outsource some of your clothing needs to rental services, you can cut down on the amount you actually own.
What We Don’t Like About The Ms. Collection
For me, the biggest issue was that the website for The Ms. Collection was noticeably clunky. It takes a while for the clothing selection to load, and there aren’t any filter options. Instead, you have to scroll through all the clothes they have available. I usually have a pretty good idea of what I’m looking for, so I wish I could have used them to speed up the searching process here. I do give them credit for exclusively showing clothes in my size, though!
Your only choice is to scroll through a disorganized list of clothes, so the selection process takes longer than it should.
When I clicked on clothing pages to see more pictures of them, the other pictures just showed up as question marks. Here’s a screenshot of what I mean:
Since this is an online business, the website issues are a major oversight and I hope they correct them soon.
I didn’t love the selection on this website, but that’s more a matter of personal taste. I think their selection skews toward casual, contemporary pieces that are great for the office, or even Zoom meetings. They’re also very feminine clothes, with lots of skirts and dresses but almost no pants to speak of. I only found one pair in several minutes of scrolling.
Sweater by Vero Moda
This colorblocked sweater is a little thin, but woolly. Normally, I steer clear of oversized sweaters for fear of a bulky silhouette. This sweater has clean lines and is relatively sleek, which is nice.
I like the angular arrow shape at the front, and I also like the dark purple color combined with the gray. This sweater is a bit itchy, so I didn’t end up wearing it for long. It might work better with an undershirt, but I was planning to wear the sweater as my bottom layer.
The fabric makeup is mostly nylon and acrylic, but there’s a bit of wool and alpaca in there too. I’m surprised it was so itchy with only 12% wool, though!
Flowy Shirt by Daniel Rainn
This shirt doesn’t exactly scream winter, but I love the botanical pattern! It’s nice and flowy, with gorgeous oceanic colors. The drape is flattering and it’s long enough to tuck into a skirt or pants. I decided to leave it out, though.
This isn’t in the realm of what I usually wear, but it was a fun challenge trying to decide how to wear this shirt. I liked it as the focal point of an all-black outfit. I tend to wear a lot of black, so I appreciated the reminder that sometimes I can break it up with a dash of bright blue.
The fabric is a polyester with a crepey texture that gives it a high-quality feel. If you hold it up to the light, it’s a little transparent, but I didn’t find it to be an issue when actually wearing the shirt.
Faux Leather Skirt by Tart
This is a faux leather, but it doesn’t look or feel cheap the way some pleathers do. It has a flattering cut, and it’s not too flashy to wear on a normal day. I liked the look of it with some tights and a black sweater. I love this kind of oxblood color, so I was happy to see this in my box. The skirt is lined with a nice thick polyester, which keeps it looking sleek.
I had some issues with the zipper of this skirt! I noticed when I opened my package that it wasn’t zipped up all the way. It seems like the zipper can’t go over the bulky seam between the waistband and skirt body. That’s a common issue with invisible zippers like this one, so i decided not to force the zipper and risk breaking it.
Final Thoughts
The Ms. Collection adds a styling component to their clothing rental service. I think that makes it a way to expand your fashion horizons and step outside your comfort zone. The Ms. Collection is full of dresses and skirts, but has very few pant options. It’s a little hard to browse their clothing selection, so your stylist really has the final say on what goes in your pack each month.
I recommend The Ms. Collection if you want access to clothes that are contemporary but still very wearable. Most of their clothes are great for an office environment or a casual weekend outing.
If you’re looking for trendy clothes and statement pieces, I think Nuuly and Haverdash are two options worth looking into. Haverdash is a little cheaper and offers unlimited rentals each month. Nuuly only gives you 6 rentals per month, but they have a huge selection with lots of quality brands.
