I Tried Rent-A-Romper: Rent 15 Kids’ Clothing Items per Month for $39

I’m trying to find greener ways to acquire stylish and unique clothing for my kids. Even if it’s just temporary acquisition. I recently tried Many Moons, a children’s company that rents new and used organic brand clothing at affordable monthly rates. It offers an a la carte service I find appealing. Rent just what you want, whether it’s one item or 100. And you pick out the pieces yourself. (You can read my review of Many Moons.)

And to contrast Many Moons, I decided to try another children’s clothing rental service: Rent a Romper. Rent-a-Romper promises an “endless wardrobe that grows with your child.”

In this review article, I’ve outlined more about how the service works. But you can scroll down the items I got and my review of Rent-a-Romper.

>>> Save $10 off your first order with a Rent a Romper promo code. Visit Rent-a-Romper through this referral link and a unique promo code will be generated for you to save $10 off your purchase.

What is Rent-a-Romper?

Rent a Romper is an affordable, monthly rental service for parents of babies and young children. Rent 7 or 15 items per month, renting either all organic or a mix of organic and non-organic clothing.

Rent a Romper has clothing options for size Preemie and Newborn (NB) up to 5T or 5Y.

Why use Rent-a-Romper?

The primary aim of Rent-a-Romper is to provide parents with a green, sustainable way to clothe their children who grow quickly. Babies can go through up to five sizes in their first year, and younger kids can go through two. Parents have to acquire new wardrobes at least every year.

Shopping secondhand is helpful – it’s more sustainable and cheaper than buy new – but it still means having to own and care for dozens of new items each year. Rent-a-Romper lets parents rent what they need now, and then they can trade in the garments each month for new clothes. No need to make room in crowded closets and dressers for additional articles every month.

Rent A Romper is also affordable. For as little as $2.60 per item, you can have new-to-you clothing shipped to your home each month. This beats prices at Once Upon A Child stores. And while you can probably scrounge up cheaper items at your local thrift store, it’s unlikely you could regularly find items in good condition in your size and your style.

I love that Rent-a-Romper is a green, eco-friendly way to add lots of “new” to my kids’ wardrobe. I love trying new looks and new brands, but there’s only so much we need or that my kids could possibly wear before outgrowing out. But accumulating dozens of pieces each year can get messy. The tight storage space, the laundry, the stains. And then having to deal with donating my kids’ old clothes (and the guilt!), or consigning with Kidizen and other resale apps. Or doing an online purge in a BST.

How Much is Rent-a-Romper? How Does Rent-a-Romper Work?

Rent a Romper is a monthly subscription service that starts at $24 per month.

Essential Capsule: Rent 7 items per month for $24 or 15 items per month for $39.
Premium Capsule: Rent 7 organic items per month for $41 or 15 organic items per month for $63.

Essential capsules are a mix of popular organic and non-organic brands. There are also pajama capsules, swimsuit capsules, and winter wear capsules so you can rent cold-weather gear for the season.

The steps to use are easy.

Pick a plan. You can upgrade or downgrade later. It’s a month-to-month service you can edit or cancel at any time.
Share your style preferences (in just a few questions). For example, share the types of colors you like or any sensory issues your child might have.
Checkout and pay with a credit card or debit card. It will be billed monthly.
Get your order. Within seven days, Rent-a-Romper stylists will send a curated capsule.
Return any or all of the items when you’re ready to swap.

The items are chosen for mix-and-match wear. They are shipped to you via USPS and you receive a free return label with your shipment.

Your first customized capsule is shipped within 7 business days of your order.

When you are ready to swap, they’ll send you the new looks right away. Keep the clothing you have. When you get the new stuff you can pack up and send back previous looks you want to trade in.

Save $10 on your first order. Get a Rent a Romper coupon code. Visit the website through this House of Henmar referral link to get a unique discount code.

What About Stains?

There’s no penalty for stains! Rent-a-Romper understands kids are messy. They launder all clothing before it gets shipped out, and do an excellent job with stain removal. They know clothing will get damaged beyond use over time, and such costs are built into their subscription model.

My Review of Rent the Romper

I rented two capsules (each with 15 items) from Rent a Romper.

For my 4-year-old daughter, I selected the essentials capsule to get a mix of organic and non-organic brands. I wanted to see what they would send, and how many organic labels would actually be in the bundle.

For my 2-year-old son, I selected the 15-item premium capsule to get all organic brands. Lately, I’ve become a big fan of organic clothing. (Even though I can’t eat my cotton tee, I think there are benefits for planet and people.) I was hoping to explore more organic labels.

What You Get in a Rent a Romper Capsule

Here’s what I got in my Rent a Romper bundles.

Clothing bundle for my 2-year-old son

3 long-sleeve tees
2 long-sleeve sweatshirts
2 pairs loose-fitting cord paints
1 pair fitted cords
1 pair jersey pants
1 pair of sweatpants
1 pajama set (long-sleeve top and pants)
2 matching jogger sets (long-sleeve sweatshirt and matching joggers and a long-sleeve zippered hoodie with matching joggers in the 2nd image below)

Clothing bundle for my 4-year-old daughteR

5 long-sleeve dresses
1 long-sleeve tee
1 short-sleeve tee
1 long-sleeve sweatshirt
2 pairs of leggings
1 pair of jeans (elastic waist, no zipper or buttons)
1 pair of jogger pants
1 pajama set (long-sleeve top and pants)

Brands in a Rent-a-Romper Premium Capsule

I was pleased with the assortment of brands I got in my son’s premium (organic) capsule. It was largely brands I was familiar with, and a couple of new ones I discovered.

Tea Collection: long-sleeve teal tee with stag print,
Parade Organics: long-sleeve leaf print pajama set
Oliver Rain: 2 pairs of soft, lined, loose-fit cords
Janie and Jack: dark blue corduroy slim-fit pants
Burt’s Bee Kids: long-sleeve blue striped sweatshirt (Read more about the Burt’s Bees brand)
INTI: light sage-colored joggers and sweatshirt set
Me & Henry: raglan sleeve “Wild and Free” bear sweatshirt
Tucker + Tate: animal print joggers, long-sleeve grey tee
Honest Baby Clothing: long-sleeve heather grey tee with 4 stripes across the chest
Miki Miette: Colorful skateboard print hoodie and jogger set

Brands in a Rent-a-Romper Essentials Capsule

Dot Australia: animal print sweatshirt, pink fleece dress with jerry print
Chaser: pink joggers
The Simple Folk: short-sleeve brown terry tee (Read more about The Simple Folk brand)
H&M: denim jeans jogger style and grey muslin dress with floral print
Harper Canyon: black leggings, pink leggings, long-sleeve black tee, long-sleeve plaid cotton dress, long-sleeve leopard print fleece dress,
Leveret: black and white plaid 2-piece pajama set
Poisson: light grey velour dress with double front pockets

Review of Premium Capsule of Boys’ Clothes

Overall, I was pleased with the capsule of boy clothes I got from Rent-a-Romper. There were more pros than cons.

+ Pros

Everything was clean: freshly laundered and free of stains
Good assortment of brands.
Good variety of styles. There was the right balance of tops, bottoms, and layering pieces.
Good job styling my son. They picked some earthy and minimalist looks, which is what I wanted.
I discovered some new brands I really like: INTI and Oliver Rain. The INTI jogger set was very soft, thick, and cozy. Oliver Rain was a pleasant surprise. The fine cord joggers are super soft and high-quality and I loved the loose fit, lining, and front pant cut. They remind me of Rylee + Cru.
Brand-new condition for many garments: Oliver Rain pants, Tea collection tee, INTI jogger set, and Parade Organics pajamas.

– Cons

Janie and Jack is not an organic brand. I checked the fabric tag just in case, and it did not say organic on it. If paying a premium for organic-only brands, I don’t think it should have been included. Possibly this garment was mislabeled.
Miki Miette: the jogger set has a lot of fading and wash wear. I am surprised that it hasn’t been phased out of circulation. But then again, it still is perfectly wearable.

Review of Essentials Capsule of Girls’ Clothes

Overall, I disliked most of the items I got in the essentials capsule for my 4-year-old daughter.

+ Pros

Everything was clean: freshly laundered and free of stains
The items selected matched Margot wears: mostly dresses with leggings or other bottoms.
The Poisson brand gray-silver dress and denim joggers were a pleasant surprise. I found both to be very cute and in excellent condition.

– Cons

The bundle was very heavy on Harper Canyon: 5 of the 15 items were all for that label. This is a brand we don’t buy, but one I see on the racks a lot at Nordstrom Rack or TJ Maxx.
Condition of garments. The plaid Harpers Canyon dress and Dot Australia garments (cherry dress and animal print sweatshirt) had a lot of wash wear. The plaid dress was very faded. The sweatshirt had a lot of linting. And the cherry dress was very faded and linty. I went over it with a lint comb and enough came off to look like a small pink tumbleweed.
Not a fan of the prints and styles. There was nothing in the capsule that I would have ever picked out for Margot, and many were items I actively avoid (Harpers Canyon brand – just not a fan. And I dislike animal prints.)
The bubble gum pink joggers with rainbow stripes aren’t not cute. But they don’t go with anything else in the bundle.
There was only one organic item in the bundle: the short-sleeve brown tee. The essentials capsule is marketed as a bundle of organic and non-organic brands, but it was all non-organic and fast fashion, with only 1 organic item in the mix. I’m not sure it even technically matches the description, because I don’t know if only one item out of 15 can be considered a “mix”. I think that Rent the Romper could be clearer on this point upfront to match expectations.

Overall Experience Using Rent-a-Romper

Like the capsule you get from Rent-a-Romper, my experience using this clothing rental service is a mixed bag. But I do think the company does have a lot going for it and I would use the service again. In fact, I already have. I updated our subscription to switch to 7 items only each month and opted for the premium capsule to get all organic (high-end) items.

Here are some overall pros and cons to the overall Rent-a-Romper experience

Rent-a-Romper Pros

Affordability. Starting at just $24 a month, you can get a rotation of cute kids’ clothes. It’s an endless wardrobe where you can get new styles and new sizes when you need.
Items are especially well packaged. Everything comes in a sturdy garment case (box) that’s waterproof and the lid zips and velcros shut. Great for tossing the capsule into a suitcase.
Great solution for off-season clothing. If I were going to Florida in mid-winter, Rent a Romper offers a cheap way to rent summer clothes for my kids that fit now. No need to buy stuff that won’t fit in 6 months.
Stain forgiveness. Don’t worry about stains you can’t get out. Rent a Romper knows life with kids is messy.
Sustainability. Rent a Romper offers a green way to style your children in new outfits every month. Additionally, all clothing sees maximal wear (utility) among many families. This is much greener for the earth, as most clothing is under-worn before being discarded.
Brand discovery. I’ve discovered I’m a big fan of Oliver Rain and Tucker + Tate.
USPS returns. Rent a Romper uses USPS (US Postal Service). This means when I’m ready to send back garments, my mail carrier can pick up your return package from my front stoop. No running to a Fed Ex store.

Rent-a-Romper Cons

Limited style choices. You can’t get pick out the garments you want; you get “styled” based on how you answer a couple of very basic questions. You can write more in the comments, but that’s something I didn’t do. I was looking for a point-and-click rental.
I didn’t love it all. You may wind up with lots of styles you don’t like, as I did for my daughter. I did like my son’s garments, but for him, I had selected the premium capsule whereas my daughter had the basic one,
Short on organic. Essential wardrobes are not a true mix of organic and non-organic items. It was all non-organic brands and one organic tee in my bundle. This was one capsule, but I’d be surprised if other capsules were closer to a 50:50 split.
Use of scented detergent. Some of the items in my daughter’s bundle had scented detergent or fabric softener. Not an issue for us (no fragrance or skin sensitivities), but I was surprised everything was not laundered in scent-free detergent.
No manifest or print-out of the items rented. This would be helpful for keeping track of garments. Online, account details show the subscription I’m paying for but the exact items I’ve listed aren’t shared. The garments do, however, have a barcode tag.

Rent-a-Romper: Other Observations

There are some other observations I made about the service that aren’t necessarily pros or cons.

Worn out and brand new. Your capsule comes with garments in a range of conditions. Some garments look new (without tags) and some look faded and well-worn. Nothing has holes or stains. At first, I was turned off by garments with wash wear, but I’m ok with it now. My kids can wear faded pieces on occasion and that’s fine, and it’s extending the life of the garment which is a big win for sustainability.
Premium capsules are better. With the two capsules I got, I think the clothing in the premium capsule was better. I liked the styles better, and there were only two garments in “play” condition. (The essentials capsule had three garments in “play” condition.)
The essentials capsule contained fast fashion brands, which surprised me a little bit. It’s meant to be an environmentally friendly service, but fast fashion is notoriously bad for the environment. But, that’s not necessarily a problem for me. My kids wear Old Navy and Shein Kids, too. (Read my review of Shein Kids.) As long as we can get at least 14 wears out of a garment, I’m ok with it. And Rent the Romper garments are meant to be worn far more than 14 times each.

Bottom Line on Rent-a-Romper

I think Rent-a-Romper has a lot going for it in terms of offering parents an affordable, easy solution to always having cute, in-season, and in-size for their kids.

It’s an especially good choice for parents with:

Limited space for storage
Limited patience for “dealing with clothes (laundry, shopping, consignment)
Kids who quickly outgrow sizes
Season-specific needs (snow pants, swimsuits)
An openness, if not desire, to discovering new brands and style aesthetics every month.
Kids who want gender-specific or gender-fluid (unisex) clothing choices, or a blend of both.
Sustainable or green values and want to churn through less fashion.

If you are particular about what your kids do or don’t wear, you may prefer trying Many Moons where you can select the exact garments and brands for your kids, as well as the item’s condition. Or directly shopping an online consignment shop for secondhand luxury kids’ brands or other used clothing apps.

I think I’m a blend. There are particular clothes and styles I like to see my kids in (or avoid), but I like discovering new brands.

And so, I’m keeping my Rent-a-Romper subscription. I’ve modified it so each of my kids only gets 7 items of organic clothing per month, and I’m eager to see what next month’s bundle will bring.