One of the things I’m doing differently this pregnancy, compared to my other two, is renting maternity clothes.

Let me back up. During my first pregnancy, I mainly wore non-maternity clothes, with a very few exceptions. This worked because we lived in Chicago and I was due with my first little one in July, so the last few months I was able to wear long skirts and maxi dresses with maternity tank tops. My bump didn’t really ‘pop’ until the third trimester, so I was able to wear non-maternity clothes for a really long time.

In my second pregnancy (which I thought would be my last one – whoops), I was in Seattle, and I had about two pairs of maternity jeans and five shirts from my first pregnancy, and would basically just rotate outfits. It was not very fun or flattering, but I didn’t want to invest in clothes that I wasn’t going to wear again. I did, use Stitch Fix to get some nicer maternity items that I wore all of the time, but I think those were the only things I purchased new.

Now that I’m pregnant for a third time, I have decided that I need want cuter maternity clothes. I actually have a lot of maternity items because a few friends gifted me bags and bags of them. (This is the perk of already having such a great mom community – free stuff! There’s always someone getting rid of something kid-related!) So anyways, I have a lot of maternity clothes but they’re mainly practical, basic pieces. However, I decided to try renting a box of maternity clothes from Le Tote, and am so glad I did! I rented a box in January and loved it so much that I ordered another box in February. I love the clothes I got (again) so I’ll be ordering my last box in March, which I’ll return right after the baby is born.

What I love about renting maternity clothes from Le Tote:

+ It’s a better value than buying new clothes.

I do not want to pay for an entirely new wardrobe of maternity basics, and I certainly don’t want to spend over $100 on a single piece of maternity clothing. This way I can wear the maternity basics I already have and wear the ‘nicer’ clothes from Le Tote when I have a night out or just want to look a little more put-together. Plus, there’s always the option to buy an article of clothing that arrives in the tote – usually for a much discounted price.

+ I don’t need to hang on to the clothes when I’m done.

I wear the clothes for a month, and then I send them back. They don’t have to stay in my closet or in a box under my bed or in a crawl space, and I don’t need to think about whether to sell them or give them away once this baby is born. I love the idea of wearing clothes and then sending them on their way once they’ve served their purpose. Plus, like I mentioned before, I can always decide to keep them if I really love something that much.

+ The options of what to rent are more trendy than what I would normally buy for myself.

Even if I was planning on getting pregnant again, the maternity clothes that are trendy now probably wouldn’t be trendy by the time the next kiddo came along. I think renting clothes is a great way to try a new style without really investing in it. I am too cheap to be trendy when it comes to clothes, so I tend to buy a lot of classic pieces. However, when ordering my Le Tote boxes I feel like I can order pieces that I know I only want to wear a few times.

+ I can rent seasonally appropriate clothing.

This month I ordered mostly sweaters, but next month I plan to rent some ‘springy,’ floral items. If we had planned a warmer weather vacation, I could have rented a whole box of dresses and shorts, without needing to buy them especially for a trip. If I had ordered a box in December (ugh – I should have! I forgot about it until January!) I would have rented some nicer dresses or tops for holiday parties. I think the boxes are especially useful if you live somewhere with more drastic temperature changes, which the PNW doesn’t really have.

What I didn’t love about renting maternity clothes from Le Tote:

+ The price.

I think  it costs about $80 to rent 5 items for a month, which is definitely more than I’d like to spend, but since I’m only doing it for three months, I’m okay with spending the money. I still think it’s a great value, but I could also have decided to wear what I already had in my closet. Would I be as cute? No. Would it be as fun? No. But this is definitely money that I don’t need to be spending at all.

+ The limited selection.

There are some pieces I saw and couldn’t wait to order, but if I was renting totes for a longer period of time, I’d have to add more non-maternity pieces in (like cardigans or items to layer) or accessories to make it worth it. I just don’t think there are enough clothes that I personally wanted to spend money on to rent maternity boxes for more than a few months. I may, however, check out their non-maternity selection and occasionally rent ‘normal’ clothes in the future. Definitely not every single month, though.

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Having done both Stitch Fix (use my referral link to get $25 off your first box) and Le Tote (use my referral link to get a free box o’ clothes) for maternity clothes, I can honestly say I liked both for different reasons. Although, I’m not sure how the comparison is because I used Stitch Fix a whole 3 years ago (Look at how short my hair was! I don’t know why I decided to chop it off, but I blame the hormones)! But anyways…

I absolutely loved Stitch Fix for finding a few basics that I wore all of the time. I loved the jeans and tank tops I received, especially. I loved the quality and I appreciated having some higher end maternity clothes. The tank tops lasted throughout my entire pregnancy, so they were worth the investment. I sold them before this pregnancy and am still kicking myself for that decision!

Le Tote is a better option for me this time around, in my opinion, because I was given so many hand-me-downs of maternity basics that I really just wanted to have a few fun things to wear when I go out. Plus, I am trying to get rid of things in my closet, not add more!

I think both services are great, but for maternity clothes, I’d recommend renting a box from Le Tote if you already have quality maternity pieces in your wardrobe.

Hmmm now this blog post turned into a Stitch Fix vs Le Tote thing, which I didn’t mean to happen – but too late now! This wasn’t a sponsored post, but please use my referral links to get a discount and so I get a little money to spend, too!