There’s a new clothing rental app in town and this one may just be your answer to the eternally recurring “I have nothing to wear” dilemma. While scrolling TikTok last week, I came across a video titled, “Ungatekeeping Things Hot Girls in NYC Are Doing”. As a hot girl in NYC, I was immediately intrigued. Turns out, there’s quite a bit the other hot girls have been keeping secret and one of them is Pickle. What is Pickle? A clothing rental app that lets you rent trendy designer clothing pieces from other people in your area.
If you’ve ever scrolled through your Instagram feed and clicked on an influencer’s outfit only to realize it’s way out of budget, this app might be your dream come true. Pickle lets you rent clothing, shoes and bags from people within your location radius—and if you live in New York City, that includes a lot of fashion influencers. Pieces from brands like Kim Shui, Fanci Club, With Jean and Cult Gaia are available for same-day delivery (and some pieces can even arrive within the hour). The items have a one-time rental cost that is significantly lower than the item’s retail value. It’s essentially like paying money to borrow an outfit from a friend, except your friend has your dream wardrobe and an unlimited budget.
Courtesy of @jadebeguelin, TikTok.
In the TikTok video, Jade Beguelin lists the Pickle app as the first thing that the hot girls of New York City are gatekeeping. She says, “I swear there’s only the cutest stuff on here. It’s all the like must-have trendy items and they do same-day delivery.”
You’re able to filter the rental selection by size, style and occasion which includes categories like Insta Worthy, Bougie and Brunch. The rental selection on the app is also impressively current—that dress you saw Hailey Bieber wearing a few weeks ago could be yours for the night.
Fashion influencers like Bridgette Pheloung @acquiredstyle, and Lauren Wolfe @laurenwolfe, who have hundreds of thousands of followers and partnerships with the retailer Revolve, are two of the most popular influencers on Pickle. If you like their style or high-cost items from Revolve and live in the New York City area, there will be plenty of rental options on the Pickle app for you.
Pickle works very differently from other clothing rentals services like Rent The Runway or Nuuly because it’s community-based. In order for there to be a strong selection of pieces to rent, there has to be a strong variety of people loaning out their closets. You can create your own rentable closet on the Pickle app and make extra income off of that expensive dress you’ve only ever worn once. You determine the rental cost of your item and can accept and negotiate offers with potential renters.
Overall, the Pickle app is great if you find yourself easily buying into expensive trends and either want to make some extra money to justify your purchase or rent an item without a huge financial commitment.
Of course, with any new app or service, there are pain points as the platform grows. While Pickle promotes a sustainable and circular fashion model, it is not necessarily an inclusive one. Almost every rentable item on the app is a size extra-small or small which gives incredibly limited options to anyone who isn’t sample size. Hopefully, this problem gets rectified as the platform grows and more people post pieces from their closets on the site to rent. While the app includes other rental locations like Los Angeles, Austin and Boston, the rental selection right now is only based in New York City.
Pickle has major potential to be the next “it” app for fashion rental and is worth a download if you’re looking to make some extra cash or find yourself in a fashion dilemma or well, pickle.
