Sarah Kim

 

 

 

 

Motherhood is so many things, but right now it’s mostly snot, and contemplating whether to get Botox for the first time when I finally stop breastfeeding. Today, it was reported that there were more parent-workplace absences in October for caregiving reasons than even at the height of the pandemic. This month alone, my nineteen month old (that’s two months older than a year and a half for the three non-parents reading this) has missed five consecutive days of $330 a week childcare due to a double ear infection requiring that I level up the garlicky witch brews for The Hard Stuff (antibiotics) which she promptly vomited into the equally chunky knits of my fair trade, traceable, Peruvian-artisan-supporting alpaca sweater.

 

So what do you do when everything’s coming up snotty noses? Rent The Runway Unlimited, of course**. For the nominal fee of $172 a month (depending on which plan you select), you too can have unsoiled Sandy Liang and puke-free Ulla Johnson delivered directly to your doorstep, fulfilling the oddly erotic fantasy that if only for a moment you have places to be that aren’t the pediatrician’s office. 

 

As I write this from the couch in my phone’s google doc app where I conduct like 60% of my important business, there is not in fact a wild boar resting on my chest but a congested toddler struggling to breath through her pacifier yet unwilling to part with her perma-plug-love-object, a dependency inconveniently proven to increase the occurrence of ear infection by 3X. 

 

I have two unread messages. Okay fine, I have 131 unread messages. But here are the two that fit neatly into this narrative:

I blackout the first due to medical-decision-making-fatigue as well as a touch of light skepticism, and excitedly tap the tracking link. There’s a rampant upper respiratory virus hospitalizing vulnerable children and pinkeye is the Pantone color of the year, but in 24 hours I will be the proud Not-Owner of a Sea New York Olina Ombre Sweater (Great Fit! $325 original retail!) and a Sandy Liang Delphine Fleece (Great Fit! $725 original retail!), not to mention a festive Pamela Love X RTR exclusive (no reviews yet!) that I plan to wear to the holiday party I have not yet secured childcare for, potentially leaving me in the familiar predicament of all dressed up with nowhere to go. 

 

I first became a member of Rent The Runway in January of 2019, when my son (eldest child) was nineteen months old. As the saying goes, if you can’t be a New You, you can temporarily Add To Cart a New Pair of Levi’s Ribcage Jeans to accommodate the uncertainty of dressing your postpartum body to return to work at the hip salad startup where you will miss too many kid bedtimes and stay late for too many brainstorms-turned-happy-hours because you’re buzzed on orange wine but also the feeling of accessorizing with impractically large hoops that tiny hands won’t rip from your earlobes and holding an undistracted conversation that isn’t about nap schedules for once. 

 

In 2020, when many tended to quarantine gardens and nurtured sourdough starters, I sought comfort in a steady stream of abstract-floral-printed jumpsuits. There was nowhere to go and no one to see, but as I navigated pregnancy in isolation, I could still get dressed as an act of hope to my unborn but really to me, who, as it turns out, kind of missed the rite of passage of having smiling strangers holler from across the street their predictions on what I was having based on the position of my bump and an oldfangled adherence to traditional gender norms. 

 

Through the rawness of postpartum, a new job, the unknown of an early pandemic, a second pregnancy (in said pandemic), another new job (this time remote), and now breastfeeding in a tripledemic (the perfect storm of Flu, RSV, and Covid cases), these borrowed garments grew with me, a wide-legged, sometimes velvety reminder that this too shall pass. My RTR app calculates this as a total of 142 Designers, 250 items, and $100,972.50 in value rented. But I’d say it’s priceless! 

 

While “Rent The Runway” ranks high on the list of mortifying utterances (this $32 Madewell tank does not hail from any runway, let’s be real), it’s a billion-dollar business that close friends and internet acquaintances have come to associate me with, and a label I will proudly own. One study claims that 33% of women consider an outfit “old” after wearing it three times, and 150 million tons of clothing will be in a landfill or burned by 2050. Personally, I’d like to burn every milk-stained fumigation tent I disappeared into after giving birth. But thanks to Rent The Runway, I simply send it packing and light a candle for the next renter. 

 

Alright, now the toddler is stirring, clawing at my collar and stretching the turtleneck I’ve chosen as a meager first line of defense against her brutish pursuit of Breast (@ me with night weaning tips). I’ve only worn it twice, but after an unforgiving week of illnesses, it’s already starting to feel old. 

 

 

**And in true Influencer/Affiliate Form, here's 40% off (first month) for anyone who wants to give RTR a try. Thanks Jane.