Should You Rent or Buy a Suit?
Buy a suit you will wear at least once a month. Rent one you need for a season, an event, or a size you may not stay in.
When buying makes sense
- You wear a suit to work, or to something, most months of the year.
- Your size has been stable for a couple of years.
- You have the budget for the suit and for tailoring it properly.
When renting makes sense
- You need it for a stretch: recruiting season, an internship, a run of weddings.
- You are still growing, lifting, or losing weight, and a suit bought today may not fit next year.
- You want to wear a better brand than you would pay full price for.
- You do not want to store it, dry clean it and move it between apartments.
Count the wears
The honest way to compare is cost per wear. Divide what a suit costs to buy, plus tailoring and cleaning, by the number of times you will really wear it in the next two years. If that number is higher than a month of renting, rent.
Event rental shops charge by the night and work well for a single black-tie evening. Monthly rental fits better when you need the suit several times in a few weeks, which is how interviews and internships usually go.
The middle option: rent first, buy if you love it
Every piece on Davenport can be bought while you are renting it, at a price below retail that drops as the piece is worn. You find out how it fits and how often you reach for it before you commit, which is the part buying in a store cannot tell you.
