My First Le Tote Review | What I Got & My Honest Thoughts
First – What is Le Tote and How Does It Work?
Le Tote is basically Netflix, but for clothing. You fill out a style profile, then you can “shop” styles and pieces you love or like and add them to your “closet.” Then, when it’s time to fill up a “tote,” you get FIVE items sent to your doorstep (free shipping both ways).
You can wear and style the clothes as much as you want for as long or as little as you want. Then, when you’re done, you can purchase anything you love to keep (typically at a discount), and return the rest. Once you send your tote back, a new one will be sent to you with new pieces to wear and style.
There are no commitments, contracts, or minimum requirements. You can get totes as often as you’d like and you can cancel at any time.
The cost? It’s typically $49 a month and you can get as many totes as you want during that month.
And for pregnant mamas, they have Le Tote maternity! (I actually wish I had known they’d had maternity last year… Renting maternity clothes seems like a GREAT idea!)
Anyway, I thought I’d share with you guys what I got in my trial “tote” and then share my overall thoughts and whether or not it’s something I’ll continue to do… (so you’ll have to keep reading to find out!)
Le Tote Review
ZOA “Ruffle Hem Blouse” and AVA “Enamel Pendant”
First, let me address the elephant in the room… apparently you can see my nursing tank underneath this sheer black top. I honestly didn’t even notice UNTIL I was editing the photos. WOOPS. Oh well. #reallife
In any event… I actually LOVED this top. I thought it was really flattering, I love ruffles, and it’s a great “neutral” top. I did not love that I couldn’t really find anything about the brand online, so I don’t know how they manufacture their clothes, etc.
AVA “Enamel Pendant”
I loved this necklace so much! It’s a quatrefoil shape, which y’all know I love… (Go Phi Mu!) and I love long pendants. I didn’t love it enough to purchase it (I need another long necklace like I need I need a hole in my head), but it was fun to wear while I had my tote.
SUMMER & SAGE “Wrap Front Stripe Skirt”
When I saw this skirt on the Le Tote site, I thought it was really unique and thought it would be a fun ad for my tote. It is very stretchy, it’s a jersey knit material, and the waistband is elastic (which I love). However, I just didn’t love the skirt ON me… I felt frumpy and matronly in it. I don’t know why… I just did! I think it would look better on someone who is taller.
CAMILLA “Stripes Floral Scarf”
I really wanted to love this scarf! I loved it on the Le Tote website and when I was selecting it for my Tote, but when it came, I was disappointed. It wasn’t really the print or color, it was the material. The material was very clingy and just felt cheap. I honestly wonder if it has something to do with the way that they clean / launder it when it is returned. Anyway, it gave me a case of the sads!
See? The colors are pretty!! 
NOIR “Mixed Media Dress”
When I put this dress on, my husband said, “Are you wearing a trash bag?” I laughed because, honestly, that’s what it looked like!
Overall, what did I think?
Honestly, I wasn’t blown away. I like the concept and I know some people who absolutely LOVE Le Tote. For me, I wasn’t super impressed, but I’m not making a sweeping generalization based upon my one experience. I am always game for trying something out – it can’t hurt!
Will I continue to receive a Tote?
I just don’t think Le Tote is for me, personally. So, as of now, I don’t plan to continue to receive Totes. I think I’m a one and done.
Is a service like “Le Tote” an ethical way to shop?
I think there are a lot of arguments that can be made either way. First, most of the brands (if not all of them) are brands that are made in China and other countries and I don’t know HOW they’re made. I looked up the brands and couldn’t find anything about their factories on their sites… so there’s that.
Now, it DOES cut down on “fast fashion” waste, which I do like! So, that can be an ethical way to shop, for sure.
Honestly, I think clothing rental services are best suited for “temporary” clothing like formalwear or maternity! And yes, Le Tote has maternity, so I think it would be GREAT for that.
Now, what about you?
Have you tried Le Tote before? What are your thoughts?
*Not sponsored. I received my first Le Tote complimentary in order to give it a try. This post contains affiliate links. As always, all opinions are 100% honest and my own. 🙂
It’s been fun, Le Tote, but I am about ready to cancel my subscription.
Unfortunately, the variety and the selection was great for about 5 months after I joined, and then I realized that I had run through nearly their entire clothing repertoire. I always customized (meaning I usually rejected the pieces they chose for me in favor of alternate items). I prefer to choose dresses since that allows me to create an entire outfit rather than having to mix and match with my existing wardrobe. I realized this month that I have tried just about every dress aside from some that were not appropriate from for length/age reasons.
As B in SF said below, the selection is majorly lacking in season-appropriate clothes. I live in mid Florida so this normally is not a problem, but there are days when sweater dresses or long sleeved dresses are necessary, rather than one of the dozens of slip or sheath dresses they offer.
Another issue is the fact that nearly all of their clothes are letter sized (S, M or L). This obviously helps LeTote’s bottom line because they can avoid stocking a wide selection of number sizes which would be more costly for their inventory, but for women who fit in the smaller or larger “edges” of a letter size, it can make the fit less than ideal.
Most aggravating is the fact that I have been a member for about 5 months, and I have seen very few new pieces appear in the selection. You would think that LT would be adding new pieces every month, particularly for seasonal items, but you see the same pieces week after week.
It is really too bad because I had fun at first, and livened up my wardrobe with plenty of compliments. I hope LT management sees this review because they really could improve this concept.
I also wasn’t blown away and, as I really like fashion, was disappointed. The major problems I found was that Le Tote carries a lot of items out of season. It’s fall now and they still have primarily summer dresses. I contacted Le Tote and the rep said that it was to serve all areas of the country. I live in SF where the weather’s mild but a thin tie-dye slip dress still isn’t appropriate in November. Second, I think the pricing of the pieces to purchase is completely overpriced. Most of the items are maybe discounted 15% off full retail. These pieces are basically used clothing as multiple customers have worn them and a 15% off MSRP isn’t any value. When I looked around the internet, many of the pieces that Le Tote carries are often out of stock/sold out as end of season – meaning that they have been available for a while and are not up-to-date items.
I really wanted to like Le Tote but feel like it doesn’t offer what I would want from a subscription service – current clothes for a range of uses that are available to purchase for a reasonable price. I found that customer service is not really responsive to customer concerns and basically send form emails as well.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t care for Le Tote. I tried them a few years ago and, like you, wasn’t blown away. I kept one amazing necklace that I still love today (I wore it yesterday!), but it was very ‘meh’ for me.
I tried Le Tote for about 3 weeks. It was kind of fun to have some additional options in my closet, but like you I wasn’t blown away!
Fizz and Frosting