How Ole Miss students dress to impress on a budget

For college freshmen, the first weeks of school can bring about a new kind of anxiety. Looking at a packed schedule full of tailgates, parties and formals can leave many with a worrisome thought: What am I going to wear to all of these events? 

More importantly, the question is no longer simply what to wear but also how to afford it all. 

At universities where Greek life is deeply woven into campus culture, the costs can add up quickly. At the University of Mississippi, in specific, sorority dues average $671 per month for new members and $546 per month for initiated active members. Add on formal gowns, game day dresses and festive costumes for elaborately themed events, and students can find themselves spending hundreds of dollars on outfits they may only wear once or twice.

However, some innovative Ole Miss students have found an entrepreneurial solution for being fashionable on a budget. Rather than buying a new dress for every event, students can rent ones from other students. 

Zoe Shaw, a junior from the Washington metropolitan area, began renting clothes to her peers as a freshman. 

“I decided to start renting out my clothes because I have a lot of clothes that I love but don’t wear all the time, especially dresses and outfits for events,” she said. “I figured it would be a good way to give other girls the chance to wear them while also making some extra money.”

The process is remarkably simple. Shaw, like most students partaking in peer-to-peer clothing rentals, manages her business via Instagram, where she has a separate account dedicated solely to posting photos of her clothes available for rent. From there, others looking to borrow an outfit can reach out via direct message to arrange a price, pickup and return.

Shaw notes that renting outfits is becoming increasingly common “because it’s an easy way to wear something new without having to buy a whole new outfit.”

Similarly, junior Abigail Gacek, from Las Vegas, took on her renting business towards the end of her freshman year after noticing other students doing the same. 

“I started because I saw a lot of people doing it, and it was an easy way to make money while living on campus,” Gacek said. 

For students like Gacek and Shaw, renting clothes is more than just a way to find an outfit to wear on a Saturday night. It has also become an opportunity to gain real skills running a small business, managing transactions and marketing to potential customers. 

“I market myself on Instagram with a lot of posting on my main account and tagging,” said Gacek. “When someone rents, they will DM my closet account, and then we can communicate from there.”

While she typically prefers to share clothes with her roommates, Gacek pointed out that renting is particularly helpful “for big, important events [such as] game days or formals.”

The appeal is easy to understand, and it is no wonder that clothing rental businesses are gaining stark popularity among college campuses. A dress that sits untouched in one student’s closet can become someone else’s Grove outfit or party costume. In an era of rising fashion costs and growing concerns about textile waste, renting clothes enables college students not only to save money, but to stay stylish while supporting environmental sustainability.