In partnership with Rent The Runway
Summer. Vacation season for some, wedding season for others. If you’re like me, you don’t want wear the same dress over and over to each wedding, but you also don’t want to spend a fortune on buying ones that you may never wear again.
I know we’ve all been there. Staring at a closet full of dresses from weddings past, not wanting to put a single one on. We all want to feel our best at a wedding and look good in something new, but man does it get expensive!
So what’s the trick to being the best-dressed guest and never getting tired of your frock rotation? Renting your dresses. SAY WHAT?
I discovered Rent The Runway back in April, after I completely forgot that I needed a dress for my mom’s surprise birthday party. It was 3 days before the celebration when I realized I didn’t have anything to wear and didn’t have time to go find anything.
In case you haven’t heard of Rent The Runway, it’s basically a garment rental service that: 1. Delivers your selections via mail, 2. Let’s you keep the item(s) for a few days, and 3. Provides a pre-paid return label so you can ship everything back without any headaches.
Although I’d heard of Rent The Runway before, I was always a little skeptical because I didn’t know how the logistics of renting a dress worked or what to expect. However, I was out of time to go shopping and just needed something to magically appear on a doorstep for me.
Here’s how it works:
Choose from a huge assortment of dresses at a variety of rental price points. Sort by formality, color, price point, etc. to narrow down your selections and choose your winner. You can choose to rent for 4 or 8 days, depending how long you need. Check out, wait for your dress, and return it after use.
I know what you’re thinking – one dress for an important event? But Camille, what if it doesn’t fit? That’s why Rent The Runway allows you to get a free back up size, just in case. You’re also able to rent more than one dress (at additional costs) so you’re not just stuck with one style. Other renters are encouraged to leave reviews and pictures, making it really helpful to see everything on different body shapes, skin tones and heights.
They’ve even figured out a solution for floor-length gowns for formal events. They offer 3 length options (petite, regular, and long) along with a height range for each to help you order accordingly. Of course it’s not fail-proof given shoe heights and overall length preference, but the variations are there. I personally haven’t rented a long dress so can’t vouch for this, but the dress reviews seemed to be pretty accurate.
So, what’s my take on it?
I’m now a Rent The Runway believer, and intend to use this service for every wedding in my future. I was able to rent a dress that I’d never be able to afford in real life, and I felt like a princess. I also loved the feeling of wearing something that was new to me. Don’t you love that feeling? The dresses I ordered all arrived in plastic, clean and new looking. You couldn’t tell that they were rentals.
I did run into a small issue where someone else returned the dress I ordered late, so they weren’t able to ship it on time. However, they promptly emailed me to make another selection. Although it was a bummer not getting the original dress, the one that I did get was equally as beautiful.
I love weddings because they require a different kind of dressing up than a regular Friday date night. Wedding guests deserve to look amazing, too! My first (and only!) wedding this summer is at the end of June in Alabama. I’ll definitely be using Rent The Runway again.
Have any of you rented a dress for a wedding/event, or would you?
