Rent the Runway

I've used Rent the Runway twice now, and have totally fallen in love with the concept and the company.  Instead of paying a fortune for a beautiful dress that you might only wear once or twice because people have already seen you in it, RTR allows you to rent high end fashion for a fraction of the retail cost. In both of my experiences, the orders and delivery were seamless. Here's how it works: you browse their site for a dress that suits your needs (you can search by occasion, color, etc.). Then, you select your delivery date and length of delivery (four or eight days). Once you setup the delivery, the dress is delivered by UPS to your doorstep. I was a little worried about the dresses being wrinkled or disheveled since they were folded up for delivery, but both were perfectly fine. Inside the box with the dress, you receive a pre-paid postage envelope (included in rental price) that you send the dress back in on the last day of your window, no dry-cleaning necessary. 

In both cases, I rented Nicole Miller dresses (shown below). One dress was for a wedding (top) and the other one was for photos that I'll get to share later :)  Obviously, you run the risk of the dress not fitting the way you expected when you can't try it on beforehand. That being said, RTR allows you to rent a second size of the same dress for an additional $20 and there are also a ton of reviews by people who have already rented and worn the dress, which include photos of them in the dress as well as their height, normal size, and other stats. I found the reviews to be especially helpful since they were from real women of all sizes and body types.  I also felt comfortable with the sizing because I've worn Nicole Miller before (even my wedding dress was NM!). 

I think RTR is the perfect option for special occasions where you're sick of your closet or will be around people who have already seen you in the same dresses before. Clearly it's not in the cards for me to be purchasing these gowns at retail price, but renting them for a quarter of the price is a steal in my book if you're on the hunt for a high end dress.

Note: all opinions are my own and no compensation/discount was provided for the RTR review. That being said, HERE is an invitation link where you can save $20 on your first order and I'll get a $20 credit for referring you.

Nicole Miller, A Fair Lady dress

In real life

 

Nicole Miller, Such a Duchess dress