But What Shall I Wear? | Rent The Runway

Hunter Bell Bella Maxi | Allison Parris Float On Dress | Moschino Plum Rose Bodice Sheath | Badgley Mischka Utopia Maxi | Hervé Léger Volcano Explosion Sheath

If you’ve been following along, you may have realized that I have a clothing “problem.” Actually, I’m nearing hoarder status. Even after my Sex And The City Clothing Swap, my closet still was packed full. Stitch Fix keeps sending me boxes of goodies, and I keep buying.

Yet, I never have anything to wear.

Our first wedding of the summer is happening this weekend. Of course this is a family wedding, meaning there could be pictures taken of me that will last eternity (like when I probably possibly have to remove my screaming child from the aisle). Since my closet has more SAHM attire (read: yoga pants) than wedding attire, I had to call in the big guns.

Enter Rent the Runway.

This isn’t my first rodeo with RTR, but I have fielded enough questions recently about the service that I thought maybe I should give you all the inside scoop. No, RTR isn’t paying me (but they should be!).

If you’re like me, you don’t like to wear the same dress to multiple weddings/events. Sometimes the same people will be in attendance (and of course there will be photos all over the interwebs) and I just don’t want to see myself wearing the same thing over and over again. I could just buy a new dress for each occasion, but a. I’ll wear it once, and b. I don’t have the money for that. So, instead of jamming yet another one-and-done dress into my closet, I prefer to rent.

Rent the Runway allows you to rent a high-end designer for a fraction, and I mean fraction, of the price. I’m talking Badgley Mischka, Kate Spade, Vera Wang, Christian Siriano, Versache, Monique Lhuillier, etc. This weekend I’ll be wearing a $450 dress that I paid… wait for it… $30 to wear.

What the what?! Yeah.

Here’s how it works:

1. Browse the thousands of formal gowns, cocktail dresses, daytime dresses, rompers, skirts, blouses, jewelry, and accessories on Rent The Runway. Most dresses start at $30, and go up from there.

2. Read the customer reviews. Most people write a review about how the dress fit their body type, and include a photo. That way you can kind of see what the dress will look like on a normal human being, and not a supermodel.

3. Select the dress you want to rent. I personally suggest placing your order 1-2 months before the date of your event, just to ensure that the dress you want is available in your size. However, you can place an order one day before your event, and RTR will overnight it to you (that’s service, people). Choose a delivery and return date, and rent for 4 or 8 days.

The best part about RTR? Free second size. That’s right – you get two of the same dress, in two different sizes, for free. Say I’m a size 4, but the reviews say the dress I’m renting runs small? I’m getting a size 6 too, just in case. Freaking genius.

4. Return your dress after your event by simply putting it in a UPS drop box. Done.

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So what happens if you place all of your hopes and dreams on this dress, and it arrives damaged? Or stained? Or neither of your sizes fit correctly? Call RTR customer service, and they will overnight you a new dress for a small fee.

The service isn’t entirely perfect (my mom had a bit of a fiasco with a stained dress a few weeks ago), but I’m willing to take the risk. My sister rented her homecoming dresses from RTR. I’ve known brides who have rented their bridesmaids dresses. In fact, occasionally you’ll see brides on RTR who rented their wedding dress (that’s a little too crazy for me, but it’s an option!).

I seriously wish I would have thought of this first. Check it out, people.

{UPDATE: I rented the Moschino Plum Rose Bodice Sheath. My dresses arrived a day early via UPS (yippee!), but that’s where my enthusiasm stopped. The size 2 was too small to pull over my hips, and the straps on the size 4 were too long for me to keep up. I also rented a necklace to wear, and it arrived damaged (one of the stones had fallen out). I contacted RTR customer service via email immediately. I was told that they could either send me a new necklace to wear, or I could get a full refund (I went with the refund). As for the dresses, I could pick out another dress and they would overnight it to me for $12.50 (seeing how sizing isn’t their mistake but mine, I feel like that’s a fair price). I searched the website for another dress, but unfortunately everything I liked was unavailable this weekend – another reason to make your rentals EARLY! RTR is giving me a credit (minus shipping) for the dress that I can use for another occasion. So, even though I will not be wearing a RTR dress this weekend, the customer service is so fantastic and my previous experiences have been so good that I will most definitely be renting again.

Of course this only happens after I share my positive endorsement with the world. Go figure!}

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And that, my friends, concludes today’s lesson. Now you can never say you don’t have anything to wear! Bonus points: I’ve rented one of the five dresses in the first image (I wanted all of them). Can anyone guess which one?

 

*I was not compensated by Rent The Runway to write this post. I’m sharing my opinions based on my experience as a customer because I think all women should know where to find awesome clothes.