Renting the Runway

I have a big Vegas trip planned for May and, after settling the issue of which hotel to stay at, the next logical question was "What am I wearing?!" The thing about Vegas dresses is that after you take a gazillion pictures posing every which way and the outfit is immortalized in multiple Facebook albums, it's tough to recycle them again. Unless the dress is black and you can accessorize differently, you want something new. I perused the usual suspects in search of Vegas dresses (read: on the very short side and clingy), but also remembered another option I had read about, Rent the Runway, and think I'll be using this service for my trip later in the year.

Rent the Runway is like Netflix but for dresses - you browse for dresses by occasion ("genres", if you will), by designer (searching by actor or director), or what the latest arrivals are. Depending on the retail price of the dress, rentals range from $50 - $300, which on the high end sounds a bit spendy for a dress you can't keep, but you get access to high end designers like Herve Leger, D&G or Proenza that you might not otherwise. The rental period is 4 days, perfect for a weekend, and then you mail back the dress and RTR takes care of drycleaning costs. For peace of mind about spills and snags, you can get insurance for $5, which is a good policy to have in place for the accident prone.

RTR also addresses two possible worst case scenarios - 1) the dress not fitting and 2) another girl wearing the same dress. They send a backup size for free, and also let you choose a second style for $25 more. The mirror image situation actually happened to my friend Michelle at Vegas, both she and another girl rented the same dress for Vegas but one of them had taken advantage of the backup option so they avoided being twins for the night. This is also ideal for Vegas, because you can get two dresses for Friday and Saturday night for less than cost of rental for two nights!

I think this idea is super valuable for special occasions like weddings, opening nights, or birthday weekends in Vegas - you want to be able to wear a fantasticly glamorous, dreamy dress but may not want to pay a premium for a designer piece you wear infrequently. RTR expands your closet into virtually endless options. Of course, there are some dresses that you may want to invest in and keep in your closet forever, but for occasions where you'll probably wear the dress once, RTR is perfect.

Another great aspect of this site is its up to date selection, constantly being replenished with the latest season's offerings, so you can check back in a few months and there will be new options to choose from. RTR sells dresses at a discount that start looking old or worn. Recently, they've also added accessories so you can complete an outfit with statement jewelry.

Personally, I love the Herve Leger section (can't resist the body-con style and colors!) and am leaning toward these dresses for Vegas:

Bright, eye-catching colors are great, and I love the back of the Sunset dress (left). I'll blog more about site when I actually go through the rental process and let you know if service is executed as well as the idea is.