This past weekend, I had my first experience with Rent the Runway. And let me say, I am a changed woman.
I own more than my fair share of dresses, but as I began to consider what I might want to wear to my friend Jen’s mid-December wedding, I realized that much of what I own is for warmer seasons. Rent the Runway to the rescue!
Rent the Runway allows you to borrow designer clothing and accessories for any type of occasion for a fraction of the cost of buying the clothing in a store. Think a $95 rental fee on a Monique Lhuillier dress that retails for close to $700. The outfits are shipped to your home, you wear the one that works best, and send everything back through UPS when you’re done.
Over a Black Friday weekend full of online promotions, Rent the Runway was offering some great deals, including a percentage off a rental and a free back-up outfit. I decided to give it a try and browsed through the dresses that would be available in my size for the wedding weekend.
I settled on a beautiful black pleated midi dress by Jill Stuart with teeny teal polka dots as my main choice. I was able to get two sizes of this dress to try on.
One thing I really liked about browsing on Rent the Runway was that every dress had several reviews from customers that included photographs and descriptions about the dresses.
As someone who relies on reviews when ordering clothing, especially online, the detailed reviews and photos really helped me pick what to rent. And frankly, with the dresses scheduled to arrive the day before the wedding, I had to be fairly certain that at least one of them would work. For my backup dress, I picked a red Badgley Mischka gown.
On the Friday morning before the wedding, a garment bag was delivered to our house.
The dresses were carefully folded inside the package in their own plastic bags and on hangers. I had my heart set on the Jill Stuart dress so much that I ended up trying on the red dress first, just for comparison’s sake.
The red dress was very festive and lovely, a little more fitted at the waist than would have been comfortable for sitting for long periods of time. It was flattering, but ultimately felt like a bridesmaid dress to me.
Then I tried on the black Jill Stuart dress, and I fell in love! It was so girly and whimsical and fun. Here are the two dresses side by side:
With this type of dress, I knew I wouldn’t need much in the way of jewelry and that I could get away with doing my own hair in a slicked-back style.
Although it was in the middle of December, Jen and Tom’s wedding day was a fairly mild day without snow or rain, and ended with the most gorgeous sunset I’ve ever witnessed in Michigan. Jen and Tom and their wedding party were absolutely stunning, and I was so happy to be a part of the special day.
It’s rare these days to be able to get dressed up for a special occasion with my husband, so I loved the chance to wear a special dress and have a night out while the girls were home with Zack’s mom.
Here are some other photos of the dress, which I had a lot of trouble returning this morning because I loved it so much.
I’m a Rent the Runway convert, and will definitely be keeping it in mind for future events. They’re currently offering a special deal for New Year’s Eve, so check it out!
And a big congratulations to my lovely friend Jen and her dapper husband Tom!
