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Jun 2011  |  By Laura Hine  |  Comments

Better or Bust: Renting a Dress

Could a rental dress work for you?

We recently wrote an article about renting dresses and accessories for formal occasions. Hmmm. I had two dressy benefits, two weeks apart and with guest overlap. Time to try a dress rental for Better or Bust.

I used Rent the Runway and chose a black Christian Siriano that retails for $1500 and cost $150 for a 4-day rental. The key detail that makes this leap of faith possible? They send you two sizes of the same dress.

And that was a very good thing. My normal size was tight, like worried-that-zipper-will-bust tight, but the larger size fit perfectly. Phew.

Wore the dress, graciously accepted the complements and then threw both dresses in the pre-paid mailer and dropped them off. Done.

Total cost: $168 ($150 dress + $5 insurance + $13 shipping)
Better or Bust: Better

For the time-pressed gal (me!) or for the fashionista who doesn’t want to repeat an outfit, renting is a great option.

Editor's Note: Rent the Runway now has Kate Spade New York dresses, bags and accessories.