I first learned about Rent the Runway when I was in 9th grade, and my sister decided to rent her prom dress instead of buying a new one. I didn’t understand why she wouldn’t want a prom dress she could keep forever until I went to prom three years later. My dress was $250, and I’ve worn it twice. My sister? She spent about $40 for the dress and used the money she saved for a great after-party at a theme park the next day. Suddenly, renting a dress didn’t seem so lame or disappointing anymore!
Rent the Runway is a company where you can rent designer clothes for 4-8 days, or subscribe to a monthly service. They provide clothes ranging from casual shirts to wedding dresses and ball-gowns, but for this review, I will strictly be reviewing their service for formal dresses. Additionally, while their main service is through their website, there are four stores located across the United States, and luckily enough, I have one just a few minutes away from me in DC! When I decided to use Rent the Runway for the ball, I made a stop in the store first to check out the selection there. While I’m not sure if this applies to every store, the DC one was rather small. The selection of dresses to try on isn’t large and while it was difficult for me to find dresses I liked, it was even more difficult to find ones in my size (I’m usually a size 4, but I couldn’t find many sizes in 2 or 6 either). However, the staff were all incredibly helpful, and the dressing rooms are great! The mirrors have different settings for lighting, and you’re given a pair of heels to try on with your dresses. I wouldn’t recommend going to the store rather than the website, but it was fun to browse through the dresses, and the staff was so great I’d definitely go back again, at least to look.
Rent the Runway also has a great system for reviewing the dresses on their website. Each reviewer posts a picture of themselves in the dress and has the option to list their height, weight, age, bra size, and measurements so other customers can see what people with a similar-sized body shape think of the dress. While some reviewers are more helpful than others, many of them wrote detailed reviews of their dresses with both pros and cons. I spent forever deciding on a dress, but I eventually chose the Surreal Gown by Katie May. The dress is priced at $250 retail (the same price as my prom dress!), but to rent it was only $45!
I would definitely recommend ordering your dress as far in advance as possible. I waited too long and by the time I got around to ordering, there were very few dresses in my size available for the days I needed them. Even the Surreal Gown I chose was out of my size, a small-regular, but I decided to risk it and get a small-long since several reviewers who were my height said the long worked perfectly for them. Thankfully, if it didn’t fit, Rent the Runway had a great deal for first-time renters where you can rent a back-up size of your dress plus a completely different backup dress for free! I selected my back-up size, my back-up dress (the Kerr Sheath by Jay Godfrey), and placed my order for under $60, including the price of shipping and rental insurance. I felt like I’d just gotten an amazing deal.
There are some cons to be made aware of before you jump into the renting party. First of all, sizing seems to be iffy and can vary between dresses. I’d definitely read the reviews to begin with in order to find what someone near your size has said. Secondly, I can’t find any policy regarding what would happen if none of the dresses fit. Perhaps a call to customer service would fix this and grant you a refund, but I can’t guarantee that. Finally, you can only return your dress via UPS, not USPS or FedEx, and a $50 late fee applies for every day your dress is late. Overall, I’d recommend Rent the Runway to my friends, but I’d also recommend you proceed with caution. As the old saying goes, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is, and there are a few catches when it comes to renting from this company. That being said, if all goes according to plan, you can end up with a gorgeous designer dress for $40 to wear to your next event. The decision is yours to make, but you’ll definitely find me partying it up in a new Oscar de la Renta gown when the time comes again. Have fun, and shop smart!
Photos: Her Campus Media Library