Run a-Way Hit

By Colleen's Contributor, Mys. Chic

I recently ordered a dress from Renttherunway.com (RTR) for New Year’s Eve. The arrival of a coupon in my mailbox prompted me to order the dress back in October to beat the expiration date. Dresses can be reserved up to six months in advance. Rented couture may be used for four days, and then must be placed in a USPS blue mailbox by 12 noon on the last day of the rental. RTR suggests starting the rental period one or two days before the actual event to ensure you have the garment on time.

As NYE approached, I anxiously awaited my sequined Badgley Mischka gown’s arrival. I tracked the order online, and although the package had been checked-in at 4:30 a.m. in a city 10 minutes from home, it didn’t arrive to me until 5 p.m. keeping me on pins and needles throughout the day. However, it hit my door well within the promised arrival time. When I opened the package, I was thrilled with how gorgeous my two dresses looked. (Renters are allowed to pick two sizes to ensure a good fit.)

The sequined dresses were primarily silver, with spots of red and navy for a pop of color (See image at top of post for a sample of the fabric.) This wasn’t evident in the picture online, but made for a pleasant surprise. The small, sparkly dress skimmed my body nicely, but almost brushed my knees, a far cry from the “mini” dress that I had selected.

The problem was easily fixed with some of the enclosed fashion tape, (although the quantity was on the skimpy side,) and my own safety pins, but when ordering a dress, keep fit issues such as this in mind, especially if you are on the short side, like me.

On New Years Eve, my dress and I received TONS of compliments and I felt great in it! And, I wore it worry free because I’d purchased the $5 insurance RTR offers, so I could have fun and not worry about the dress’s safety.

I packed the dresses up in the prepaid envelope the next day, dropped it in the metered mail slot at my post office, and c’est fini!

Will I ever buy an expensive couture dress again? Probably somewhere down the line. But RTR was such a great experience I will likely lean toward that option most often.

This service gets my 5-star stamp! I highly recommend it for parties, dances and other special events. And moms: you may want to check into RTR for proms and homecomings. It’s a great way to give your daughters a unique and beautiful look without the expense of permanent ownership.