It’s always nice (and preferred) to wear something new to a wedding, party or night out. But if the diary is full of weddings and parties, it can be pretty hard to justify buying something new for each one. Plus, as we’re all becoming more conscious shoppers, we don’t want to buy something unnecessarily that we’ll only wear once. Why not consider renting a dress for a night?
Dress and outfit rentals
Renting outfits is becoming more widely available as the demand for affordable, conscious fashion is on the rise. There are several organisations that have partnered with high street and luxury brands to deliver a solution to our clothing dilemmas. It enables you to wear something suitable to the theme or occasion for a significant reduction on what it would cost new. It also gives you access to and the option of wearing something that would otherwise have seemed completely out of reach. You’ll get to wear a variety of outfits and undoubtedly more confident doing so too. Plus, many offer the opportunity to buy if you do fall head over heels in love.
We take a look at our three favourite rental companies.
Endless Wardrobe
With Endless Wardrobe you can shop in three ways: rent, buy new, buy nearly new, all with free delivery and returns. Each item can be rented for 4, 10 and up to 16 days. What’s more, they cover the cost of any cleaning and offer refunds on any item not worn- so if you’re unsure of your size, you can order two to get the right garment for you. If you do love an item you rent and decide you’d like to keep it, they’re one of the few rental companies who offer this. You simply log into the system, state you’d like to ‘Keep Forever’ and process the payment.
They offer a wide selection of clothing from a mix of high street and luxury fashion, including: Whistles, Alexa Chung, Free People, Never Fully Dressed and Essentiel Antwerp. And if you’re local to an All Good Things Store, they’ve a partnership with Endless Wardobe so if you can’t find something you love in store for an occasion, they an offer this solution for you.
Girl Meets Dress
Girl Meets Dress is another favourite of ours as they’ve got a huge selection of clothing from over 150 brands, including the likes of Alexander McQueen, Amanda Wakeley, Ghost, Needle & Thread, Marchesa Notte and Victoria Beckham, with hiring starting from £19. You can search by occasion too, helping you find a dress, whatever you’ve got planned with ease. They too offer free delivery, returns and cleaning. Although they anticipate an element of damage- such as stains and slight wear and tear, if you’re looking to hire a particularly high-valued item, you can take out additional insurance for peace of mind.
In addition to their as and when service- where you can hire a dress for 2 or 7 days, you can also become a member and get up to 3 dresses on rotation that you can keep for the whole month. With an extensive selection, suitable for lots of different occasions, that could be your workwear, event and weekend wardrobe sorted.
By Rotation
Unlike the above two which are organisations offering a rental service, By Rotation is an app-based community where you get access to likeminded individuals’ wardrobes and rent from them directly. It also gives you the opportunity to list some of your clothing and accessories and make a little income from your wardrobe too. As the emphasis is on community, everyone is vetted before gaining access to the platform to ensure the best experience possible but you’ll have the support from the team if you do encounter any issues. You’ll also have the opportunity to network at coordinated events with other ‘Rotators’. It’s free to join, so why not check it out.
With these three on hand and greater access to gorgeous clothing, you may never see the need to buy again.
Have you rented a dress before? What was your experience? Let us know in the comments below!
