I looooove special occasions. I live for special occasions.  Seriously, if there’s an event coming up and I’m invited, you better believe that I’m fantasizing about it for weeks. I often imagine myself walking into the room, Disney princess style: the lights dim, the noise quiets, I’m at the top of a staircase and everyone looks in awe as I walk down, making a grand and impressive entrance.

Uh, yeah, if that ever happened to me in real life, I can 110% guarantee you that my introvert side would kick in, I would realize that everyone was staring at me, I’d start sweating profusely (not very princess-like), and I’d probably trip down the stairs or knock over someone’s drink and end up a sweaty, catastrophic mess, but I digress.

When I used to run fundraising events, the most common question I got was, “What do I wear? What does “Black Tie Casual” even mean?” I think that there’s a level of uncertainty that comes with any event that’s more than a backyard barbecue or a date night with your sweetie or girlfriends, at least for me.  Making sure that I’m appropriately dressed in order to bring honor to the host and the occasion is very important to me.  Blame it on living half my life in the South.

“What if I sweat?” (I’m half kidding, but this is exactly why I stay away from a) drawing too much attention to myself, and b)wearing any sort of silk or pure cotton material. Seriously.)

Now, I’m a practical girl so as much as I love style, I don’t love wearing something only once or twice and then letting it sit in my closet for months at a time. It loses its luster, and when I go to a party, a nice dinner out, or my personal favorite – out to see a musical or play – I like to feel fresh and confident.

SO, what better way to feel like a million bucks that to wear a nice dress once for half the price I would have if I’d bought it?! I swear, they aren’t paying me to say this (but they should).

Rent the Runway offers DESIGNER styles for what one trip to Target costs me (for real, guys – can we please talk about the magic spell Target has on me to buy all the things, and not one of the things I went in for, EVERY SINGLE TIME?)

Rent the Runway is a designer dress rental service that offers women’s sizes 0-22 an opportunity to feel like a million bucks for that upcoming wedding, party, reunion or night out on the town.  I’m not huge into designers, but if that’s your thing, they have contributions from Vera Wang, Opening Ceremony, Narciso Rodriguez, Reem Acra, and more.

EXPECTING A BABY? They’ve got options for you too, mamas! I think this is awesome because I wore my “nice” maternity dresses the LEAST of any article of clothing I’ve ever owned…except thongs. I’d wear a maternity dress over a thong any day because I think thongs are slivers of cloth from hell.

I can put in the exact kind of event that I need a dress for, and it gives me options based on that. So in this case, I was invited to a wedding at a country club, and the invitation said “Cocktail Attire.”

Let’s just pause for a second and let me say that cocktail attire can mean soooooo many different things. For me, all I need to be wearing in order to drink cocktails is sweatpants and a sports bra, but probably not what the hosts of this wedding were going for.  They’re classy people and they totally took a chance on inviting me. I had to get it right.

This is probably my favorite feature, because I’m so dang short and so dang picky.  This site isn’t just for the sample size gal. I was able to put in my age range, body type, sleeve preference, length, neckline, and several other options to narrow it down to the best choices for me.  There’s even a weather option!

Here’s a pro tip when you’re clothes shopping online: READ. THE. REVIEWS. Rent the Runway has a section where you can read reviews of each dress you like and see how different dresses fit on certain body types. You can see real photos of real people, wearing these dresses. This was super helpful for me, because I wanted to step outside of the box and try a style that was different from what I normally wear.

I was able to see what my dress looked like on similar body types and choose a size based on their reviews.

Listen, I’m not gonna get into a debate with you about size, because I don’t have to: Rent the Runway offers a backup size for FREE. However, in the case of my first visit, they ran a special where I could choose a second dress completely for free. It was nice, but I’d already set my heart on the dress I’d picked, so I would definitely recommend the backup size every time, just in case.

I chose my two styles online and told them which dates I needed the dress. You can choose a 4 day or an 8 day rental for most styles.

When my dresses arrived, they came in a garment bag with the UPS label on the outside and it all looked like this:

Here’s the dress that I went with: It was a navy blue, Slate & Willow lace detail dress, with an asymmetrical shoulder and a peek-a-boo detail.  Total cost was $41.00.

 

 

DOWNLOAD THE APP – it will tell you when your order ships and gives you reminders when it’s time to send it back!

It’s IMPORTANT to keep in mind that not all dresses are available on all dates. Apparently people get fancy all over the world, every day of the week, so someone else might already have the style you want.

I HIGHLY recommend this service, and I cannot wait to use it again….so invite me to your special event. 🙂