What did you do over Spring Break? Me? I attended four, yes, 4, cocktail attire events. Sounds crazy, I know, but throughout the year, I probably attend at least 4-5 cocktail attire events, not to mention the ones that are thrown in there last minute. It can be taxing, not only physically, but also to my wallet! Of course, I have to dress to impress, and I could never wear the same dress again. Oh, the horror.  I was stressing a little about creatively styling myself for these 4 events, when my friend over at The Trend Tribe suggested Rent The Runway.

Rent the What??! Yup, that’s right, the Runway. Two Harvard grads came up with the idea from a “closet full of clothes and nothing to wear,” added with a modest budget but a taste for the glam life. Rent the Runway offers women that fit the bill a chance to dress like a red carpet celeb or high society debutante without having to fork over our 401K or child’s college fund.

How it works:

Pop on over to Rent The Runway and start browsing. You can search by Event, Designer or Price. I also love that you can “Heart” a look or gown, then come back to it later.

You can chat with a Stylist, or shoot them an email. They are very quick, friendly and thorough. You can also select the dresses and have a stylist select the accessories for you, if that’s not your thing.

Once your package arrives, it comes with a Self-addressed and Stamped USPS envelope to drop your items back in the mail by their due date.

You don’t even have to get it dry cleaned or anything! It’s that awesome.*

What I love about RTR:

Uh, a plethora of designer dresses at my fingertips within my budget. I never wear a cocktail dress more than once, well rarely, and this allows me to don the latest runway styles I love, like Haute Hippie, Halston Heritage, D&G and See by Chloe without shoppers remorse.

The option to rent a 2nd dress of the same style for free. Just in case you aren’t sure about the size you are getting, you have the option for a back-up size.

Tips and Tricks:

Give yourself enough time to Rent The Runway, this way, you can identify the styles you like on-line, run over to your local store who carries that dress, try it on, and know how the style is going to look and how the sizes are going to fit. You can feel confident in your choice and not anxiously awaiting to see if what you ordered is going to work out.

RTR suggests you have the dress arrive a day or two before your event to ensure the dress gets there on time, but you only have 4 days to borrow until you get charged an additional amount for 8 days. If you have to order more than one dress for a series of events that will go past the four days, then do separate orders.

In my case, I needed one of the dresses for a Sunday event, which would have put me over my 4-day limit. RTR is pretty cool with allowing you to drop the dress in the mail first thing the following Monday, but keep in mind, there is a late fee if the dress is not returned on time!

I had so much fun with Rent the Runway! I couldn’t believe I had never heard about it before, and now it has completely changed my perspective on this whole 4-5 events per year social calendar thing I’ve got going on.

In fact, I have been telling all my friends about it, and one of my girlfriends actually used the service for a black tie event she just attended. She rented a BCBG dress for the Governor’s Ball in Las Vegas, and oh my gosh was she gorgeous!

If you are just as excited as I was to try out RTR, please use my link to sign-up (membership is free). I will get credits towards my next rental, and with the amount of times I’ll have to rent this year, every bit helps!

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE…a few weeks ago, I was given the most amazing package of panties at a Neiman Marcus fashion show event called commando by her look. Have you heard of them? No?! Well, take the time to check these puppies out! They are so thin and seamless, truly seamless, it feels like there is nothing there. They are, hands down, the best panties I have ever worn. The go-wild pack has 3 different styles: thong, girl short and c.y.a. They are also available through RTR, but the very cool gals at her look are offering RSMLV readers 20% off on their site. That’s a super sweet deal to go with your awesome RTR dress! Make sure you act fast because the promotional code: RSMLV expires on Friday, May 4th!

Have you Rented The Runway? What’s been your favorite dress and where did you go?

*There is a $5 insurance that covers general wear and tear of the dress. Damage that is not repairable will result in charging your credit card the full retail price of the dress.

I was not compensated for this review. Rent the Runway offered me a media discount of 30% to try it out. All words, thoughts and opinions are my own.