Click here for Mobile Site: http://m.cbs4denver.com
  • Font Size    
Advertising
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Rent The Runway Offers High Fashion For Less

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +    Comments
Feb 9, 2010 10:08 pm US/Mountain

Rent The Runway Offers High Fashion For Less

Reporting
Valerie Castro
DENVER (CBS4) ― Just about every woman can relate to a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear. Planning for a special event is as much about finding something great to wear as the event itself, but finding the money for a new outfit can be tough.

Now a new Web site has found the solution that won't break a budget. It's the high glitz, high glamour world of expensive designer couture.

From the red carpet to the glossy covers of Vanity Fair and Vogue comes a passion for fashion for one Colorado native.

"This was my Banana Republic bargain," Melissa Youngpeter said. "I wore it to the first day of one of the jobs I was just laid off from."

Youngpeter has felt the pinch in her wallet after she was recently laid off from her Denver advertising job. The self-proclaimed fashionista says unemployment means a slimmer budget for new clothes.

"A good friend of mine, one of my best friends, is getting married this summer and I have some dresses that I probably could wear, but it's such a special occasion I really want to dress to the nines," Youngpeter said.

"Rent the Runway is basically Netflix for fashion," Jenny Fleiss said. "We rent dresses to girls for special occasions in their lives."

Fleiss and co-founder Jennifer Hyman came up with their business model after seeing an overwhelmed sibling with several weddings to attend but no budget to buy new dresses.

The Web site launched in November.

"It was this constant problem of a closet full of clothing but nothing to wear that I think many women relate to so well," Fleiss said.

"I really don't want to wear the same dress twice," Youngpeter said. "I just want to feel special."

The company rents designer dresses, some that retail at more than $2,000. The rental is a fraction of the cost.

"I don't have the $2,000 to go out and spend on a really fancy dress but I do have $50, so that $50 could allow me to rent something."

CBS4 gave Rent the Runway a try, picking out a Badgely Mischka cocktail dress. I retails for $440. The rental price was $50. The dress arrived in good condition, but it was five days late. The company said it was a shipping error and our money, including the cost of shipping, was completely refunded.

"We may have missed our chance to wear the dress for a special event but at least we didn't miss out on our cash," CBS4's Valerie Castro said.

Youngpeter said while she could buy a less expensive dress for about the same price as a rental, it's the experience that she otherwise couldn't afford.

"If I can borrow one for the night and feel like Cinderella I think that would be something pretty fantastic," Youngpeter said. "Cinderella's carriage turned back into a pumpkin at midnight and I guess mine would have to too."

Some might wonder what happens if the dress doesn't fit. Rent the Runway will send two sizes for the price of one dress to make sure it looks right.

Wear Today, Gone Tomorrow is a similar online company that also gives the option to buy the clothes.

Another company called Borrow a Dress Couture is based in Chicago but will ship to most states.

(© MMX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Curious & Controversial News

Add Comment

here. here. Need a log in? Register here
  •  * Will not be displayed with comment
  •  * e.g. (http://www.mywebsite.com)
  •  
  • Click here to refresh with new letters

Show Comments (0)

Close Window Login


Close Window Flag Comment


loading...
You need the latest Flash player to view video content.
Click here to download.

Click here to bypass this detection if you already have the latest Flash Player.

Consumer

Top News Stories

© MMX, CBS Television Stations Inc. All Rights Reserved.