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I still can't wrap my head around renting dresses - some kind of specialized costume I can understand (like spiderman or predator), but dress? They seem to be d
by vijayr 11y ago
I still can't wrap my head around renting dresses - some kind of specialized costume I can understand (like spiderman or predator), but dress? They seem to be doing some revenue so it does look like a workable idea.
What happens to RTR if the big name brands with multiple physical stores start renting dresses too (I don't know if they already do it or not)?
- Retric 11y agoProm dress rental is already fairly common. Another designer dress rental. http://frockshopchicago.com/ http://frockshopchicago.com/ Though doing this online when you can't verify something fit's seems risky. Unless, you have a very common body shape.
- andzt 11y agoMy wife has rented several dresses online and usually orders 1-2 dresses and they offer free 'backup' sizes. Great for fancy events, themed parties, weddings, etc. where you'll realistically spend several hundred dollars on a nice dress that for some reason you can only wear once. Heaven forbid your friends see you in the same designer dress twice...
- ghurlman 11y agoIt's not all that different from renting a tuxedo.
- cballard 11y agoThose almost universally look bad, because you can't tailor them. That's fine for the sort of people that rent tuxedos, because they don't care - they need a tuxedo because a dress code calls for it, but they aren't into it. On the other hand, people that like designer fashion are into it. So, they will want to get their pieces tailored for their body, because if they don't, it'll generally look meh. You can't do that if you rented it.
- peterjancelis 11y agoThe value proposition is that girls can show off a new dress for each (facebook picture of) event they attend. So they're not renting dresses, they're renting the dream/perception of a huge designer dress collection.
- jasonwatkinspdx 11y agoRenting dresses for special events is a solid business. When you hit a certain age there will be 4+ weddings every summer. Women can feel very pressured at these events, because people can be real status obsessed judgmental jerks, and even worse when it's directed at a woman's appearance. On the flip side, buying a new $500+ outfit for each event isn't workable for most people. Renting name brand fashion items is a great solution. Look killer in a unique look at every event, feel confident, spend 15% of the money. Now, going from that, to some sort of netflix scale business... I don't really see that.
- runako 11y agoTwo reasons come to mind: - You want a distinctive dress for an event. You don't want to be seen wearing the dress at another event. Or: you don't go to formal events often enough to justify buying a formal dress that might be out of style next time you need it. There are a lot of reasons you might not want to use a dress beyond one evening. - Your $150 will get you the use of a dress that would cost you close to 10x that at retail. Basically, RTR is a hack on how fashion works.
- pjc50 11y agoBig-event dresses are specialized costume.
- exelius 11y agoIt makes sense -- a nice evening gown can run upwards of $1000 but if you only have occasion to wear one once a year, it makes more sense to rent it for $150. Even if you wear one more frequently, you probably don't want to be seen in the same one too many times. And there are a lot of physical stores that do this already, but RTR can benefit from the scale of a national client base.