Renting a designer dress for an event
Rentoodle team, updated 4 minute read
How to hire a designer dress in the UK: getting the size right without a fitting room, timing the hire window, caring for it, and returning it on time.
Start with the event, not the dress
A dress that photographs beautifully on a listing can still be the wrong dress for your day. Before you start browsing, be honest about the shape of the event: how long you will be standing, whether you will be outdoors in a British evening, whether you will be sitting at a long dinner, and whether there is dancing.
Those details rule things in and out quickly. Floor length hems and gravel car parks do not agree. Strapless bodices need to stay up through a ceilidh. A heavy embellished dress is glorious for two hours of photographs and long for six hours of a wedding. Deciding this first means you are choosing between dresses that could all work, rather than falling for one that cannot.
Getting the size right without a fitting room
Designer sizing is not UK high street sizing, and it varies between labels and between decades. Never hire on the label size alone.
- Measure yourself with a tape: bust, waist, hips, and the length from shoulder to where you want the hem.
- Read the measurements in the listing rather than the size, and ask the lender if they are not given.
- Ask what the lender's own height and usual size are. It tells you how the dress will sit on you.
- Ask whether the fabric has any stretch, and whether it is lined. Both change how much room you need.
- Ask about the closure. A corset or lace back is forgiving; a fitted zip is not.
- Plan the shoes and underwear you will wear, because both change the fit and the hem length.
Timing the hire window
The most common mistake is booking a dress to arrive the day before. The minimum hire on Rentoodle is two days by default, and for an event it is worth booking longer than the event itself.
Aim to have the dress at least two or three days early. That gives you an evening to try it on with the right shoes and underwear, time to find a different pair of shoes if the hem is wrong, and time to have it steamed. It also absorbs a delivery that slips by a day, which is the sort of thing that only ever happens in the week you cannot absorb it.
Work backwards at the other end too. On a delivery hire, the dress must be back with the lender by the end date, so a Saturday wedding means posting on the Monday, not the Friday after.
Caring for it while you have it
Hang it as soon as it arrives, on a proper hanger, and let creases drop. Steam rather than iron, and never put a hot iron on sequins, beading or delicate silk. If a dress has loops inside the shoulders, use them: they take the weight off the fabric.
Get ready in an order that protects it. Hair, make up and fake tan first, dress last. Perfume and hairspray before you put it on, not after. Keep a scarf over your head if you have to pull the dress off over it. Take a small kit for the day: a couple of safety pins, double sided tape, a needle and matching thread, and blotting paper.
If something does happen, blot rather than rub, do not attack it with water and a hotel towel, and message the lender. A spill they hear about the same evening is a much smaller problem than one they find in the parcel.
Returning it
Check the listing for what the lender wants before you do anything. Some owners of delicate or embellished pieces would much rather clean the dress themselves than have a hirer guess, so ask rather than assume.
Pack it the way it came: on the hanger if it arrived on one, folded along its own seams if not, in the same garment bag and box. Send it by tracked delivery so it arrives with the lender by the end date, and send them the tracking number. Hirers are responsible for returning items and for damage they cause, so a careful return protects you as well as the dress.
Then tell the lender how it went. A photograph of the dress at the event, if you are happy to share one, is the kind of thing that makes lenders say yes to you next time.
Frequently asked questions
How early should the dress arrive?
Two or three days before the event if you can. That leaves room to try it on with the right shoes and underwear, to steam it, and to sort out a problem while there is still time.
What if the fit is not right when it arrives?
Message the lender straight away rather than altering anything. Alterations are not yours to make, and an early message gives you both time to find a solution before the event.
Should I have the dress cleaned before I return it?
Ask the lender first. Some prefer to handle cleaning of delicate or embellished pieces themselves, so check the listing and message them rather than guessing.