Renting the Runway for the Submarine Birthday Ball

D and I attended the Washington DC Area

114th Annual Submarine Birthday Ball on Friday night 

and we had a wonderful time!

Here we are at dinner....we were seated at D's corporate table.

My favorite part of the ball is seeing old friends....

this Lieutenant was a Junior Officer on the USS Texas back when D was the Commanding Officer,

and he and his wife have become dear friends of ours.

Here is a full length shot of my dress...which I loved!

And guess what?

I RENTED it!

I have three ballgowns that I have been re-running for about four years now,

and I wanted something new but did not want to invest in another gown.

My daughter, Caroline, encouraged me to try Rent the Runway 

and I'm so glad I did!

My hesitation in using RTR was that I did not want a dress that looked like it had been worn 1000 times,

I did not want a dress that was "cheap" and poorly made,

and I also was not 100% sure what size to order.

I am super picky and wanted a dress that was both classy and sensational!

I don't like to wear black to formal events....

I am a pink and green "bright colors" girl,

and I knew I wanted an emerald green gown for this event.

I did some research and RTR sends you two sizes when you order,

they guarantee your satisfaction and will overnight another dress 

if you don't like the one you ordered or are not satisfied,

and they have all designer gowns....as in some of their gowns retail for well over $1000.

Here is the online photograph of my dress...

I loved this Halston dress but was not too hip on the amount of leg the dress shows.

The other nice thing about RTR is that they have customer reviews on most all of their dresses,

and customers also upload their own photos wearing the gowns so you can see it on a "real" person!

The reviews on this dress all said the slit was not nearly as revealing as this photo showed,

and the color of the dress is slightly darker in person than the photos on the web page.

I took the plunge and ordered!

You can rent for four days or for eight days,

and the dress will arrive the day before your event by overnight delivery.

My dresses arrived Thursday afternoon...

I ordered my regular size and a size larger as most of the reviews said this dress ran small.

Inside the box both dresses were on hangers, had a plastic garment bags over them, were gently folded,

and both dresses looked like new with no signs of wear and no wrinkles.

My dress hanging in the mancave before the ball...

And here is how I styled it...

I posted this on Insta....you can actually rent jewelry too but I knew exactly what I wanted

and found the bracelet and earrings a Nordstrom.

Attached to the hanger was this tag with instructions on how to return the dresses...

it could NOT have been easier!

No dry cleaning or even hanging back on the hangers...

just place both dresses in the pre-paid envelope they provide and drop off at UPS!

It truly could not have been easier!

So my review on Rent the Runway is two thumbs up!

The selection, convenience, the price, and the quality of the dress were all excellent!

Rent the Runway has more than just ballgowns to rent,

so if you are looking for a fabulous designer cocktail dress,

or you would like to have a Chanel bag just for one event,

check them out!

Happy Birthday United States Navy Submarine Force!