Rent the Runway. Own the Night.

Have you ever wanted to feel like Cinderella of the ball but your pockets were filled with the lint poor Cinderella had to clean up? Well you too can have your very own Fairy Godmother.

Your fairy godmother comes in the form of an online fashion and tech company called Rent the Runway with four physical boutiques.

Rent the Runway makes looking good affordable and convenient. You literally rent luxury clothing and accessories for any occasion and return them when you’re done. We’re talking designer gowns, cocktail dresses, jewelry and purses/clutches.  You basically get to feel and look like a million bucks even if you only have $100. I can attest to this (see images below in the ‘My RTR Experience‘ section).

They have an entire engineering team that curates and categorizes their merchandise to make shopping online as easy as possible. Online shopping will be even easier if Rent the Runway considers adding a category for dresses that are available in long. 😉

Prices range from $30 to $800 for a luxury dress.

Let’s take a moment to thank Jennifer Hyman and Jennifer Fleiss with a round of applause for not only coming up with this brilliant idea but making their dream a reality. A reality we #Tallistas benefit from. They did this while attending Harvard business school. #yasssssss #thankyou

Now you’re probably thinking I doubt they carry dresses that are long enough for me. I’m here to break the good news. Rent the runway has dresses in long. How long? That depends on the designer and make of the dress. When you shop online each dress includes details such as the models height and dress measurements to help determine if the dress is in fact long enough. If you live in Chicago, NYC, DC or Vegas you can shop in store by scheduling a 45 minute appointment with a stylist or ‘just walking in.’

Boutique locations & address:
Chicago – 710 N. Wabash Ave
New York – 16 W. 18th Street
DC – 3336 M Street NW
Vegas – The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, 3708 Las Vegas Blvd. South. Level 2

Click here to book an appointment.

My #RTR Experience
I arrived two days before the annual First Look For Charity Chicago Auto Show gala in hopes of finding a dress. I planned to wear a gown I already owned but deep down I really wanted something new and glam to wear. Something that made me feel fabulous. So I went to the Chicago RTR boutique.

When I arrived Jessica M. greeted me with a smile and asked a few exploratory questions. She checked inventory to make sure there were dresses I could pick from and set me up with a stylist.  Lucky me, there were a few ‘long’s’ in store. I also browsed around a bit before trying on dresses.

Before I went into the dressing room this beauty in blue caught my eye.
Isn’t she lovely?

I tried on other dresses but the blue dress kept calling me. Unfortunately there was only a size 4 in store and it was regular length. I had to try it on even if it would be too short and tight.  I haven’t worn a size four in at least five years (or more). lol. Surprisingly it fit. It fit snug of course. Ideally, I needed a size 6/8 long. Was it available? Of course not. My event was on Friday. It could not be delivered until Saturday (note: they do have overnight shipping when a dress is available).

However, positive thoughts and energy willed the dress my way. I received an email from Jessica the next afternoon saying someone who ordered the dress online preferred something different and returned the blue La Petite Robe di Chiara Boni gown (another great RTR feature = you can trade an online order in store for something you like). #score

I went back to the store to try the dress on and select accessories.

The dress fit for the most part. It was a 10 so I did have to adjust the straps of the dress a few times or risk a Janet Jackson moment. An 8 would have provided perfect support for my ‘girls.’ So if you order this dress either go down a size or order your true size. I fluctuate between an 8 and 10. More 10 than 8.

Now it was time to select accessories. Here were my selections with Jessica’s help. Now i just had to narrow it down.

I also brought a gold and nude pump with me to the fitting from home (note: they do have shoes you can try dresses on with – However, I can’t confirm if they carry size 10 and up).

Here were my final accessory selections.

Bonus Treat:
I was running to a concert so I could not take my gown and accessories with me. To my surprise they offered to uber the gift to me on Friday. This was an awesome and appreciated surprise.

The final look.

Outfit Details:
Dress – La Petite Robe di Chiara Boni- Maeli Gown, $150 (original price – $1090)
Clutch – Kotur – Lyon Taylor Minaudière, $125 (original price – $795)
Earrings – Bounkit – Dana Earrings, $40 (original price – $275)
Bracelet (1) – Elizabeth & James – Windrose Cuff, $35 (original price – $195)
Bracelet (2) – Ella Carter – James Bracelet, $15 (original price – $85)

Pics from the gala.

My good friend and (FAMUly) Santrice.

Many thanks to Jasmine from Crstal-Eyez, a make-up boutique in Chicago and Soroya, my hair stylist. My bun was everything. 

TALL Blessings,
J. Enovy

TALL District
Founder
[email protected]

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