Invited to very fancy party and nothing to wear!

[custardlover]

A very fancy and couturey fashiony party; guests will be wearing CHANEL but my speed (and budget) is a lot more like Boden. What would you do? I wonder if there is something chic I should target on Vinted or Vestaire (or somewhere else?)? Rixo maybe?

And absolutely I could just wear something in my wardrobe but it would be great to hear any inspiration!

OR - has anyone ever rented fancy clothes? Does it work out? Would love to hear!

Is there a theme? Location? Cocktail or black tie? What size are you and what shapes do you like to wear?

If you want to go designer I’d definitely rent if possible if they don’t fit in with your day to day life. If you can stretch to Rixo take a look at Staud and Toteme. Plenty in the NAP/MyTheresa sales.

All good questions. It’s cocktail and in a private members club in Paris. I’m size 10, 5’8 and have a slim top half and waist and chunkier legs so I tend to have fit-and-flare gear.

i don’t know any Staud or Toteme but I will now research; thank you!

Oh and not really a theme but it’s a fashion / arts charity event

I wouldn’t go for a loud designer piece myself. If I were tall like you I’d go for the Toteme slouch waist dress in black. It’s available in quite a few different materials and colours. Keri Russell wore it in an episode of the Diplomat. I’ve tried it and my short torso saved me from purchasing but you shouldn’t have that problem! The reason I’ve never rented is that being in Ireland the options are much more limited (and it’s still very expensive) but in the UK as a size 10 with decent height I’d imagine you have lots of options.

If it’s budget you’re struggling with try Vinted. My daughter was in a similar situation and looked. Bought a beautiful BNWT dress, worn once shoes and matching clutch bag.

Well obviously you could rent something! Millions of people do.

I don’t know about rental sites in Paris but for the UK you could look at:

https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/fashion/online-clothing-rental-rent-dress-672014

(All the rental places have their own individual rental policies - just see which works best for you.)

Thank you! And to clarify, I am in the UK but the party is in Paris - would love to rent something I just haven’t ever before.

What’s your budget op?

So I haven't ever done it, but I feel wary of renting because I don't understand how you can know if something will fit you without trying it on before hand.

If people rent dresses, how do they get around this problem?

I might be unusually difficult but my bust size is about 3 sizes bigger than my waist, so I have to try on a fair number of things to find something that's a suitable compromise between the two. Ultimately I have brands I know are more likely to work, and shapes that are more likely to work, but I still try on and reject a good number of dresses before I find one that suits me. And obviously with renting you're usually looking at brands you can't afford to buy, so I feel like it would be really tricky?

@Ineffable23 Perhaps it might be best not to put off the OP from even trying if you have no experience yourself?!

As I said, different rental platforms each have their own policies - some have a central store where you can go and try things on, others make it easy to return things quickly if they don’t fit. But I’d imagine if you’re not a standard size the sensible thing to do would be to browse some rental sites, decide on two or three brands whose clothes you particularly like the look of, and then go and try those brands on in a physical store, so you can see how they fit. Then you would be able to rent clothes by those brands with confidence.

Well that was my question - I am not trying to put her off, that was why I asked the question. Presumably someone who is interested in renting but hasn't taken the punt yet also has some concerns or they probably would have taken a punt.

Budget is stretchy. I wouldn’t go over £350 I think and would ideally own something for that rather than rent it (even if previously loved). But if I rented something - which I am fascinated by - I would like it ideally to be substantially less! But haven’t done any research yet.

I do get the point about trying stuff on. It would be ideal to rent from somewhere which has a physical location you can visit - I will try and find somewhere like that.

Well, for £350 I think you can easily buy something rather lovely? For instance: https://www.mytheresa.com/gb/en/women/rotate-floral-jacquard-midi-dress-black-p01086855?slink_id=6a4f2cde-cae7-428a-845c-43ef870b7e6e

Have you a preference for colours/styles, OP?

It also comes in other colours including chestnut.

I rather like the simplicity of this. Easy to dress up.

https://www.mytheresa.com/gb/en/women/norma-kamali-draped-off-shoulder-midi-dress-black-p01163799?slink_id=6a4f2cde-cae7-428a-845c-43ef870b7e6e

If I were you, though, OP, I'd forget about trying to anticipate what the French women might wear, let alone emulate it. And I'd look for a British label, or true vintage - they won't be able to place it, so it won't matter what it cost ... you could even wear Boden ... 😁!! (Well, maybe not!!)

Have a look on Liberty, & also Topshop?

Queens of Archive on Liberty. I love all these.

https://www.libertylondon.com/uk/brands/q/queens-of-archive/

Exactly what I used to do! While I don't recall anyone judging my outfits 'divine', neither were they called 'interesting' - except the one time I literally wore a bin bag (I was in a bad mood. Not recommended, it got very hot.)

Topshop does short-run collaborations with up and coming British designers 🙂

The Rotate and Kamali dresses above will be easy to wear, and versatile.

The Rotate & Kamali dresses are nice, & versatile. And the OP will probably fit in just fine with what I imagine (as the French are mostly quite conservative in their dress, IMO) lots of well-groomed chic women in black.

But that would definitely make me want to rebel a bit & wear something very different!

Was your bin bag a black one, though ...??!!

Liberty dresses or separates - all over budget, but with the 15% off, not scarily so. And they're all so beautiful, & in silk, & wearable ...

Not quite the classic British fashion house it used to be, & now owned by M&S - but I really like this organza dress (there are separates too). Totally in line with the see-through layered look, yet subtle & chic. Needs great shoes I think.

https://www.marksandspencer.com/organza-funnel-neck-midi-column-dress/p/clp61248214?color=Green&intid=mobile_app_pdp_share

Or you could go full Florence & the Machine ... these are styled quirkily on the website, but if you look past that they're simply really beautiful silk dresses in gorgeous patterns, that could be worn with sleek pulled-back hair & simple flat pumps. You wouldn't get lost in the sea of black, either ...

https://klements.co.uk/products/virginia-dress-in-illuminated-acacia-print-copy?variant=55838276256123

Looking through TopShop & its dresses, I know there was great fanfare about its return ... but everything looks so cheap & badly made? Despite some stuff looking really nice initially, I find it hard to get past the puckered seams & homemade look of a lot of the dresses. I've added photos of a few I thought might work.

https://www.topshop.com/gb/topshop/category/dresses?cid=52787