Couture At Your Door!

Disclosure: I received a dress from Lending Luxury for review purposes only.  All opinions are 100% my own.

Over the weekend, the Greater Cleveland YMCA celebrated their 160th anniversary with a gala at The Westin in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It was a wonderful evening thanks to the great group of people from Parker Hannifin, the outstanding entertainment by Band X, and my fabulous dress from Lending Luxury!

As the date of the gala was quickly approaching, I found myself running out of time to go shopping for a dress and, as luck would have it, Lending Luxury and I happened to cross paths. Lending Luxury is an online fashion store, with the most exquisite couture dresses available to rent. These are not your everyday dresses, however, they are the crème de la crème of dresses! You know, the designer labels that celebrities wear on the red carpet. Many of the dresses on Lending Luxury's site retail for well over $1,000!  And the best part is, it will cost you nowhere near that to rent one!

Lending Luxury's customer support team is AMAZING! Since finding a full- length gown that isn't too long can be challenge for somebody, like me, who is 5' 3", in her platform pumps, I turned to Lending Luxury's customer support team for help. I'm soooo glad I did. They provided me with the measurements of the first dress that caught my eye and, as often happens, it was way too long in length. Hem tape is always an option, but unfortunately, this particular dress was white and tape would most likely have shown through the sheer fabric.   

The customer support team was kind enough to send me links to full-length dresses that were on the shorter side and available in my size. They also suggested some dresses in my size that would work well using a taped hem.  Of all the dresses they suggested, I was instantly drawn to an elegant black dress designed by Tadashi Shoji. It has a retail value of $595, has been worn on the red carpet, and available to rent for $80! I placed my order using standard Priority shipping on a Wednesday, and by Friday I received my dress!  

I was pleasantly surprised when I opened my package. There were lovely scattered rose petals, a folder containing instructions with a return label, and a Lending Luxury notepad. A first class presentation.

The dress arrived in a full-length garment bag, which is mine to keep! Nice touch!

And now, the dress...

First, pictures don't do this dress justice. The camera doesn't capture how the dress luxuriously flows and drapes over your body. 

It truly is a lovely dress. I had so much fun wearing a sexy "illusion" dress. That's right. There's a nude fabric bodice underlay. I usually wear "cutesy" dresses, so this was quite daring for me, but I loved it! I did make sure my children and hubby knew it was not my skin showing, but rather an illusion. Call me silly or old fashioned, but I don't like to be too revealing. I felt very confident wearing my white strapless bra and there were no wardrobe malfunction worries wearing this dress. 

The illusion fabric is awesome. I'm actually wearing a white bra! Can you believe it?

At the event, I was stunned when Joanne from Parker asked if I was wearing a Tadashi Shoji. Joanne's daughter is getting married soon and she's looking for a mother-of-the-bride dress. She said she recognized the designer's style right away. I was very impressed! 

Below is a photo of us at the event (me, Joanne and my sister, Marien.)

I'm sure Joanne will be visiting Lending Luxury's site in search of the perfect mother-of-the-bride dress. Joanne took a few pictures of the dress to show her daughter, so here is another photo taken at the event with an iPhone! The quality of the photo is a bit grainy, but you can see how the dress beautifully cascades down to the floor. Thanks for the photo, Joanne!

I would highly recommend visiting Lending Luxury to find the perfect dress for your next special occasion or event. I had a wonderful experience with Lending Luxury and will be back. It's great to wear on-trend, fabulous designer dresses seen on fashion runways and the red carpet, and not have to pay the hefty price tag! Lending Luxury also takes care of the return shipping and dry cleaning! Love it!

   xoxo,