Holiday parties are in full swing and New Year’s Eve is right around the corner. This is a fun, festive, and exciting time of year, of course. Unfortunately, it’s also the time of year when you’re a little afraid to check your bank account. If you want to look great for your various holiday festivities but don’t exactly have hundreds to shell out on a new dress for each event, you need to check out Rent the Runway.

If you haven’t heard of it, Rent the Runway is a site that lets you borrow designer dresses for a fraction of the price. Wear the dress for your event, then put it back into its neat little bag, attach the pre-made UPS sticker, drop it in a UPS dropbox, and you’re on your merry way. They handle dry cleaning for you.

I was amazed by the concept (and also a little skeptical) but I decided to give it a shot for my friend’s holiday party. I was sick of the same three dresses I always wear, but also was not in the market to spend $200 on something new. I rented a Nicole Miller dress that retails for nearly $400 for just $60 bucks. It fit perfectly and helped to breathe new life into my wardrobe. This is what it looked like:

As an added bonus, RTR lets you order two sizes, which is perfect if you’re not totally sure which size you’d need. There are also plenty of detailed reviews about each dress, so you can get a sense of which size would fit best based on what other users have opted for in the past. It was such an easy experience, I can’t believe I hadn’t thought to try it before. I’d definitely recommend it for holiday parties or New Year’s Eve, plus it’s something to keep in mind when wedding season rolls around again!

—- Lauren the web girl