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Rent The Runway Sells Tibi, Proenza Schouler, And Others IRL

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Why rent when you can own? It's a surprisingly easy question to answer at the Rent the Runway sample sale if (a) you have a wedding to go to in the near-ish future, (b) you hold in your hand one or more invite with the words "black" and "tie" or "cocktail" printed somewhere on it, (c) you like to plan your New Years far ahead of time, or (d) you attend a southern university where any dress is wearable if it can conceivably be paired with cowboy boots. If (e) none of these apply, we give you permission to throw a party for yourself. Bring champagne.

While evening gowns lined the back of the space and the occasional sundress popped out, this was definitely a cocktail dress kind of sale. All the frocks you wanted to wear in the past four years are packed thirty per rack in sizes 0 to 12. The best part was that there were ample options for every size. Nicole Miller dominated the pickings—especially in evening gown territory—but there is also tons of Milly, Tibi, Haute Hippie, and Tracy Reese. We also found a couple of fantastic pieces by Helmut Lang, Proenza Schouler, ADAM, Prabal Gurung, Missoni, and Diane Von Furstenburg.

Of course, all the dresses are gently used, but we spotted very few stains and rips and those that we did see were fairly negligible. These are clearly the pieces that survived the worst of sorority functions and wedding receptions (and we all know how messy those can be). So while you might hesitate to buy a piece that who knows how many people have worn, when you're offered a Yigal Azrouël dress for 85% off and it comes with no outward signs of pre-use, "no thanks" is harder to say than you'd think. (Check the slideshow above for detailed pricing information.)

Our friends at 260 Fifth Avenue have expanded the fitting "rooms" and tricked out the space with extra mirrors and racks, and still there's a large line to try on. Clearly, the goods are likely to move quickly. Only credit is accepted and they will start packing up and moving back to the internet Sunday at 3pm.
· Rent The Runway
· Dealfeed: Rent The Runway [RackedNY]

Proenza Schouler

822 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10065 212-585-3200 Visit Website

Haute Hippie

9 Prince Street, New York, NY 10012 (212) 431-0101 Visit Website