Little Borrowed Dress

If you open my closet you will find seven bridesmaid dresses that were worn once and will never be worn again.  I know every bride says mine is different and it totally can be worn again, but the truth is after wearing that dress for twelve hours straight nobody wants to wear it again..ever.  As you know I focus on the positives when it comes to being a bridesmaid, so I never let these dresses bother me.  It comes with the territory of being a bridesmaid, you buy a dress for $175+, you get it altered for $40+ you then dry clean it for no reason at all for $15 and then you let it just sit for $230+. 

Well, after my Skype converstation last night with Corie Hardee, the owner and founder of Little Borrowed Dress, I think I may have stumbled upon a bridesmaid dress game changer. 

Can you imagine paying only $50-$75 for a bridesmaid dress that looks great and needs zero alterations?  Well at Little Borrowed Dress this is all possible. 

Corie, like me and so many of you, has been a bridesmaid multiple times.  While sifting through her closet she came across four bridesmaid dresses that hadn't seen the light of day in years.  She came to a realization that all bridesmaid dresses are either not that great or are just really expensive, or worse, they are both.  This is when it hit her, groomsmen rent their wedding day attire, why don't bridesmaid have the same option?

Like, Rent the Runway, Corie wanted to create a place where bridesmaids can rent the dress right before the wedding and easily return it after.  With all the different brands, styles, and colors available she realized the best way to make this happen was to design her own dresses. 

Hillary - $50 / Hillary Jane -  $75

 

Cheryl - $50 / Cheryl Leigh - $75

Julie - $50 / Julie Elizabeth - $75

Catherine - $50 / Catherine Ann - $75
 

 

The process is pretty simple, the bride browses online to view the eight dresses they have available.  Once she selects the style and color she likes, she has her bridesmaids choose their size and place their own orders. Don't worry too much about size because they will send you a second size for free.  In order to ensure they have the dress available for all the bridesmaids they ask that the orders be placed at least three months before the wedding date.  The dress arrives at the girls homes two weeks before the wedding.  Once the wedding is over all they have to do is send both dresses (dirty not clean) back to LBD in the provided prepaid return envolope. 

 

Alright, so it sounds simple enough, I know, but I had probably a million questions for Corie.  I figure I would share them and all her answers.

 

I get every dress shortened, how do these dresses really not need any alterations?

 

When designing these dresses Corie started by thinking about all the dresses she borrows from her sister, and all the dresses her sister borrows from her.  They both wear the same size, but their body types could not be more different.  They went with dresses that looked good on all body types and can be easily adjusted with a ties, hooks and elastic.  As far as the length goes if you choose a short dress, on the taller girls it will hit right above the knee, and on the shorter girls it will hit right below the knee.  For full length gowns they offer two lengths regular and long.  They ask that you give your height in heels as a way to make sure you get the correct dress length.  With every dress rental they send a second size for free, that means if there are seven bridesmaids in the wedding party, they will actually be sending fourteen dresses, so odds are there will be a size that fits you among them.

 

I have twenty bridesmaids, will you have enough dresses for all my girls?

 

If you order three months in advance they gaurentee they will have the dresses you need.  Yes that means 40 dresses including the freebies!

 

As a bride and I would be nervous about selecting a dress offline and not seeing it until two weeks before the wedding, can you send me a few samples to try on?

 

If you can make it to New York they have just opened up a new showroom for you to come try on the dresses.  If you can't make it to New York you can always order a dress for an earlier date to try them out. 

 

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I really learned so much last night about this new buisness and I am truley a fan.  I think my favorite thing was how Carlie kept saying that customer service is their number one concerned.  Of course they want to please the bride, but at Little Borrowed Dress, they want to also really please the bridesmaid.  If you think about it they are usually the next customers!