The endurance of school formals – their heady mix of halterneck dresses, fake tans and carefully coordinated bags and shoes – suggests they remain essential to the teenage experience, despite the angst that often accompanies them. (In her cult song Black Tie, folk singer Grace Petrie captures the trials of identity and the pressure to fit in.)
Luckily for Gen Z, there are new ways to approach dressing for school formals, including more cost-effective and environmentally friendly options such as clothing rental.
Rental is often pointed to as a more sustainable way of engaging with fashion. It provides an alternative to buying something new for a one-off occasion – such as a school formal. But while rental is considered a key pillar of circularity as it enables clothes to be used more, some questions have been raised about the environmental cost of shipping garments back and forth and cleaning them after every use.
Nonetheless, as designers figure out ways to run successful businesses without producing evermore new clothing, the rental model is worth exploring.
How does it work?
In Australia right now, there are two approaches to clothing rental. You can rent from businesses that hold a stock of garments that can be rented directly, such as GlamCorner and Rntr, or through peer-to-peer services where individuals offer items from their wardrobe up for rental through a third-party site, such as The Volte.
Items can be rented for a specified period, usually starting at four days. The cost varies depending on the style, the service and the length of time. It can start as low as $59 and go as high as $400. The item is delivered on the date requested and then shipped back by the customer when the rental period ends.
Some services also offer subscriptions where clothes can be rented for up to a month at a time.
How do you try it on?
Given the variances between designer’s sizes and cuts, being able to try on a garment is essential to finding an outfit that is flattering and comfortable. While the rental structure makes this slightly more difficult, most businesses have a system in place to make it possible.
GlamCorner and Rntr have partnered with retail stores in Sydney and Byron Bay respectively. So if you live in either location it is possible to visit a store and try on items before renting them. The Volte allows customers and renters who live in the same city to liaise and make appointments for trying things on. GlamCorner also offers a try-on service that involves paying a $30 fee to have two items sent to your home to be tried and sent back within 24 hours.
Given the limitations, Bronte Taylor, the planning and sourcing manager at GlamCorner, says: “If you’ve worn certain brands or silhouettes before and loved them, I’d recommend choosing something familiar.”
If you are considering renting an item from a brand you haven’t worn before, it might be worth visiting one of their retail stores or stockists and trying on some things ahead of time to get a sense of the brand’s size and fit.
Take measurements and ask questions
Another way to ensure an item will fit is by asking for measurements. Bernadette Olivier, co-founder of The Volte, says: “Our team can provide accurate measurements for all gowns on our site.”
A good way to make this comparison is to ask for measurements when the garment is laid flat, then take a style from your own wardrobe that fits well and make direct comparisons with a tape measure at the key points: the waist, bust and hips.
If you are particularly concerned about size and fit, slow-fashion stylist Jenna Flood says, “I have also found that emailing the rental service and asking a few questions can be very helpful.”
What if it doesn’t fit?
If the item you have rented isn’t what you expected when it arrives, rental services have a few contingency plans so you won’t be stranded with nothing to wear. For an extra $15, GlamCorner allows you to add a backup dress to your order in an alternative size or style. Olivier says The Volte’s customer service team can help arrange a back-up dress in any capital city. With a database of 20,000 Australian lenders, she says, “We’ve rarely had a dress emergency that we haven’t been able to solve.”
How to style your accessories
Without having the dress on hand, accessorising it can present a challenge. Taylor suggests taking one of two approaches: either make the dress a statement piece so you can keep your accessories simple, or pick a more classic style in a neutral colour so you can go bold with accessories you already own.
Flood suggests taking cues from how the dress has been styled in the past. By looking at the designer or rental service’s website and social media, “you can get a good idea of what accessories are needed”. She also suggests contacting the customer service team – many rental services have on-call stylists you can ask for advice.
Send it back – unwashed
Although this might seem counterintuitive, most rental services request that you do not clean the dress before you send it back. “Rental services have their own ways of cleaning their items and even if you are gentle, your cleaning could damage it,” Flood says. “Cleaning is part of the rental service. So just post it back and relax.”
Check the insurance policy
If you have a track record of spilling drinks, putting stiletto heels through hems or spending lots of time on the dancefloor and don’t want to be worried about damaging the item, it’s probably worth checking the rental platform’s insurance policy.
GlamCorner provides free $100 accidental damage insurance, but if you have had quite a big accident and the repair costs more than this, they will ask you to pay the difference. The Volte’s insurance policy is a little more opaque and requests lenders and borrowers moderate their own resolutions. This is something to keep in mind with renting: if you think the party will be particularly wild, it might be best to wear something of your own.
