Bride and bridesmaids: Bridesmaids often have to shell out hundreds of dollars for designer dresses that they’ll never wear again. The new web site Vow to Be Chic aims to end the waste by renting high-end dresses for the wedding party.
By Aaron Pressman, The Exchange, March 14, 2014
Kelsey Doorey has been a bridesmaid six times, experiencing the excitement, the emotions — and the expense. While men in wedding parties typically rent their tuxedos, women get stuck paying for dresses they’ll probably never wear again.
“Many of my best friends aren’t engaged yet, so I have many more to come,” she says. “It’s an honor, but it’s an expensive honor.”
So the 28-year-old recent UCLA business school grad decided to do something about it.
Her new company, Vow to be Chic, rents designer dresses for bridesmaids from a website. Instead of paying hundreds of dollars for a new dress, customers pay $95 to $125 and, after the bride and groom head off into the sunset, the dresses go back.
Exclusive deals
The site has struck exclusive deals to carry several of the most popular styles each from five of the eight top designers of bridesmaid dresses, including Swoon and Lula Kate. Every dress is available in multiple colors and a full range of sizes.
Traditionally, a bride selects the dress for her bridesmaids, who then each must head to one particular boutique for a fitting. It’s often stressful as well as expensive – think of Katherine Heigl’s character in the movie “27 dresses.”
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