For one night, I did it. I sashayed into a swanky Spoke Club event in a gorgeous David Meister draped, sequined dreamy white number and played the part of sparkly party gal for an entire evening. Turns out, sparkly party gal was dying to come out all along, but was restrained by classic, practical lady who (so far) has been in charge of my closet. You see, I am the one who wanders through Holt’s giving long lingering looks to floor-length fuschia gowns, ostrich feather minis, and bedazzled designer creations, and then…I walk across the street to the Gap and purchase another heather grey t-shirt to add to my growing collection.

So how did I realize my sparkly dreams while satisfying the tight-ass who curates my closet? Why Rent Frock Repeat of course! You may have heard of the concept; an online platform to rent designer dresses for special events. But never has this concept been so easily accessible for Canadians…until now! Co-founders, Lisa Delorme and Kristy Wieber cooked up this fantastic post-recession idea while attempting to rent a frock themselves from the US. Red tape, borders, duties, blah, blah, you know how it goes when attempting to bring anything over to Canada and that, as Oprah says, was their “Aha! moment”.

The Spoke Club launched these ladies in fine fashion with a cocktail jam that gave fashionistas, socialites, influencers, and all ‘round dress-loving divas alike the chance to chat, mingle, and show off the array of selections from the site. Since this is a relatively new concept to most, every conversation inevitably returned to one deep question: “would you use a service like this?” And the good news is the unanimous answer was “yes!” Here are all the brilliant reasons my fellow party-goers came up with for renting a frock…and repeating:

“The summer season is packed with weddings and special events, and there’s no way I could get something new for every one of them. I would pick and choose one or two super special occasions and rent something fab.”

“When my business travel schedule gets hectic and I have back-to-back events and functions, I need to be able to shop online, get dresses shipped, and not have to worry about committing to them for life.”

“This dress is way fancier than anything I would ever want to own, but for one night it feels amazing!”

“I would totally pick a few that go together and rent them for my bridesmaids. Heck, if they eventually chose to add bridal gowns to their selection, I would rent my wedding dress!”

Whether you are a social butterfly with too many invites to count, or someone who only goes to a few things here and there and has no use for fancy dresses to hang unworn in your closet, Rent Frock Repeat is the perfect solution. The website is clear and easy to use; with a few simple steps you will be able to have your sparkly party gal moment just like me:

1. Register online at Rentfrockrepeat.com
2. Choose your dress from the designer selection
3. Dress is shipped to you with a return envelope
4. Party your face off (but watch out for that red wine)
5. Drag your ass out of bed, slip your dress into the return envelope and send it on back.

The price of each rental includes cleaning, return shipping, and the very best wishes for a magical night.

~ Ali Maldoff