Girl, if you don’t know about luxury online rental sites by now – please tell me you actually have been hiding under a rock – for the last two years at least.
- Accessorize it: Avelle.com
The first Sex In the City movie made a little site called “Bag, Borrow or Steal” (since then, it’s been renamed to “Avelle”) an instant hit among the budget minded “in-crowd.” It’s an online service that let’s you rent from more than 4,000 styles of luxury handbags, jewelry, sunglasses, watches and luggage. Featured designers include all the big names including Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, Coach, Stephen Dweck and Vera Wang.
Example:
You can go to Bergdorf Goodman and buy a Judith Leiber 'Prince Charming' Evening Handbag for about $4,000, or you can rent it for a week from avelle.com for $80.
- Designer Duds: renttherunway.com and dress-sf.com
When it comes to dressing like a celebrity, I have been using a site called “renttherunway.com” for about a year now. It does exactly that – lets you rent clothing still hot from the models bodies in the most famous fashion shows in the world. I love this site. They even send you two sizes to ensure you get the right fit. And since these are designer dresses, a word of warning – they run small!
Recently, I had to outfit myself for the regional TV Emmy’s and a girlfriend told me about a designer dress rental boutique in Oakland, near where I live. It’s called Dress (dress-sf.com). I stopped in there one day and within an hour, had a dress that looked like it was tailor made just for me.
Example:
Here’s a picture of me in my $200 rental – that would have cost me $4500 to buy. This ‘live large for less” find made me the biggest winner of all that night! Check to see if you have something similar in your own city. If you don’t… maybe you want to think of starting this business in your hometown?
- Showcase A Masterpiece: raandeskgallery.com
Living like a celebrity means having a fabulous home that you can invite people over to. One way to make a house look trendy and fashionable is fabulous artwork. The great thing is the want to be celebrity doesn’t have to spend thousands to have this look but can rent artwork from a gallery for a fraction of the cost. Go to raandeskgallery.com and you can pay a monthly rate of $80 and you can hang original artwork in your home that will change the entire feel of the place.
Example:
This is a piece by New York artist Jason Bryant…it normally would cost several thousand but you can hang it in your home with additional pieces for just $80.
- Dazzling Diamonds: adorn.com
This online bridal jewelry rental site offers professionally inspected and cleaned designer and fine quality jewels for your wedding party or special event. Browse, pick, pay a deposit of 25 percent of the lease price (anywhere from $50-$1000), and they’ll ship it to you. When you’re done, stick it back in the envelope, and send it home via UPS. Done deal.
Example:
Lockwood Necklace—Retail Price $24,000…Rent for $490
- Everything Else (literally… everything…): zilok.com
Zilok.com is still a fairly new, and yet totally brilliant renter’s heaven. It lets rent – or offer for rent – anything in a few clicks! It even tells you right next to the item where it is – so that it makes nice little geographic matches too. So, if you to show off on the green with fancy golf clubs, a backyard swimming pool for the weekend, or even an extra bike for a visitor, all you need to do is search and select the item you want for rent, at the most convenient location. It’s a great way to make a little extra cash too!
Example:
How about renting a $50,000 sailboat for $50 a day?!
About Jennifer:
Jennifer Jolly is a popular mommy-blogger and TV personality with more than half a million subscribers across several outlets. Over the last two years, she has delivered more than 700 TV and radio segments on popular consumer technology trends as the "Mobile Mom" and "Frugal Mom." She was a TV reporter and anchor for 12-years. Since becoming a Consumer Lifestyle Expert, she has worked on segments for Fox & Friends, The Early Show, Today Show and CNN American Morning and many more. She is also a regular contributor to ABC’s Nationally Syndicated,View From the Bay and guest columnist for Scripps Howard News Service.
$20 off the royal peek
