When Carrie Symonds married British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in May, she wore a dreamy tulle and embroidered lace gown by luxury designer Christos Costarellos. The cost to buy the dress is a cool $4,200, but Symonds went the wedding dress rental route and paid about $65.
Symonds is famously eco-chic — this wasn’t the first big-ticket event for which she’s rented a frock — but a public figure renting a wedding dress makes a major statement about style, sustainability, and society’s changing relationship to both fashion and to weddings.
Renting clothes is a trend that’s been on the uptick for several years, in tandem with growing mindfulness about the environment and our finances. The Fitzroy, which opened in 2015, is on the forefront of the dress rental movement in Canada. It currently stocks more than 2,000 dresses — options for red carpet, date nights and weddings — which customers can browse online. Owner Julie Kalinowski says the Fitzroy’s wedding dress rental options continue to grow, and range from sleek slip dresses to jumpsuits, mini dresses and modern ball gowns from designers such as Monique Lhuillier, Cynthia Rowley, Theia, For Love & Lemons and Reformation.
Renting a gown from the Fitzroy will cost you $100 to $150 for four days. Kalinowski says that incredibly affordable price tag hooks many brides. “Consider that you will spend anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 or more on a dress for a one-time wear,” says Kalinowski. “You can have the same look and designer options by renting, and you’ll also likely have budget to play with and rent one or two more looks for your wedding day.”
Kalinowski says one of the biggest wedding dress trends she’s noticed is a penchant for subverting tradition. Brides are increasingly choosing dresses with colour, or whimsical designs featuring crochet, pleating and 3D floral details.
That was Nicole Pauker’s experience. For her recent wedding, Pauker rented the Fantasia gown by Gemy Maalouf — a glorious blush pink, ruffled tulle confection — from the Fitzroy. “The moment I put it on I knew it was the one,” says Pauker. “I twirled and was done. I wanted to wear a stunning statement dress and I thought, since I’m only going to wear it once, why buy it and have it sit in my closet forever if I can rent it and someone else can get joy from it, too?”
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Consignment is another sustainable wedding dress purchasing option. “Buying consignment keeps a dress out of the landfill,” says Jacqueline Riddell, owner of Sixpence Bridal Studio in Guelph, Ont. “Some of our dresses are new, most of our dresses have been worn once, but we do have a few that come to us in mint condition ready to be worn a third time.”
Riddell focuses on having a beautifully curated, high-end selection of styles in her boutique — all the best trends but not an overwhelming amount of inventory — to create a more focused shopping experience. Gowns are discounted anywhere from 30 to 80 per cent off the original price tag and cost anywhere from $1,000 to $1,800. Stocking an extensive size range is also top of mind for Riddell: “We have big plans to get more inclusive sizes and expand our larger size range inventory.”
If you’re thinking of going the consignment route, Riddell has a few tips. “Be open to anything: dresses can be altered to fit your body but also tweaked to fit your vision,” says Riddell. “With consignment, the dress may have been previously worn, so there may be some small flaws and we reflect that in the price — at our store, we would never accept a gown with any glaring flaws or stains. And please don’t be afraid of what the size label says: we can snip those out! It’s important to remember bridal gowns fit one or two sizes smaller to begin with and, if previously altered, will likely fit even smaller.”
Kalinowski says that the pandemic has impacted the Fitzroy’s wedding dress rental business in the best way possible. With couples eloping and planning super-intimate parties, the need for easily accessible cool and stylish wedding wear has never been greater. “One thing everyone has learned in the last year is you don’t need to own formal pieces,” says Kalinowski, who predicts a coming boom in wedding dress rentals. “It’s just not sustainable or economical.”
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