Web site puts designer dresses at your disposal

Have you ever wished you could wear a dress from Badgley Mischka, Roberto Cavalli or Proenza Schouler for just one night, but you didn't want to eat Ramen noodles for the next six months to pay off your credit card?

Rent the Runway (www.renttherunway.com) is a new Web site that lets you rent high-end designer dresses for a few nights and then return them. (We're talking big names like Helmut Lang, Catherine Malandrino and many others.)

The rental fees run from $50 to $200 for a four- or eight-night stay in your closet; to buy some of these dresses would set you back well over $1,000. Even the dry-cleaning costs are included in the price of the rental.

And there's a bonus: You can order the same dress in a second size for free. (In case you aren't sure if you're, you know, a size 2 or a 4). Customers who want to be extra-safe can choose a second style as a backup for an extra $25. And each dress comes with a handy "Fit Kit" with double-sided tape, a bra converter and deodorant wipes.

The site also offers on-call stylists to advise customers about materials, how the designers size their dresses and how a particular dress might fit your body type.

In addition, the site offers returns within 24 hours for any reason.

But be careful if your party gets too raucous; rip a large hole or spill red wine on your rental, and you might find yourself saddled with a bill for $1,000 if the dress is irreparable. It's all in the rental agreement, so be sure to read carefully before shopping.

Right now, Rent the Runway carries sizes 0 to 10. Next year, it will add size 12. I doubt sizes will go any higher, since many high fashion designers refuse to manufacture larger dresses. When will they realize fashion-savvy women come in all shapes and sizes?

Another downside, of course, is that after painting the town in your swanky designer number (and getting lots of kudos), you have to pack it up and send it back. But they've even made parting with the dress simple by providing a prepaid envelope you just drop in the mailbox.

Rent the Runway was founded by Harvard Business School graduates Jennifer Hyman and Jennifer Carter Fleiss, who I will feature in an upcoming column.

I think the site is a pretty innovative way to give frugal fashionistas a chance. Even with a closetful of cocktail dresses, I never seem to have anything to wear. Bored with last year's dress and too frugal to shell out hundreds of dollars for a new one, I always find myself scrounging to find something decent.

Rent the Runway isn't the only rental option out there; Wear Today, Gone Tomorrow also offers high fashion rentals.

Rent the Runway has a waiting list, but I was able to peruse the site, and here are some looks I love.

What's hot and not for fashion/beauty 2010

If you're reading this wearing skinny jeans, a plaid shirt or a vest, go change quickly, because you are so 2000-and-late.

That's according to Pierce Mattie Public Relations, whose staff compiled its annual "What's Hot, What's Not" list for 2010.

Other things on their "not" list are H&M, cowboy boots, neckties, zippers, eyelash extensions, the bob haircut, acrylic nails, crafty and chunky necklaces, and Chanel chain bags.

To that I would add Crocs, shoulder pads, leg warmers and Uggs.

As for what's hot: stiletto heels, the boyfriend jacket, jeggings (a cross between jeans and leggings), Navaho prints, neuLash and Latisse, push-up bras, Minx nails, injectables and Goth-inspired makeup.

If you want to read the rest of the rest of the list, go to www.piercemattiepublicrelations.com.