It is the holiday season, so I have quite a few events to attend: black tie, dressy denim, holiday festive, and a handful of cocktail soirees. I like getting dressed up and I LOVE socializing. I don’t have a whole lot of time, so I need to maximize it the best way possible. Here are three of my go-to’s for working women/moms. 

FASHION

Last week kicked off the party season for me, starting on Thursday with a charity cocktail mixer, attire is Birthday Denim. I put on a cocktail dress that I had on hand (purchased on EBAY AFTER renting it from Rent the Runway, because I loved it that much) and paired it with my Lucchese boots, because why not? I live in Texas and it actually worked out. On  Saturday, I attended a bonafide Ball—The Dallas Margarita Ball, where you can’t ever be overdressed. I’ve talked about Rent the Runway before, but I wanted to revisit it again, for those of you who may have recently had a need to rent a dress.

Rent the Runway is the premier online destination for access to your dream closet. With a revolving roster of over 200 top designers of the season's hottest dresses and accessories, Rent the Runway is designer fashion delivered to your doorstep for all of life's occasions for just a fraction of the price!

I don’t like is having to wear the same things over and over, nor do I want to spend a whole lot of time shopping, attempting to pair something that fits within my budget and looks right on me. This isn’t to say that I don’t have such pieces of clothing, because I do. However, I’d rather spend my money on my corporate everyday wear. RTR carries sizes 0 to 16, from daytime wear to black tie. You can also rent accessories or buy foundation garments from them.

I searched for a while for the dress that I wanted to wear to the ball. The more glam and  sparkle, the better. I’ve attended this event before and being in Dallas, there are no limits to what you will see. For me personally, I wanted something understated, which would accentuate my best features, and be comfortable enough to dance the night away. Chic and elegant are what I came up with and I felt these dresses would pair nicely with accessories I currently own.

Halston Heritage and Robert Rodriguez for the win! Why two dresses? Well,  a gal likes to have a choice and when they arrived, I was gonna go with the one that felt the most comfortable. At the price point for rental, it was still CHEAPER than committing to a gown. I was gleefully happy until I received notification that both of my dress choices had been damaged beyond repair and they would not be available. UGH! Here is where I have to rave on the customer service of Rent the Runway! Rather than stopping with their condolences, they invited me to select my top 5 choices at any of their price points for my original rental price! WOW! WOW! WOW!
While they still had plenty of selection to choose from, there weren’t AS MANY choices as I would have wanted. I sent my my selections and these are the two that they sent me:

Badgley Mischka and ML Monique Lhuillier for round two! These dresses may seem polar opposites to one another. One screams va-va-voom siren and the other states conservative charm. Both of these gowns satisfy the two sides of my Gemini nature. I was able to rent them at my original rental price, so the price is DEFINITELY right! When they arrived, the zipper on the black and white gown was damaged so badly that I couldn’t wear it. The red gown was shorter than I wanted it to be (who looks at feet anyway?). I contacted Customer Service immediately and they sent another gown out to me overnight. It was larger at the top and not very flattering, so I took my chances with the Badgley Mischka. I had a pair of black opera gloves I wanted to wear with it, but sadly, one glove is missing and I have a strange feeling it is mixed in somewhere in the dress up trunk of my darling girls. The shorter gown paid off, because I had to walk through rain and some puddles to get to my destination and didn’t have to worry about my dress dragging. Score!

To make up for the lack of fit, they gave me a discount code off a future rental, which made me very happy. My next rental from them will likely be a sparkly cocktail dress. I’ve not yet settled on which one, so I won’t share here. I have about 6 in my queue that I’m considering. In any case, if you have a formal event (wedding), a cocktail party or you just want something nice to wear on a night out, then I would recommend Rent the Runway. Click my referral link to start browsing. I think you get 20% off the first time you rent! Yaaay!

HAIR

I have a LOT of hair. When I give myself a blow out, it is usually a two day process for it to look how I want it to look. I spend almost an hour blowing it out the night before, then will spend another half an hour the next day (after it has settled down) curling it or running a flat iron through it. If there is any modicum of humidity outside, my hair gets excited from the moisture and frizzes up. It isn’t a good look, not to mention, I’m angry for all of the time that was wasted in attempted to calm my mane. That isn’t to say I don’t love my hair because I do! I love, love, love, love my hair!

With that said, I go to The Drybar for blowouts. I have been going to them for several years now. What I love most about my visits to The Drybar is that no matter which location, there is consistency. The styles remain the same, they are very true to their branding, and it is a treat for me. My styles are never compromised with the humidity and will hold strong for about 4 days. My girls both know when I’ve gone for a blow-out not only because my hair looks awesome, but also because of how it smells…and it smells so good! Cost of a blowout is $40 + tip (they encourage $10). Case in point, my hair above was blown-out on Thursday before my Birthday Denim event and it held up until Sunday evening when I washed it. Here it is Sunday morning after I woke up from a night of dancing and walking in the rain.:

MAKE-UP 

I am a vaseline, eyeliner kind of gal. I own all of that other stuff, but I don’t use it regularly. I’m trying to get more into my mascara and lipsticks. As I get older, my moisturizers are key, but small beauty tricks can go a long way. Curling my lashes and brushing on a bit of mascara really opens my eyes. A complimentary lip color really works a dazzling smile, too!

I am very lucky to be related to the best make-up artist ever (in my opinion), but he lives in Southern California. While it is no big deal to hop onto a Hangout, he hasn’t yet figured out how to make product magically appear through the screen. So for me, when I need something immediately, I pop my head into Sephora and opt for a free 15 minute beauty tutorial consultation. There isn’t an obligation to buy, but often when I’m going in, I know I will be purchasing a product. If you are a noob like me, you will need someone to teach you how to best use what you purchased, and their artists know their stuff! Are you gonna spend more than $50? Then sign up for the total beauty make-over, complimentary with $50 or more purchase. It is for 45 minutes and they will work your whole face!

Recently, I went in and bought some new items that I’ve fallen in love with: Marc Jacobs Beauty Gel Crayon, Hourglass Femme Rouge Velvet Creme in Icon, and Make Up For Ever’s Blending Brush. I used to be a loyal Urban Decay gal when it came to my liners, but at the end of the day it still smeared and gave me the look of bruised eyes more often than not. I’ve been in search of a great red lip color and so far Hourglass has satisfied. It has no nasty fillers and doesn’t dry out my lips. And the blending brush because holy wow does it make a difference. I never knew. After my session, I had tips on how to make up my face for future events!
Tips that I learned from my quick beauty tutorial:

1. Johnson and Johnsons baby wash will clean my brushes just as good as fancy brush cleaner, just be sure to lay the brush flat to dry.
2. Urban Decay’s primer is key before applying make-up.
3. Apply moisturizer, primer, eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, then concealer. <---I’ve been doing it wrong forever, no wonder I looked like a clown.

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So that’s it. Those are three things that have helped me. I realized that not all of these things will work for everyone. Budgets, time constraints, etc can get in the way. Rent the Runway is not a common thing that I use. Plus, I always try to find a discount code to apply before placing my order. I realize that there aren’t Drybars in every city. Most salons  can do blow-outs for less and odds are, they can give you what you are looking for. Sephora will actively encourage you to try their products without committing to purchasing. I would highly encourage you to do that before you invest in something that you probably won’t need. Also, don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Why I love Rent the Runway and Ebay!

I was first clued in to Rent the Runway during my quest to have a dress for the Margarita Ball. I love the concept of not having to be committed to something unless you are going to fall in love. I look in my closet and nearly every piece reflects something specifically about me. I am not all that different from many women in that I have my work wardrobe (very corporate), traveling work wardrobe (in NYC, very business corporate), weekend wear, and casual after-work wear. I don’t have a large space for my clothes, especially because I share my closet with my husband. (first world problems) This is why I like to “borrow” clothes unless I know I want to own them.

My sister was married on Winter Solstice and boy howdy was it a great time. (What in the world?? I’ve not blogged about it. Must do that soon!!*) I opted to rent a dress for the occasion after I’d won a Twitter contest! I put on this dress and fell in love with it. It was perfect. I wanted to sleep in it. In fact, I might have passed out for a disco nap while wearing it, then tucked it away. at the end of the night. It was fantastic!

I’d received many compliments on the dress. Not only was it super comfortable, but it had pockets!!!! I HEART YOU BCBG MAX AZRIA. Who doesn’t love a dress with pockets? What I didn’t like is that I couldn’t find this dress online, because I wanted to own it. Until….

I had the thought to search for it on Ebay! Sure enough, I found it and for less than full retail, brand new with tags! It was in my hands within 3 days of purchase and every bit as wonderful as I remembered it! I can’t tell you how excited I am. It isn’t the actual dress from the day, but is the same style and design and makes me just as happy.

I highly recommend Rent the Runway and Ebay for your fashion-on-a-budget needs.

*Here’s a teaser from my sister’s big day! Blog post coming soon…

Photo Recap of The Margarita Ball

 

Review: Rent the Runway & Dallas Margarita Society

Hello friends!
I hope all is well out in the virtual world. As for me, I’ve been battling some kind of wacky sickness all week. I get fever, feels like I’m swallowing broken glass, hacking, but the side effects are that I’m incredibly happy and overjoyed. Honestly, I think I did myself a solid by “hiding” folks on Social Media back in July. This has helped to improve my mood and mostly kept me out of the loop during this election. For the rest of you, thank you for your honesty, tenderness, wit, joy, and humor during that time.

Back to the topic at hand…Rent the Runway & The Dallas Margarita Society

I am really big into philanthropy. If you know me, you know this. I also like when players in the philanthropic world unite socially. One of the biggest charitable events of the year here in Dallas is the black-tie, by-invitation-only, Dallas Margarita Ball* put on by The Dallas Margarita Society. I work and am friends with a member of DMS, so I was invited. Naturally, after securing a sitter for our girls, I fretted quite a bit last year over what to wear and after being there, I had more perspective. Granted, wearing an old bridesmaid dress would have sufficed, actually. Nothing is too opulent or over the top. So, what did I wear? I wore a long black gown from White House Black Market and Don wore a black suit. This is what we looked like:


There were so many gorgeous frocks and gowns. I was more impressed with everyone’s creativity. Dallas really does know how to step it up and step out! As a result, this year, I wanted to try to stay away from black and go with some real color. Well, I didn’t want to commit to a color for long term. I’ve bought plenty of bridesmaid dresses, a few of which I only wore on the wedding day. As a last resort for this year, I was going to pull one of those out and make it work, until I found Rent the Runway. I signed up, logged in, was welcomed with a coupon code, and after browsing their site and marking several items as favorites, I had a stronger idea of what I was going to wear. The next week, I culled it down to a handful of gowns and shared my choices with friends. They each gave me their feedback and I chose a vibrantly colored number. I was unsure if the length would suffice my height, but the best part about RTR is that they allow you a 2nd gown of the same style but a different size. I knew I was keeping my size, but instead, I chose the longer version. Speaking of size, I tend to waver on size and I was scared to death that the gown would not fit!!

I had to wait for a month before the event. During that time, I made sure to exercise and eat right so that I could maintain some semblance of the figure I would need to wear the gown. The day came for delivery. The night before, I had fever and chills and woke up with a ridiculous sore throat. (like I mentioned before) But then I remembered it was delivery day and the giant pile of work I had waiting for me, so I sucked it up and went in to the office. That afternoon, I was welcomed with this delivery!!

Inside were the two gowns on a hanger, each with their own plastic wrap similar to clothes returned from the dry cleaner. Additionally, they were wrapped in a long, vinyl travel bag. Hanging on one of the gowns were instructions for returning my items. Items, because I also rented the bracelet. It was a surprise, because I had the option to add on an accessory for a lower price. Finally, there was a large UPS pre-paid bubble wrapped envelope for me to use to return my rentals. They only requested that each item be placed inside of their plastic wrapping which had the barcoded label.

I tried on the gown and initially, it wouldn't zip up!!!! Plus, I was grateful for the longer choice because the shorter one would have been much too short. When I got home, I told Don of my issue to zip up. This time, I took off my bra (you really can't wear one with this dress) and it zipped right up. I was still able to move and dance with ease, so this was EXCITING!!

Tomorrow night, I will wear a $1500 Carlos Miele “Cerulean Duchess” gown, paired with a $210 Lee Angel “Wrapped in Elegance” bracelet, for way less than 10% of the cost of the gown. I’m not going to have to worry about cleaning the gown, what to wear---fretting about the day before or the day of, and I won’t have another special event frock taking up space in my already limited closet space. I am INCREDIBLY excited!

As for my Beloved…he is stepping it up a notch and we purchased a Calvin Klein tux, with accessories and shoes for 50% off total price (thank you Men's Wearhouse!). Now that I know about RTR, I’m looking for any excuse to rent a nice frock. I already have a couple in mind for upcoming holiday events! Check them out!

*The Dallas Margarita Society, Inc., (d.b.a. Dallas Children’s Charities) was formed in 1977 when a small group of business acquaintances decided to host a holiday party for associates and friends.
The Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization whose goals are twofold.  The first is to provide at-risk Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex children with gifts at Christmas time and the second is to help those community organizations that work with at-risk children throughout the year.
The Dallas Margarita Ball has grown over the years and is now believed to be the largest annual invitation only charity black tie gala in the world, providing gifts for more than 6,800 at-risk children each year.
 

I was not compensated to write this post. I just wanted to share a good idea with all of you. If you click my referral link, you will receive $20 off a $100 rental!