Rent the Runway

The NY Times has an interesting profile of Rent the Runway, a new Netflix-like service for designer dresses.

Here's how it works:

The rentals run $50 to $200 for a four-night loan and are shipped directly to the customer’s doorstep. After wearing the dress, she puts it into a prepaid envelope and drops it in the mail. Dry cleaning is included in the price, but damage insurance costs $5, and in the case of outright destruction of the dress, the renter is responsible for the full retail price.

Is Rent the Runway recession-friendly? I don't know.

It certainly beats paying $500 for an evening gown, but I don't know if I'd even be willing to shell out $200 for something I couldn't wear for more than a weekend.

Plus, Rent the Runway is an invitation-only service. What's up with that?

It's bad being broke. It's worse being broke and not even cool enough for membership in a RENTAL service.