The easiest ways to cut costs of party season
THE party season is well and truly alive as calendars fill up with events including the spring races and end-of-year celebrations.
Fast fashion means looking good while keeping social media accounts fresh with fancy new outfits, and it can be an expensive exercise.
This has forced partygoers to hunt for ways to cut costs.
Amelia Johnson, 38, runs an event-styling business that involves wearing the latest ontrend designs, so she has turned to hiring garments instead of buying them.
“I started hiring dresses specifically for going to the races or going to work events,” Ms Johnson said.
“I’m now signed up to a premium subscription service so I have unlimited selections that arrive to me three at a time. It suits me perfectly.”
She said she hired clothes for “cost and time efficiency, and sustainability, because there’s wastage around events”.
She signed up to online dress hire service GlamCorner’s premium deal where users pay $149 a month for unlimited hire.
Customers can order three pieces at a time before returning them for another batch of three items, and do not pay for dry-cleaning.
Ms Johnson’s co-worker Emily Brady, 23, said being in a job where she constantly had to wear new and on-trend designs was expensive, so hiring clothes limited damage on her wallet.
“I could easily spend anywhere from $800 to $1500 on an outfit for an event, so I would have been buying one dres dress and wearing it over and over again,” Ms Brady said.
GlamCorner marketing manager Kelly Centellas said the website had more than 25,000 items to rent from $49 a garment.
“With social media people don’t like to wear things more than once at social events,” Ms Centellas said.
“It’s cost beneficial for the user and it’s sustainable.”
Other popular clothing hire companies include The Volte, Dress Hire and Style Theory.
Consumer finance specialist Lisa Montgomery said “if you don’t do black tie and don’t go to the races all the time, hiring can save you money”.
“If you need to be seen in a new outfit all the time, hiring is a much more affordable option,” Ms Montgomery said.
“Or you could even buy a dress and hire accessories like hats or fascinators that you don’t wear all the time.” Sophie Elsworth is the personal finance writer at News Corp.