Nine Gala Dresses You Can Borrow for Under $150

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

Grid View

Expand

• Will you be one of the revelers at this year's galas? Photo via SFGate. All other images via StyleLend.
• Reem Acra, Size 4, $150
• Aidan Mattox, Size 4, $60.
• Rina Dhaka for Anthropologie, Size 4, $55.
• ABS Allen Schwartz, Size 2, $60.
• ML Monique Lhullier, Size 2, $75.
• Marchesa, Size 2, $145
• BCBG Runway, Size 0, $80.
• Burberry, Size 2, $100.
• Calvin Klein, size 8, $45.

Will you be one of the revelers at this year's galas? Photo via SFGate. All other images via StyleLend.

San Francisco music lovers (and party-goers) are eagerly preparing for two of the most popular events of the year: The SF Symphony opening night gala on September 3, and the SF Opera opening night gala on September 5. Dressing for multiple black-tie events in one week is expensive, but there's a cheap alternative to dropping a month's salary on two outfits: You could just borrow a dress. If you have local friends who share your dress size and taste, your party wardrobe just became free. If you didn't choose your friends based on closest compatibility, consider SF's peer-to-peer rental service, StyleLend.

Granted, companies like Rent the Runway have a much larger selection of styles and sizes from which to choose because they create their own inventory, but StyleLend wants to be your San Francisco alternative for borrowing fabulous dresses. We decided to put their closet to the test, and asked their stylists to pull a selection of formal looks from their stock that are available for next week's galas and rent for less than $150. While the sizes skew small, there are some strong contenders in the group. What do you think? Would you dance the night away in one of these gala gowns?
· StyleLend [Official Site]
· Ten Evening Bags to Take to Next Week's Opening Night Galas [Racked]
· StyleLend Is a Fashion Fairy Godmother for Wedding Guests [Racked]