This black silk portrait collar dess by Lela Rose is $299 on Rue La La.
Pros: It’s gorgeous. I love the drama of the collar, the silk faille fabric, and the seaming and darting. My sizes are actually still available. I just got a bonus from work that will cover the cost of this dress and then some. It’s by Lela Rose, one of my favorite new designer. I would never be able to afford her clothes full-price, and now here is an opportunity for me to get her dresses at 80% off list price (the original price is $1,295).
Cons: Final sale (no returns). What if it doesn’t fit? It’s expensive… $300 plus $10 in shipping plus at least $50 in any tailoring I might have to do. It’s dry-clean only, and I would have to be extra careful not to stain or otherwise damage this dress. I can put my bonus to much better use, say… my travel fund. Besides, most clothes are marked up anyway, I shouldn’t use the excuse to buy something.
So, what says you? Should I throw budget to the wind and splurge, or would it behoove me to save?
(If you want to help me out by getting on RueLaLa.com and buying this dress so that it is sold out, that would be appreciated too).
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It’s a lovely dress. In this case I would remember my Dad’s saying “it’s not a deal unless you need it”.
Jenn @ Paying Myself´s last [type] ..Picking a New Credit Card
Jenn @ Paying Myself´s last [type] ..Picking a New Credit Card
Well, who ever really "need" a silk dress with a dramatic collar?
But I do want it.
My definition of "need" is pretty loose. lol. Emitts below is very convincing…
i'm an online retail buyer.
Ask yourself if you can find something with those materials thats at a better price. a high end designer brand is usaully marked up 3x the cost (general rule). Its good to go into a dept store and try on the brand to figure out your size. If you can't do that, look it up on sites that have the brand/product and find out if the clothes run true to size, large, small.
Its a LBD (little black dress), never will go out of style and you can wear it for years to come. Worth the investment. Not sure, size up and take it to a good tailor. After your 32nd wear you'll be have you wore it…
Great for work, cocktail hour, and a grad school networking night…
You can also break down the cost to how many times you plan on wearing it. A dress like that you can wear 2x a month if you wanted For the next 3-5 years if your body remained the same. So thats 24 times a year, avg out at $12.50 each time you wear it. By year 3 its around $4 each time you wear it.
Emitts, you are convincing!
I would definitely splurge if you haven't bought a nice dress in awhile. After all, it is a basic black dress that will be appropriate for a lot of occasions that you will be attending? How many times do you think you will get wear out of it? Cost per wear… You can wear it with a blazer, a cardigan, tights, pumps, a skinny belt, etc.
What's more important… traveling or this dress! It all depends on you =) If you do buy it, please post a pic wearing it as its a gorgeous dress.
Can't I have both the travel and the dress?
But I understand.. as to cost per wear, I don't know if I'd have an occasion to wear something like this often. It seems a little too dramatic for work and I am not exactly swimming in evening social outings.
you know what's even better? Wear this dress on your vacation!!
"(If you want to help me out by getting on RueLaLa.com and buying this dress so that it is sold out, that’d be appreciated too)." That comment should tell you what you need to do
However, my wife would probably say that dress will last forever.
Your wife sounds like a very smart lady.
Meh, I'd be too paranoid about a bad fit. (Also, it looks much nicer in the link than in the pic on this post!)
Then again, I'm from NZ….hardly a shopper's mecca.
I was thinking " buy it" until I got to the part about no returns. That alone would prevent me from buying it. No excuse for such a policy with an online vendor.
I couldn't spend that much money on a dress that I couldn't try on first.
Honestly, I couldn't spend that much money on a dress period. Even $100 makes my toes curl!
Can you think of three places you could wear it? If so, I'd get it.
Hey now, I thought I already did my work here! Back AWAY from the dress, lady! Visualize the Galapagos!
Yeah…I'd buy it. But you're talking to a person who recently walked into Bloomies with no intentions of the Oops purchases I walked out with.
But they're fabulous and I love them.
I'd say no. Primary reasons: the skirt (in the link) seems pretty short for this to really be an all-occasion LBD; the straight-ish cut on a flimsy fabric means both the skirt and the chest will be unforgiving if you gain even a couple of pounds in either place; lastly, your body will change between young 20s and late 20s.
I would say no since you cannot try it on. It is possible that you could get it and it be too *small*. Maybe not likely but it could happen.
I agree with Karen–shame as the dress is so cute. Now if it weren't final sale and you could try it on in the comfort of your own home with the option to return it, now we're talking. Then again, that could be way too tempting!
That dress is way cuter in the link. The picture you posted makes it look a little dowdy, the link looks sexy. It does seem kind of short, but you are not very tall (from what I recall), so maybe it wouldn't be so short on you. I think I would look for something else that you can try on. $360 is a lot of money for something you can't return. There are millions of little black dresses with dramatic collars. Keep searching, babe.
It's definitely pricey, and I know I'd be kinda bummed out if I bought a dress on final sale that didn't fit. That's a waste of $300. If you only are thinking about jumping on it because it's so much cheaper than list price, or that it's a limited time offer, I'd say put your credit card away. I find that sites like steep and cheap and other deal a day sites end up making me want stuff more because it's so much cheaper than list price, and you only have a limited time to buy it, so the pressure is on.
Hold off, and wait until you find something that you are confident you will wear (i.e. you can try it on and it fits) instead of hoping that this will work.