Ilus

Ilus is a super cute dress rental place in Nolita that I discovered totally by accident when I was looking for a dress to buy for my cousin’s wedding. All of the dresses have TWO price tags… one, if you’d like to buy it and another if you’d like to just borrow it from the store.
I found an amazing Carmen Marc Valvo silk dress with a lace halter (and feathers on the shoulder) which was $ 695…a little more than I was willing to spend on a dress I might wear twice in my life, but I was able to rent it for $ 110 (which included the dry cleaning cost.) I have been back twice and rented a few other dresses (one Cynthia Rowley and one Badgley Mischka) and the total price of all three rentals still hasn’t added up to what I would have had to pay to buy one dress.
The owner, Linda, is usually working at the store and she also gives you really honest advice on if something looks good on your or not — which is great… as she has actually steered me away from more expensive rentals that didn’t looks as flattering on me as the some of the less expensive rentals.
This is definitely my new go-​to place if I ever have a wedding, cocktail party, or event before I buy another dress for my already overly full closet. Yay for dress rentals! I love this place.

Lots of fun, yet semi-​pricey evening dresses. Good selection and will come back for more special occasion needs.