New York Junior League Winter Ball

Oh New York Junior League Winter Ball how you never fail to deliver an amazing New York City evening complete with delicious beverages, a great band, amazing gowns, and lots of dancing in a beautiful venue.This is my 3rd year attending (see last year’s recap here) our league’s largest event of the year which is a fundraiser for our many community partners.

This years gown, thanks to your recommendations, was my favorite thus far! I used Rent the Runway for the first time and finally understand why there is so much hype. After reading all of your suggestions, I decided to go big or go home and rent the Badgley Mischka Glitz Gown! I’ve learned over the years that strapless dresses don’t compliment my figure and therefore have moved towards either deep v-neck or strappy dresses instead as you can tell from the above pictures. This gown rents for $160 but thanks to the January Birchbox, I had a $50 gift card that I applied. While $100 may seem like a lot for a rental, it would be very difficult to find a gown for under that price and I find that I rarely wear gowns a second time. In addition, there are dresses and accessories of all price points on Rent the Runway. I’ve marked a few of their adorable summer dresses as possible rentals for events this summer and most are $25!

In addition to the gown, I was able to add a piece of jewelry for just $10 thanks to a promotional code. They took the guess work out of accessorizing this dress by having their stylist choose earrings.

As a few people on Instagram and Facebook have asked for more details behind my look, here are the specifics:

Hair: blow out at DREAMDRY (Rachel Zoe’s new blow out bar located in Flatiron which is quickly making a name for itself after only 3 weeks by being less expensive than competitors while still delivering a luxury, relaxing experience. Full review to follow in a separate post.)

Makeup: I did my makeup myself as the past few times I’ve had my makeup done by a professional I haven’t been crazy about the look. Instead, I invested in a new lip stick and liner to ensure that I brought a bit of a statement to my normal makeup style. Since Dolce&Gabbana Makeup is one of our brands, I was excited to finally try their popular red lipstick which is definitely one of the signature items! The woman at Sephora recommended Dolce&Gabbana Lipliner in Fire and Dolce&Gabbana Classic Cream Lipstick in Devil. Per her suggestion, I lined my lips and colored them in with the liner before applying the lipstick. This extra step ensured that even when my lipstick wore off on a wine glass, there would still be color. The only other change I made was a thicker than normal application of both  liquid eye liner and mascara.

The entire evening was so much fun, especially since Bo and I had the pleasure of finally meeting JP and Blake, two of Laura’s friends from college who live in Dallas. The 5 of us spent the evening dancing with Theodora, Shannon, and Jen! It was also a great chance for Bo to meet some of the amazing ladies on my committee and in the League whom I talk about so often!

As you can tell from the pictures, it was a great chance for us to all let loose and toast a great year with the league.

Your Turn: Rent the Runway? Yay or Nay?  Do you prefer to own or rent for special occasions?