Outfit rentals in Bengaluru

Every way to get the outfit, cheapest first.

The two shops, by outfit. The windows differ, so compare them for the same number of days.

What people told us they planned. A festive saree or lehenga for one day at ₹700 to ₹800, a party dress under ₹1,500, a Garba set at ₹500, under ₹500 a costume for a school play. At ₹1,000 to ₹1,500, Outfit Rental Shop has light lehenga sets, a pre-draped saree, maternity gowns and a Garba outfit, and PoshRobe has party dresses and gowns at ₹999 for 3 days. PoshRobe's lehengas start at ₹3,299.

Where to go. Jayanagar for a showroom with a trial. Hosur Road in Bommanahalli for a shop that rents for 36 hours at a time, with a trial and pickup or delivery. A shop in your own area for Navratri sets and children's costumes. Chickpet and Commercial Street if you decide to buy.

The one rule. Multiply the rent by the times you'll wear it, and compare that with buying something you'd be as happy in. If you'll wear it once or twice, renting almost always wins. A heavy lehenga rarely gets a third outing, but a plain sherwani or a suit might. The sherwani rents on this page run ₹950 to ₹10,999.

Read the shop's "retail" price with care. PoshRobe prints a new price beside every rental, and across its first 43 lehengas the rent is a median of about 20% of it, from 12% to 33%. That's the shop's own price tag, so a similar lehenga may cost less to buy elsewhere, and renting may win for fewer wears than that.

Buying has costs renting doesn't. Dry cleaning after each wear, a place to keep it, and the chance it doesn't fit next year.

Getting one stitched makes sense when you want it to fit for sure, or to wear it again. A boutique usually needs one to three weeks and a trial, and the cloth is extra. Pearls Fashion in Thanisandra turns sarees into lehengas and gowns, and Label Thanmaye in Basaveshwara Nagar makes children's party gowns. Both are tribe approved. Ask them for a price.

Borrowing is free, but agree before you take it that you'll have it dry-cleaned and fix anything you damage.

What makes one piece rent for more. The cloth (velvet and raw silk over georgette), the hand work (zardozi and stones over printed or thread work), the weight, and how new it is. PoshRobe's pieces at ₹14,299 to ₹16,499 are mostly heavy zardozi or heavy embroidered lehengas, and its ₹3,299 ones are georgette and printed cotton. It marks them "Used (like new)" and says each is the original designer piece, never a copy.

Two things to ask. At Outfit Rental Shop, ask how long you really have it: its page says 36 hours and 2 to 4 days. At the showroom, ask how heavy a ₹14,000 lehenga is to wear for five hours.

Samavaya Studio, which we work with, hires out its gowns and two lehengas through a separate rentals account. We don't hold its prices or terms, so ask.

Shoots are what people ask us for most. Of the 72 requests for an outfit on rent sent to mytribe since April, 22 wanted something to wear in a maternity, pre-wedding or portfolio shoot, most of them a gown.

Studios we work with that keep gowns. Firos Photography adds a gown for ₹1,999 and a blazer for ₹999 to a pre-wedding or maternity shoot, and his top packages include two gowns and a blazer. Samavaya Studio in HSR Layout keeps frill, trail and tulle gowns, two lehengas and a blazer. Nitu Rungta has maternity gowns to pick from, and Prismika told us you look through its gowns and it prices the one you pick. Magic Moments Photography and M3 Snap Studio keep gowns too. Ask each for the price.

For a bump, pick a gown that ties, laces or stretches at the back, try it the week before, and keep an outfit of your own ready in case. The maternity photographers guide and the pre-wedding shoot guide have the rest of the shoot.

Grass and mud. Ask whoever owns the gown, the shop or the studio, whether normal dirt on the hem is fine before the shoot.

Five steps that keep the deposit safe.

1. Before you pay, ask the deposit, what it covers, and how and when it comes back: PoshRobe's saree page says a cash deposit comes back at once and an online one within 5 business days. Get it on the bill or on WhatsApp, with the list of what's in the set: blouse, dupatta, can-can, jewellery.
2. At pickup, take a video of every panel in daylight: the hem, the stones, the blouse lining, the dupatta edges. Send it to the shop's WhatsApp so it has a date on it.
3. Carry ID. Shops ask for a government photo ID. Write on the copy what it's for, the shop's name and the date.
4. If it stains, don't wash it. Tell the shop when you return it.
5. At return, ask them to check it in front of you and write "received in good condition", or what's wrong, on the bill.

What Outfit Rental Shop's terms say. The deposit is refunded within 5 business days of return and inspection. A late fee is charged per day and taken from the deposit, and major damage is charged at the cost of repair or replacement. Neither shop prints a rupee figure for the late fee or the damage.

If a shop keeps the deposit and won't say why, the National Consumer Helpline takes the complaint on 1915 (8 am to 8 pm) or its website and passes it to the business. We found no consumer court order on an outfit deposit, so we can't say how one would end.

What comes in the set. At Outfit Rental Shop, a ₹1,200 raw silk lehenga comes as the skirt, a blouse and an organza dupatta, with a garment bag. Its page says nothing about a can-can. You can try it at the Hosur Road shop, and its tailors adjust the blouse and waist with 48 hours' notice. Its maternity gowns aren't altered. PoshRobe says alterations are free in its stores. Its sarees come with a petticoat and a ready blouse in a standard size, and a blouse stitched to your size costs extra and needs 5 days' notice.

A bigger size. Outfit Rental Shop lists sizes XS to XXXL, and some of its heavy lehengas are free size, with a drawstring waist. Send your measurements on WhatsApp before you go and ask them to keep out only what fits.

Clean. Check the underarms and the blouse lining, and smell it. Wear your own slip under it.

The piece in the photo. It may not be the one you get, or it may be out on your date. Ask for a photo of the actual piece in your size, and keep it.

Weight and heat. A heavy lehenga or a trail gown is heavier and hotter than it looks. Sit and walk in it at the trial.

Busy dates go first. Late November and early December are wedding season, and Navratri sets go about a month ahead. For those, book as soon as your date is fixed, and check the muhurtham dates with the family priest.

Out of town. Tell the shop before you pay, because the days you travel count too.