The 'Blondie' dress by Elliatt is one of the most popular rentals for New Year's Eve at Her Wardrobe.
More Australian women than ever are having a one-night stand on New Year's Eve – with their outfit.
Two of Australia's leading rental companies have reported that when it comes to the countdown to midnight on December 31, Australian women want to wear sequins, sequins and more sequins.
Alexandra Osmond, of Melbourne-based Her Wardrobe, said her two most heavily-booked styles are a black-and-white, one-shoulder mini-dress by Talulah, which rents for $99, and an iridescent, long-sleeved short dress by Elliatt, which rents for $79.
"We have even put all these dresses together on one rack in the store so customers can easily come in and see all their New Year's Eve party options in one place. There has definitely been a demand for sequins, embellishment or metallic fabric."
Dean Jones, co-founder of GlamCorner, said this year the company had worked with Thurley to design an exclusive capsule collection, a first for the rental business.
"One of the dresses was completely booked out within the first 24 hours across all sizes," Jones said. "We’re immensely proud of this collection, and it’s the kind of work we’re keen to do more of in the new year."
GlamCorner launched in 2012, when dress rentals in Australia were still in their infancy. The business now has more than 20,000 garments in its inventory and is the biggest local player in the global rental market, whose value is predicted to reach more than $4 billion by 2027.
Jones said the business had fine-tuned its processes over several years to ensure customers who book outfits for special dates such as New Years Eve will receive their parcels in time.
"We’ve learned how preparing months ahead of time can help to make the Christmas period run more smoothly," he said. "For example, you don’t want to be running out of something basic like packaging at this time of year, because the wait times on delivery can risk being well into January."
A list of the top 10 styles for New Year's week from GlamCorner also suggests dresses have definitely come back into fashion, after several years of jumpsuits dominating party dressing. Just the one onesie, by Vestire, made the top 10.
GlamCorner's most popular New Year's Eve styles
Thurley 'Caspian' dress.
Cmeo Collective Lustre midi-dress*
Cmeo Collective 'Lustre' dress.
Misha Cierra dress*
Misha 'Cierra' dress.
KitX Lush Nature cape dress*
KitX 'Lush Nature' dress.
Camilla Painted Provincial dress*
Camilla 'Painted Provincial' dress.
Talulah Martini mini-dress*
Talulah 'Martini' dress.
Vestire Palm Beach jumpsuit*
Vestire 'Palm Beach' jumpsuit.
Stevie May Concord dress*
Stevie May 'Concord' dress.
Ginger & Smart Eminence gown, $159
Ginger & Smart 'Eminence' gown.
Rebecca Vallance Mica mini-dress, $179
Rebecca Vallance 'Mica' dress.
* Style only available to GlamCorner subscribers, from $99 a month