We’re about halfway through July, which might mean you’re either running out of summer lewks or just about to—especially as the weather continues to heat up and limit your wardrobe choices. But don’t sweat it (literally): Rent the Runway just launched its online sample sale on Thursday, and there are so many fun dresses available for purchase at up to 80 percent off retail. And the best ones are actually under $100.
Whether you’re looking for something cool to wear to work or a show-stopper for a summer wedding, this is your chance to add new items to your repertoire (and serve some serious fashion moments) before fall gets here. Rent the Runway is mostly known for being the go-to place when you need to borrow high-end pieces for special occasions, but its sample sales give shoppers a rare opportunity to buy something at a massive discount right on the spot from designers like Tanya Taylor, Theory, and LoveShackFancy. However, this stuff is going to go pretty quickly. Luckily we saved you some browsing time by scouring through all of it and picking out the very best dresses under $100.
Gisele Bündchen has walked down 600-plus runways throughout her 20-year career as a model. But in her new memoir, Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life, she reveals that her first major fashion show was far from a positive experience. In fact, she broke down crying before stepping on the runway.
Bündchen recalls being set to appear in an Alexander McQueen show in 1998—her first ever international gig, according to Cosmopolitan—and “couldn’t believe” that she had been chosen. But that excitement would melt away when she saw her look for the first time, the day of: a skirt—and nothing else.
“Where’s the top?” Bündchen remembers asking someone, who informed her that there wasn’t one. The model then started to cry, as she was afraid that coming down the runway topless would disappoint her family. “I was a good girl. I was a tomboy. I was someone whose big breasts had embarrassed her since she’d hit puberty,” she writes, per Cosmopolitan. “I was a girl gripped by the fear that my family would feel so embarrassed they would never speak to me again. I was terrified.”
Thankfully, someone backstage had her back: “As soon as Val, the makeup artist, saw the situation, she said she would paint a top on me using white makeup… Val told me how beautiful it looked and said that the runway was so dark nobody would know,” Bündchen recalls. Because the show took place in the rain, “no one could tell what was rain and what was tears.”
PHOTO: Victor VIRGILE/Getty Images
Bündchen writes that her family never saw the photos from the show. And according to Cosmopolitan, she credits that Alexander McQueen show as one of the most important jumping-off points of her career. Still, she’s not the only model to speak out about the pressure of going topless, especially when you’re starting out: Kate Moss recently opened up about a similar experience at a photoshoot, saying, “There was pressure… I worked with a woman photographer called Corinne Day, and she always liked me with no top on. And I did not like it at all when I first started.”
In the wake of the #MeToo, the fashion industry has been taking steps to protect models in these types of situations, through programs and even legislation, to give support and offer them resources.
Over the weekend, Kim Kardashian West’s daughter, North, made her runway modeling debut during the L.O.L. Surprise fashion show in Los Angeles. In case you’re not familiar, L.O.L. Surprise is a line of toys with cute, fashionable characters that is super popular with the under-10 set. The show’s creative direction was overseen by stylist and longtime Kardashian friend, Simone Harouche.
All of the kiddos walked the runway in one-of-a-kind outfits that mirrored those worn by the dolls in the collection. North was “Thrilla”—and she looked absolutely adorable.
PHOTO: Michael Simon Photography
PHOTO: Michael Simon Photography
“North is completely obsessed with L.O.L. Surprise already, so when we found out there was going to be an L.O.L. Surprise BIGGER Surprise Fashion show, she absolutely had to be involved,” Kim said. “She loves to dress up like her favorite characters, so it was so exciting for her to actually become a real-life L.O.L. doll.”
PHOTO: Michael Simon Photography
While it may have been her first time on the catwalk, five-year-old North is no stranger to modeling. She’s currently starring in the #MeAndMyPeekaboo Fendi campaign with her mom and her grandma, Kris Jenner. “The idea was to expand the concept of family, as it’s part of our history, and we wanted other families of women,” Venturini Fendi told WWD about the campaign. “In the case of the Kardashians, they are all three of them very strong women, with strong personalities. It’s an iconic family, who is known for its appearance, but we wanted to bring more of an intimate side to the table.”
And the modeling genes definitely seem to run in the family. Look at that turn!
Seriously, it’s hard to handle this level of cuteness.
North wasn’t the only celebrity offspring in the show. Busy Philipp’s daughters Birdie and Cricket were also “dolled” up for the occasion.
PHOTO: Michael Simon Photography
PHOTO: Michael Simon Photography
No word yet on whether any of the girls in the show have been booked for the upcoming Paris Fashion Week.
It was just last week that Rihanna‘s Savage x Fenty show made headlines for including pregnant women in lingerie at its presentation. And then again for what happened immediately backstage, when model Slick Woods went into labor and had to be taken straight from the show to the hospital. Now, on the other side of the Atlantic, another new mom and model is making waves on the internet.
The model, Valeria Garcia, was in the Marta Jakubowski Spring 2019 show after giving birth to her second child in June. Her outfit featured an open trouser suit with what appeared to be a black-and-white bra—or at least that’s what it seemed like at first.
PHOTO: Eamonn M. McCormack
See those white bra-insert-y objects? That’s the Elvie breast pump, which is being billed as the first-ever wearable device. It’s cleverly designed to sit under bra cups, and moms can use an app to control milk flow “silently and discreetly,” no matter where they might be (even at, say, a Fashion Week runway show). It’s definitely an advancement when it comes to breast pumps, as lots of new moms still deal with clunky, noisy pumping equipment.
But she’s not the first model to use her runway platform to break down the stigma around breastfeeding in public. Sports Illustrated model Mara Martin walked at the brand’s swimwear show during Miami Swim Week this year while breastfeeding her five-month-old baby.
“I can’t believe I am waking up to headlines with me and my daughter in them for doing something I do every day,” she posted on Instagram after the event. “It is truly so humbling and unreal to say the least. I’m so grateful to be able to share this message and hopefully normalize breastfeeding and also show others that women CAN DO IT ALL!”
There’s no word yet on when or for how much the Elvie will be on sale. But there is a wait list, and suffice to say, with this kind of publicity, it’s likely to get some very interested customers fast.
As the name implies, New York Fashion Week is usually about the fashion, plus the beauty looks that complete the scene. But Thursday evening saw a new frontier: Models of diverse skin tones, shapes, and abilities walked in “skinvisibility cloaks” without any makeup, in a very interesting first for the runway. The show was held by Olay for the brand’s new “Face Anything” campaign, and where it’s usually easy to spot a brand stunt from a mile away, the individual triumphs of the models who walked actually made it feel groundbreaking.
The show’s roster included two-time Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman, beauty influencer Jackie Aina, comedian Lilly Singh, curve model Denise Bidot, and fashion blogger and cancer survivor Mama Cax, among others. It’s impossible to look at those names and the rest of the cast, and not see the ties. All raised their voices, largely through self-made social media platforms, to take on restrictive, harmful norms and double-standards. The show paid those facts attention: before each woman walked, a clip played of her addressing the thing that she’s always been told she’s “too much” of.
Too strong, too defiant, too emotional, too ambitious—the collection sounds like the press before the last election. As Cax points out, none of the traits are a negative when a man is associated with them. In her words, the campaign sees women refusing to dim their lights, instead striking out the “too” and owning what they are.
But Bidot says that in her experience, the brand asked all the right questions. “The first time I met with them, they were asking me about where I feel we’re at as women, what we feel is empowering, and how they can help the community. Those are the dialogues and the narratives that we need to continue to push. Because alone, we can only get so far.”
Bidot, who started modeling 12 years ago, says that she’s walked runway shows since 2014, but it’s taken until now to see an actual shift in terms of inclusivity. “We always said [plus-size women] we could do beauty campaigns and skin care campaigns, but no one was willing to give us a shot,” she tells Glamour. “Now here we are, breaking the norms.”
Growing up, Bidot, 32, says she “didn’t really see girls that looked like me, not just ethnically, but also physically. And I always wondered why that was. I couldn’t imagine why we couldn’t be the leading ladies—why we couldn’t have all the same careers that everyone was allowed.” The work’s not over yet, she says, both in models and who’s invited to shows. While size-inclusion surged this time last year, the last two seasons left her wondering whether designers saw it as a fad rather than a movement.
“We need to make sure we support the brands that support us, and keep pushing the brands that aren’t quite there yet,” she says. “We’ll wait. You can’t make people move faster than they want to, and we’re not going anywhere. I think that’s what this solidifies.”
You look to the runway for styling ideas, to get a head start on trends that won’t manifest for another six months, and to figure out what gaps might exist in your current wardrobe. Those three things converge when it comes to shopping for a new season’s worth of denim: For their Fall 2018 shows, designers offered us fresh takes on a staple you might not think to update, but might feel compelled to after seeing these looks.
Ahead, check out five of the biggest runway denim trends for the season, made shoppable. From acid washes to patchwork finishes, see which one (or ones) you want to incorporate into your fall rotation.
We bring you the trends. You make them your own. Sign up for our daily newsletter to find the best fashion for YOU.
