About Us
Some of you will know me from Absolutely Fabulous. We are still the wonderful service that you have experience we have just decided that after 13 years its time to rebrand. We have purchased some more fabulous stock from overseas and within New Zealand. We started back in 2007 with the vision of helping my daughters friends and and families preparing to attend their first ever ball and not knowing where to begin and parents worried about the cost. I felt that I could help. I was working full time in another business but felt I needed something that was mine. I have learn't many things in my time of running the business and have helped many people feel good and look good having lots of fun and smiles.
A short time after opening I found that my service was valuable for any women any age or size because we all struggle with the same things when it comes to wanting and needing to look good for THE EVENT. So I broadened my range to include dresses that was suitable for the older women. My size range is from 6 to 26. I do have numerous wraps, bolero's and evening jackets so don't worry about a sleeveless dress I'm sure we have something to suit and if I need to make something I will.
While a lot of my dresses are not designer labeled, they are more than acceptable for the event you might be attending. I don't believe you need a label to find the right fit, style or colour to compliment and make you feel good. Feeling good is what its all about.
Thank you for visiting my site. My hours are 10am to 5pm but please be aware that I am there on my own. To enable me to give you the best service it is a preference to book an appointment to try on dresses. Please give me a text or use our booking form to book an appointment. We will contact you to confirm. You are welcome to bring a friend. Your appointment will be for an hour if needed and remember if you have shoes, jewellery or anything else you wish to wear bring it with you if you can. If you need an appointment outside the times I'm available just message me and we will organise something for you.
You are welcome to come and look. If your coming to try on my rental dresses please expect to pay a $30 consultation fee. If you hire a dress from me then you will pay 50% of the cost of hire with the balance being payable upon pickup, or you are welcome to pay the total hireage at the time of booking. Cancellations for any reason will not result in a deposit refund. If your event is postponed provided the dress is available then we will rebooked for that date.
We will arrange with you collection of your dress a day or two before your event or we can arrange courier to you at your cost. Wear your dress. No alterations are to be made to the item while you have it along with no ironing unless otherwise advised. We have all our garments drycleaned upon return. This cost is already taken care of within the hire fee. Return of the items within two days of your event or you can return by courier at your cost. Late return of item and or non return of bag will result in a late payment fee. Please understand that sometimes your dress is going out again, and we need to get it drycleaned and ready for the next lucky person. If for some unfortunate reason the garment becomes damaged or severally stained and is no longer rentable then an extra may apply.
Our dresses range in price. Cocktail from $90 and long gown $150 to $250. Payment at the moment is by bank transfer or cash. Layby is available but the item needs to be paid for before the event.
OUR VISION
Is to help you best prepare for your event. For many people whether you are young or old you could be going to your first ever formal dinner, school ball, celebratory function of some sort. No matter you age, shape or size we all want to look good, feel good and be comfortable, thats why you come to Attire for Hire. Most of us struggle at times with how we are feeling and how we look especially with that EVENT coming. Many people who have used my service know that if it doesn't look right I will steer you in another direction or if its just a strap shorten or a small dart done to make the fit correct then we can do that also.
THINGS I KNOW
The most common thing I hear when people enter my store is "I just want a plain dress" which we can help with ,however it would be 8/10 that end up hiring something just a little more special and feeling good about it. We all have images in our mind about how we look (our bits that we want to disguise, that by the way it's only ourselves that notices those bits), or maybe it goes the other way, we think we look better than we really do in our style of clothing. We have preconceived ideas that a particular style or cut are our only options or that our colours have been done (a long time ago) and we need to stick to those colours. Through our life our colours change just as our bodies do.
Fabric and cut of a dress does make a difference just the same as the fit when it comes to looking good. In our everyday wear we normally have some form of stretch. A lot of formal wear does not. Sometimes you need to go up a size or two. I have found in the last couple of years that imported items from overseas does not cater for the New Zealand shaped women. Sure if your small enough you can visit many stores and just buy off the shelf but for as many people that can do that there are those of us out there that have a slighty larger bust, who are short or have a big butt that struggle with attaining the right fit. The other thing that quite often gets overlooked is your undergarments. A bra that gives you the right lift and sometimes those hold me tight undergarments can give a nice clean fit.