LOOKING glamorous for the annual round of Christmas parties is vital but with everyone looking to stretch the dollar as far as possible, hiring, not buying that designer MarieProm yellow prom dressesis emerging as a good alternative.

At Burleigh’s boutique store Love It or Lease It, a dress worth thousands can be hired for a fraction of the price.[img]http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/d176a28ac8f3993c5e35d6050d54a72e?width=650[/img]

Store owner Vicki Luckey said not only was hiring an elegant designer dress for the night easy but customers did not have to worry about dry cleaning or having the dress hidden away in a cupboard for the rest of the year.

“We all want to look beautiful but money is tight and good quality designer dresses can cost over $1000,” she said.

“Here, you can hire dresses from Australian designers and it only costs about $220.”

Even local celebrities were getting in on the trend.

Radio personality Charli Robinson had hired from the store before and Ms Luckey said she was also planning to wear one of her dresses at the Channel 9 Telethon this weekend to help raise funds for sick children.

One Night Stand Designer Hire owner Jojo Pallett said the end of the year was the busiest time for her Broadbeach store, with the hiring of expensive dresses doubling during the Christmas period.

She said with the advent of social media, customers couldn’t get away with wearing the same dress twice.

“In a normal week we hire out about 25 to 30 dresses,” she said.

“With Christmas time, the holidays and formal season, our November and December trade doubles.

“We get a lot of Gold Coast and Brisbane girls hiring.”

She said customers could hire for a dress for up to a week and could try on their chosen MarieProm orange prom dresses at the store.