In attendance at the 10th (Absolute Return for Kids) Ark Gala, were William and Kate, at what was their first official engagement together. While William looked dapper in his black tie dinner jacket, all eyes were really on his wife.

Dressed in a blush sequinned Jenny Packham ball gown with ruffled shoulder detailing, the Duchess shone. Accesorizing her ball dress with matching clutch and LK Bennett shoes (we loved the cute bows on the ankle!), Kate’s entire ensemble was floorless.

What we were most excited about here at GMD was that Gala marked the first occasion since wedding her prince, that Kate has coveted a designer outfit/dress! (A £3,500 one at that!)  Not that normally we don’t admire Kate staying true to her love of the high-street.   Wonder if Kate paid for it? Or did she borrow the designer dress? It’s not like she can wear it again; think the press might notice!

Which is why we think Kate would make a model Girl Meets Dress ambassador for designer dress hire.   She could wear designer and then simply return it.  A much cheaper option for the Duchess.  And given her eye for a bargain, that resides in Kate’s everlasting love for the offerings of the high-street, we dare say she’d think it worthwhile to be saving a penny or two.  We know we’re biased, but is anyone with us on this?

Here are some dresses from our ball gown hire and prom dress hire collections to which we think the Duchess would be rather partial!

Dina Bar-El Penelope Ball Gown. Hire: £109. RRP: £700

Dina Bar-El Gold Silk Ball Gown. Hire: £99. RRP: £558.

Dina Bar-El Dina Ball Gown. Hire: £109. RRP: £600.

Dina Bar-El Deborah Ball Gown. Hire: £109. RRP: £520.

Dresses, ball gown or cocktail-style would be appropriate for women attending this summer evening do.   If you’ve been to the event before, you might have a firm grasp of the kind of ball dress /ball gown you’re going to wear.   Rooting through the evening dress selection in your wardrobe, there might well be enough stock in there to open your own shop.  Yet, none grab you-especially as you’ve already worn each one.   Then perhaps you’ve never considered ball gowns for hire.

Too Many Dresses/Ballgown Wardrobe Overload?

If the scenario described above is ringing far too many outfit-conundrum bells then why not hire a ball dress from our on-line designer dress hire boutique for this years’ Salon Privé ball, or for that matter, any other event you are planning to attend?  Hire a ball dress from our collection and you’ll get your order via next day delivery.  We’ve featured some of the dresses (ball gown, evening and cocktail) available to hire from our dress rental collection.  We’re sure you’ll agree that they have exactly the right level of va-va-voom for the prestigious Salon Privé supercar event.

Ball gowns for hire РPerfect for Salon Priv̩

Hire a Suzannah Corsage maxi dress and you won’t regret it! Dress for hire: £79. Retail price: £525.

Aftershock Cara evening dress

Aftershock Cara evening dress for hire

Look fabulous in this Aftershock Cara evening dress.  Ball dress for hire: £89.  RRP: £300.

Stella McCartney Ashop dress

Achieve the wow-factor you desire- Hire this bright orange Stella McCartney Ashop dress.  Ball gown hire price: £189.  RRP: £655.

Bow detail Marchesa Notte ball gown for hire

Really up-the-ante in the ball gown style stakes this year- with this demure floor-length Bow Detail ball gown by Marchesa Notte.  Ball gown for hire: £159. Original retail price: £898.

Rent Ball Gowns Part of the Biggest Cannes Trends

Red carpet trend: Feathers.  Who wore it well: Carine Roitfeld. Uma Thurman.  Who wore it badly: Bar Rafaeli.

Red carpet trend: White/Champagne ball gowns. Who wore it well: Diane Kruger. Anna dello Russo. Salma Hayek. Bar Rafaeli. Who wore it badly: Courtney Love.  Similar ball gowns for hire: Alice & Olivia cream ball dress. Hire: £79. Original RRP: £269.  Gold silk ball gown for hire, Dina Bar-El: £99. Original RRP: £558.

Red carpet trend: Ruffles. Who wore it well: Julia Saner, Julia Restoin-Roifeld. Who wore it badly: No overt faux pas in particular. If we had to give 1st prize to either of the aforementioned, Julia’s Pucci ball gown would probably get our vote.  Our favourite GMD ruffle ball dress for hire- this Aftershock Audre sundress.  Hire: £39. RRP: £95.

Red carpet trend: Cut-out detailing.  Who wore it well: Giovanna Battaglia, Angela Lindvall. Who wore it badly: No overt faux pas in particular. If we had to go for ball gown look over the other, it would have to be Giovanna’s, particularly as she accessorized with the dapper Vladimir Restoin-Roifeld on her arm.

If you fancy delving into the deep end of fashion challenges that is ‘doing’ cut-out, then this Marc by Marc Jacobs number will ease you into the trend gently. Rent this Marc Jacobs dress for£69.  Or ‘cut’ a dash in a plum Jasmin di Milo dress. For hire: £69. RRP: £505.

Rent ball gowns by dress designers worn by the BAFTA Stars

The annual British film and television awards ceremony, held last night, attracted over 5.3 million views- the largest audience to tune into the ceremony since 2008.  Amongst award winners, Vicky McClure scooped the Leading Actress gong for her role in This is England ’86, while comedian Jo Brand confessed to being completely ‘gob’smacked’ at having won Best Female Performance in a Comedy Role in hospital satire Getting On.   But enough about the awards. What we really want to know is what did they wear!?  We list some of our favourite ball dresses of the evening, plus some of the red-carpet crises that caught our eye.

A Temperley Ball Dress for Minnie

Minnie Driver in a Temperley ball dress.  The 41 year old, something of a red carpet event veteran, showed off her waif, model-esque figure in a white, form-fitting Temperley gown.  Rent Temperley ball gowns from GirlMeetsDress, such as this long Violetta dress.  Hire: £229. RRP: £2,159.  With price tag like that, who knows, it probably cost more than Minnie’s.  She’ll be wanting to borrow yours next!

Marchesa Ball Gown Choice for Annette Bening

Another ‘lady in white’ on the red, defying her 50 something age, was American actress Annette Bening.  In an asymmetric off the shoulder white Marchesa ball gown, Annette oozed timeless glamour.  Looking as good as she did, Annette certainly gave some of her younger acting contemporaries something to red-carpet dressing food for thought. Marchesa ball gowns for hire can be found in our Marchesa and Marchesa Notte ball dress designer index.

Lanvin Ball Gown Glamour for the Lady in Red

We absolutely loved Emma Stone’s Lanvin ball gown, a one shoulder two tone red flowing gown. With nude shoes, gold clutch and cuff, a relaxed up do and barely-there make-up, Emma let her dress do the talking on the red carpet; her outfit truly stood out as a red carpet winner.  And amazingly, the matching colour of said carpet if anything enhanced and didn’t detract from Emma’s retro-glam-tastic maxi ball gown.  A GirlMeetsDress in house designer favourite, Richard Nicoll’s bodice dress has the two tone look down to a tee.  This Richard Nicoll ball gown for hire: £179.  Original price: £1,119.