Ilus (248 Elizabeth St., nr. Prince St.; 646-454-1678) is a new “luxury for lease” boutique in Nolita that offers three-day dress rentals—and nice dresses at that—for $60 to $400. One customer, JaKissa Taylor (a.k.a. D.J. Kiss) drops in weekly. “I work a lot of gigs, and it’s bad to be photographed in the same dress twice,” she says. “But who wants to spend $500 on a one-hit dress?” Her recent Ilus rentals: a strapless Abaeté minidress for a Russell Simmons launch at Room Service ($80 to rent; retails for $505), a Nicole Miller purple-and-gold maxidress for a Sean John party at the Empire Hotel ($130 to rent; retails for $770), and a black Nicole Miller frock for an event at 1 Oak ($90 to rent; retails for $420).
Annual Savings: $5,580
(Based on one dress per month at an average savings of $465 per dress.)