Have a dress? Want a dress? DressedGPS!
Have you ever found yourself in need of a dress with no time to actually set out and find one? Perhaps money is the issue, and your need to save is more necessary than your need to buy a new dress for an event. Whatever your situation may be, you are not alone. Young women from all over college campuses feel this pressure to find a new dress for social events. Who is there to help them during this time of chaos? With fair prices, ways to make easy money, and guarantees to protect your privacy, DressedGPS is there for you!
The process is very simple for either seller or custom- er. First you create an account, whether by Facebook or by simply making up a password/username. Than you select “Post a new listing” and chose whether to sell or to rent. After filling out payment details, you are ready to post a picture of your dress and put it on the market. As a buyer, you can look up your school, size, color, occasion, body type, and cleaning preferences, and presto! You’ve found your perfect dress. All that’s left is to con- tact the owner and make sure your means of payment is set and secure. Simple right? As for defense measures: If the dress is not returned by its rent expiration date, a $5 late fee is charged to said customer’s card every day until the dress is returned to its owner. If the dress is damaged in anyway, you can click “Make a Claim” and certain measures will be taken to assist you. If you have anymore questions or concerns you can look on DressedGPS.com for further information.
Recently, I had the pleasure to interview the Co-CEO of DressedGPS, Jake Gordon.
Q: What is DressedGPS? Describe it for those who may not be aware of it.
A: DressedGPS is a student-to-student dress rental service that allows any girl to rent out her wardrobe to other students on campus to make some extra money. At the same time it gives girls an opportunity to wear a new dress to any event for significantly less money and way less hassle.
Q: How did Dressed GPS come to be? How did you come up with the idea? What is the history behind DressedGPS?
A: DressedGPS formed when my friend Michael Havkins and I both noticed the constant struggle that our girlfriends had with finding a new dress for their various formal events. Both of our girlfriends owned several dresses that they had in their closets but did not want to re-wear. We wondered if there was a way to connect dress owners and girls looking to rent a dress on campus. With the Muhlenberg Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition coming up on campus, we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to create the business. We did extensive market research and polling and found that many college age girls would be more than interested in the service. With lots of hard work we won the competition and reinvested the winnings into building a functional site, all under the mentorship of a real entrepreneur who is a Muhlenberg alumnus.
This fall we officially launched the business and have been thrilled with the student excitement and usage thus far. We encourage everyone to keep sign- ing up because the more users we get the more fun it is for everyone!
We also have been partnering with each of the sororities on campus and Muhlenberg Fashion Society to donate back to their inspiring organizations.
Q: What are the organizations you donate to?
A: For every dress that the following organizations upload on the site we will be donating to their philanthropy.
1) Alpha Chi Omega: Turning Point of the Lehigh Valley–helps women who have been effected with domestic violence.
2) Phi Sigma Sigma: Kids in Need foundation–giving school supplies to children in need.
3) Delta Zeta: Ali Young–a Muhlenberg Student who is in need of a new kidney.
4) Phi Mu: Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals– raising money for children’s medical research.
Any other organization that is interested can contact us to partner up and easily fundraise for their philanthropy at contact@dressedgps.com
Q: What are your goals?
A: Our immediate goal is to make DressedGPS a campus name—a cool service that all students know as a resource to enhance their Muhlenberg experience. In order to make this happen, we are looking for more people to join our team. We need people who are interested in fashion, start up business, social media marketing, or any other aspect of this service that would be appealing. While expanding our team, we hope to soon be able to have campus representatives at all of the colleges in the Lehigh Valley and eventually urban areas like Philadelphia, Boston, and New York.
If you are interested in joining, you can either con- tact me by phone: (818) 922-5751 or our email ad- dress: contact@dressedgps.com
Q: What would you like Muhlenberg students to know about your organization?
A: DressedGPS is the one-stop solution for any girl who has ever wanted all the fun of a new dress for an event without all the stress. We are also the perfect place for any dress owner looking to make some extra money on their clothing with minimal effort. Muhlenberg is the perfect first stop for DressedGPS because the students are not only conscious of how they look, but also passionate about giving back. For us to combine these two things in one unique, easy- to-use service is a perfect match.
Like many organizations on Muhlenberg’s campus, DressedGPS is a passionate corporation with an ever expanding goal to influence and connect with other campuses throughout the country—or at least the east coast. It’s quite a remarkable idea that has become a reality, and I look forward to seeing where it goes from here. So, what are you waiting for? Get involved! Rent a dress! Rent out a dress! Join DressedGPS even! We are all waiting for you.