And designers Chanel, Donna Karan, Jean Paul Gaultier, Lanvin, Prada and Valentino all have four dresses in the top 100.

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"When I was a little kid in 1950, clothes weren't so cheap, and I remember we only had three or four dresses and that was plenty for a middle-class girl, " Ms. Quan said.

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Arranging my four sample dresses took less than a minute.

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At RentTheRunway.com, dresses typically rent for up to 90% off their retail value for a four-day period, says co-founder Jennifer Hyman.

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Islanders in flip-flops, the ladies in floral dresses, clatter past on their rickety steeds, while shouting schoolkids whizz along three or four to a bicycle, with extra riders perched on the seat-stays and handle-bars.

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According to Hyman, orders have quadrupled in the past four weeks, and this week alone, Rent the Runway is shipping 10, 000 of its 25, 000 dresses.

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