To say the price of prom dresses is absolutely ridiculous?!!

Vinted and the sooner the better!

Another vote for JJs - we've had 2 from there. Beautiful dresses and well made.

and my daughter has had good use out of them - uni balls are a thing!

Research designer labels and preferred styles, then search Vinted.

Much better to buy a once worn quality dress than a cheap Chinese copy, the fabric and quality of the sewing are dreadful and show in the poor fit.

Give a size, style, designers on here! -( in Style and Beauty) we love a challenge in finding clothing.

Proms & all the shenanigans that go on with them….just more Americanization of the UK…what the fuck is going on?

How about looking on the Next.co.uk website? Some of the Kids in my daughters prom had their dresses from there. And also you can pay in instalments for it then?

Cross posted with you.
Absolutely agree. JJs House is amazing!

Try JJs House online. Based in China but a legit company, we've had two formal dresses and a beautiful outfit from them, wedding dress quality at a fraction of the price, they also do custom fitting for a tiny charge with your specific measurements. Takes about 4 weeks for delivery.

My daughters prom dress was utterly spectacular, absolutely perfect, beautifully sewn. They have matching accessories too,

Cost about £120 for everything custom fitted.

Proms are ridiculous full stop!

Who goes to a bridal shop for a prom dress? You're just asking to be ripped off.

JJ’s House is your friend. We got our daughters dress from there for about £100 and I was really pleased with the service and quality. They do a free made to measure on some styles, free fabric samples, and a try at home service (about £15 I think) where they’ll send you some dresses to check sizing and style. All round excellent!

Some time ago a lady posted a message that she put her limit at £10 and got her daughter to choose from eBay and apparently the dress was beautiful. I got a lovely dress myself for my mum's important birthday party and that was £4. There really is no need to spend a fortune .Also charity shops are worth checking.

From what i hear from friends the prices are really high for prom dresses. Vinted is worth checking .I would not want to spend a lot myself.

They’ll be expensive if you go to a prom dress shop. It’s like buying a wedding dress. You’re paying for the experience really as well as the dress. There will be tons from such shops on Vinted. You could get one and get it altered if it’s not quite a fit. Otherwise as others have said there are lots of online retailers you could use

Vinted is your friend...DD bought a £140 dress on there for £18, had it dry cleaned and taken up as it was a bit long and it looked fabulous!

Blimey, thank God this wasn't a thing when I was at school many years ago!

My friend's daughter got her dress from ChiChi London, and did her own hair and makeup. She told her mum that she didn't want her spending a lot of money on an outfit and all the other bits and was more than happy with the dress she chose. She got her bag and shoes from the charity shop.

If you have time, consider a cheaper dress, China site such as Solo Brides will also do Prom dresses, once you search you'll find, there's also places like Shein that can buy prom dresses (and wedding), JJ House is another one that's a lot cheaper.

If you don't have time, consider a used dress, there are multiple services on Google to resell ergo buy used dresses.

My daughter has chose a dress from a high street store for £150. It’s a lot nicer than the ones marketed as prom dresses. Most of those look really cheap and tacky.

Try Ebay and Vinted. Asos always has huge reductions. Get an idea of what styles and makes your daughter likes to help narrow your search. As PP said, set a budget and bear in mind that there are likely to be other expenses.
You absolutely can get a great dress for far less £250.

Isn't there a bit of a risk that the boys will run a mile? My DS definitely would. I wondered if it's okay to just turn up in clothes and have an actual conversation with a nice chap and go home?

I'll get my coat...

Vinted and Ebay. Also Facebook marketplace is a good place to look.

There are quite a few online places that are around £100 for a dress but you have to search. Not specific prom but basically that style.

My daughter had hers from Stacees online and it was absolutely stunning!! You wouldn’t have known it was so cheap , honestly the quality was like an expensive bridal shop.

Don't feel pushed to buy a bridal shop dress. The amount of people selling their prom dresses on Facebook and Vinted is astronomical- people spend £100s on them and they're only worn for 1 night so second hand could be a good option. Get her to have a scroll through vinted and pic out some ones she likes. Alternatively, look at somewhere like Monsoon or (if she's a bit gothy) Disturbia do some great alt-dresses.

DD1 bought her own as she had a part time job. I think it was around £100 and it was a full length, princess skirt, satin etc.

Charity shops are definitely worth a look. Some have specialist gown areas.

Also SHEIN have some cheap options. If you are comfortable purchasing from them, you can get a really lovely evening dress for less than £30.

This was her china dress

That's a lot of money for one night. Have you looked on Vinted? We have sold similar types of dresses on there. Having been worn once they were in great condition and a bargain. Would hiring a dress be an option? I am glad we are past the prom stage in our family but I remember the plan becoming more and more elaborate whilst I desperately tried to rein it in!!