Would you/have you spent hundreds on a prom dress?

Doesn’t have to be.

Dd bought 3 prom dresses on Vinted last year. None of them cost more than £20. She tried them on and resold the two she didn’t like as much.
Once she had her dress she bought a pair of Vans. She wanted to be able to dance so she didn’t want anything too fancy and as she says, no one could see them under her dress anyway. She got those on Vinted too for £12.
She wore a necklace she’d been given for her 16th birthday and borrowed a clutch bag from me.
The only thing that cost a bit was her hair - £40 at a local place that was offering deals for prom.
She did her own makeup.
She looked stunning.

She went with a group of friends. One mum took them and I brought them home. No hiring anything.

And she had a blinding evening partying with her friends.

I bought a strapless taffeta dress for my Grad Ball in 1992, I so wish I had kept it. Not that I have the same waist but it was such a lovely dress.

I have just listed DD’s dress on eBay to try to get back some of what I paid. I mean, it’s a very pretty dress but I swear my taffeta dress was better quality.

No prom as mentioned earlier, but I did buy a cocktail dress to take with me to university. I think it cost about £70 from a catalogue, black velvet bodice, heart neckline, with black silk skirt. That was 35 years ago - it's in my wardrobe to this day! It's been dry cleaned a couple of times but still in perfect condition - they made dresses to last in those days. Whether I could still get into it is another question. It's a vintage 12 with a 26 inch waist😬It has been worn multiple times so I got value for money!

Mine cost £55 in 2008, which I guess was a lot. It was from House of Fraser and the brand was “Giant” which I don’t think even exists anymore!
Mine was £40 from Topshop in 1996!

Both dresses would cost around £80-81 in today's economy.

We spent hundreds on dressed. My yp were happy to have cheaper dresses but they fell in love with the perfect dress for them and I wanted them to have them. If the perfect dress had cost less we would have spent less.

Mine was £40 from Topshop in 1996!

Our high school holds a fashion show to resell prom dresses so you don’t need to spend a fortune and can get some money back

Proms are very egalitarian really, everyone leaves school at 16, but not everyone goes to sixth form or University or gets married or attends work events where you have to be dressed up. There's no expectation to have a date. I think it's nice that everyone gets to do that for an evening. And so what if one person's dress is more expensive than anothers, that's life.

My daughter had never asked for anything designer, always shopped in charity shops and on Vinted and I took her to the shop I bought me wedding dress from (it cost me £75 in their sale before I get flamed). She tried on a dress (unconventional and had pockets) thinking she'd have a look online for something similar and I bought it for her. It's the most I've ever paid for a dress but I wanted to give her a nice dress and could afford it for her prom. A friend drove her in an old (but lovely) sports car and she did her hair and make up with a mate. It all depends on what you can afford and what they appreciate. I'm glad I spent that money but it's all relative.

It doesn't Just pointing out it's not the reason for the good treatment.

Mine cost £55 in 2008, which I guess was a lot. It was from House of Fraser and the brand was “Giant” which I don’t think even exists anymore!

😆 But you keep responding...

@mindkey In order for you to be able to insult me I would have to value your opinion

You're not selling it, sorry.

I think it's weird to elevate the dress above the occasion - I spent less than $100 on my wedding dress - we got married by the roadside in Vegas - had a massive party when we got home and have been happily married for 26 years... My dress was not the most important part of our wedding - we were and that was what we were focused on!

@mindkey not defensive. Making a point. And I love my Tesla too

Well that’s what I did, she wanted a proper prom dress so she got one. I was struck by the weirdness of the pp who thinks it’s only worth having a nice dress for your wedding.

Does it really make you laugh - you come across a bit defensive and touchy, which is understandable given your choices have been criticised.

We all have things which we think are a waste of money - last week everyone was slagging off Teslas - I love my Tesla but I don't expect other people to - they are happy with their 20 year old cars or Range Rovers - jeez who cares, maybe you need to unclench a little - enjoy your money but don't expect other poeple to respect your choices because they won't and you shouldn't need them to.

I think your wedding dress thing is bloody weird. Let you dd have a prom, let it be age-appropriate, let it be relevant to her stage in life - an excuse to get dressed up, have a party and leave it there. No need to deep it (as my kids would say)

It makes me laugh when people try to be patronising as if such spend is ’beneath’ them and they are somehow morally superior’ as they ‘wouldn’t do it themselves’.

Rather reminds me of my wedding day when my parents put no budget on it and my soon to be SIL indicated that my parents should buy her designer shoes to go with her bridesmaid outfit. This was even tho she had previously declared that she ‘couldn’t understand’ why anyone would spend above the minimum on shoes as it was ‘obscene’. Amazing how standards change when the opportunity arises…

Or left Jesus out of it completely 😥

No I wouldn't spend that much. If buy a second hand one that would be just as nice and less than £100

Spent £350 on the dress, offered her one that was 1k and my dad offered to buy it for her as well (she said no but partly because she said she would be worried about damaging it and partly because she would have needed approximately £400 material cut off the bottom cos it was really long)

she had been so ill, ME, dissociation, mental health issues, all her little dreams smashed

so yeah, we bought her a nice dress 🤷🏻

Not so much as thinking I will deny her a dress because one day she’ll get married and then she can have a nice dress 🤷🏻‍♀️

We had a Formal back in the 80s, I remember one of my friends spent £180 on a dress - she was big into fashion at the time - I think we were all a bit shocked. It was me that won Belle of the Ball though in a home made dress (designed by me - made by my sister).