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

Going into debt over a prom sounds actually bonkers and just… overall a bad example?? Grim.

My DD was gutted they didn’t have one due to Covid. I skipped mine, went to my older brother’s and hated it.

DD's about £75, I haven't been able to tell who's dresses were hundreds of pounds or just a tener

Bloody Nora, neither of my wedding dresses cost that much 😮

Bought the dress, didn't begrudge a penny.

My DD is not a dress girl. We got her trousers, a jacket, shirt and amazing fully fitted waistcoat. Has to pay for adjusting to her figure. Was worth the fee. She wasn't bothered about new shoes and got a lift to the venue. Got some new accessories. Maybe £150 all in, but she can wear it again. The trousers and jacket can be restyled for interviews no problem.

We paid £550 for DD’s. And then £40 for it to be taken in. We had put money aside for it. Then we donated it to a place that collects them for people who are on low incomes.

£60 for DD’s - looked so good (& was so reasonable) we bought another in a different colour to have for other events. You don’t need to spend the money unless you have it to spare.

No. My dd chose a dress from asos and i was pleased because it was cheap but also because I think that some of the expensive dresses look like older ladies on a cruise outfits. Bejewelled.

My daughter went to a local wedding/prom dress shop that makes sure no two girls who buy from them wears the same dress at the prom. They also have a dressmaker to alter them. You make appointments with them, and can have photos taken in your dress, and they provide coffee for the parents. And it was still less than £120. I know that is still a lot of money, but I can't imagine that the £500 dress experience is vastly better.

In my experience, the girls that have the biggest, most expensive, blingiest dresses are those for whom education finishes at the age of 16. So it is a big deal for them because they won't be doing it again.

The girls going into 6th form and on to uni don't overdo Y11 prom, because it's just the first step, and not the end of school for them. They'll have their Y13 prom. And then uni balls. And uni graduation.

It's disgusting. I can't believe we've imported this prom crap from America. There'll be lots of kids who don't go because they don't have expensive clothes.

'I didnt like that dress,you made me choose it' (we didnt and had trawled around endless shops to find the perfect dress for her,she chose it herself)

This was the final straw for me with her spoilt brat attitude and wet parents that couldn't pull her up on her behaviour,so I did and she didn't like it

It was an expensive lesson for dp to learn

DD1 bought from stacees online £120 made to measure. DD2 just bought hers from vinted £75 (looks like a £500 dress) I gave mine a £150 limit. I know some of their school friends paid a fortune for theirs.

Agree with previous posters that just how just how much they cost now

until you add the cost of a "special" car rental, then it's a lot worst 😂

The neighbours calling in is a lovely custom, I think, but in my day they just got tea and biscuits as usual!

But many people would battle over the definition of nice (or, for that matter, naice!).

But we have a mortgage free house and big salaries and very healthy pensions and savings.

Unless you're making a deliberate attempt to hide it, I think most people will know you aren't broke. Fancy cars are far from the only indicator.

I live in a part of South London where people who do have money butt up against those who don't (the rented homes on down at heel estates being the indicator) - it is noticeable at our local school that families with not a lot are in general more likely to splash out on prom razzle dazzle than those who could easily afford to.

At 16 I certainly wouldn't have been comfortable seeing my parents take out a loan to buy me a dress - not that it would have crossed their minds to do that for me any more than they would for their own clothes.

It's not essential. It's not necessary. Vinted and high street stores and charity shops exist. But if people have the money and want to spend it that way, that's fine so long as they (or their children) aren't putting pressure on other people to go along with it.

I didn't intend spending loads and suggested loads of Vinted dresses to my DDs but they both wanted the experience of going to a specialist shop and trying on loads of dresses. So I ended up spending hundreds on each of them. But I can easily afford it so if I choose to 'waste' my money by buying my kids nice things so what. Their friends had everything from a dress made by their (talented seamstress) Mum, preloved dresses, high street dresses, expensive prom dresses but they all looked great and it felt like a big occasion for them.

She did what now? 👀

Easier with a boy - dinner jacket from Vinted.

It was very different in my day ... the 'leaving do' at my comprehensive was a disco in the function room of a pub, everyone wore jeans and smoked a lot and the teachers got pissed.

I did spend quite a bit, I think around £200 on my DDs prom dress, she’s my only child and it was a beautiful dress 🤷‍♀️

There were no other costs other than the cost of the meal itself as she went in a friends car, did her own make up and hair etc.

With dd we ordered her dress from JJ's house, it was about £100 but she didn't buy anything else like shoes or hair/makeup. I have heard recently from a couple of different people about buying dresses from prom dress shops for approx £650, these people are not rich.

If she had really wanted one for about £250, I might have gone for it, as she never asks for anything, but looking back, you would be better getting one from the high street (we would have done if we could have found one she liked). If not, I would personally go for black so it would have more chance of being worn again.