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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think that £150+ for a prom dress is ridiculous?

149 replies

mosschops30 · 20/05/2012 15:13

Its dds 16th birthday in June.

She wanted an overnight spa break in a top hotel which was £220 (£110 for her, but she couldnt go alone so same for me).
She also wants spending money for her trip to the canaries with my mum, so thats £150.
We will prob buy her some clothes (£50 ish) and go out for a meal.

But on top of that i also have to pay £25 prom ticket and a prom dress. The ones she likes are in Coast and are £170-£180 . she thinks IABU to not buy it in a flash, she cant see why she cant just have it. Because of course at that age all you want is to look good and be just like your friends.

We have just cancelled next years Florida trip cos we deffo cant afford it.
I think i just went for a meal with my parents on my 16th!

Ive seen a nice dress on ASOS for £65, but shes a bit sulky about it

OP posts:

whitewineandchocolate · 22/04/2015 07:37

We've just bought a prom dress from a secondhand shop although the dress still had tags on for £49, bargain! Don't really think there is any link between her birthday presents and a prom dress. My daughters 16th birthday was last September so the prom dress is just an item which now needs to be purchased at a cost to keep mum happy and a dress to keep daughter happy.

Knowing Mumsnet you probably shouldn't have mentioned the cost of the presents in your OP just asked about whether £150 was a lot for a Coast prom dress, which it is, but that is how much they cost! Agree with all the others, loads of Ebay bargains, they often get sold off after prom.

JemimaPuddlePop · 22/04/2015 07:49

My youngest sisters prom is soon...we went prom dress shopping a few weeks ago. At first she just wanted to try on a few for different styles so she grabbed a couple without looking at the price.

She tried on a lovely long strapless one which suited her, and when we looked at the price it was £460! This was a nice dress but it was off the rack, chiffon so not an expensive material and not designer. Definitely not worth that much. My wedding dress last year was 'only' £700 and that was a well known make with layers and layers of lace and detail. Shops hear 'prom' and see £££ signs.

To be fair to her, my dad (grumpily) offered to pay for it if she loved it. Her response was a and 'thanks dad...if you want to give me £500 that's lovely but I'd rather spend £100 on a dress and use the rest for something more worth it'!

JemimaPuddlePop · 22/04/2015 07:52

All this talk of spa breaks, prom dresses, etc makes me glad I have boys! £50 to rent a tux, £10 for a decent haircut and boom! You're done.

Shakirasma · 22/04/2015 07:53

Price is relative, if you can't afford it then it is ridiculous to spend so much, but if you can then it's not.

I paid a lot more than that for DDs dress last year, she worked her backside off for her exams and her prom night was a very well deserved reward.
Combined with self esteem and body image issues, for that night she felt like a million dollars, which has had a really positive effect on her. Now, nearly a year down the line, she is pretty comfortable with herself.

I don't regret it, she deserved it and it was not ridiculous.

littlefrenchonion · 22/04/2015 08:03

Have you looked on eBay for the one she likes? She'll never know, now will her mates and you might get it for next to nothing.

musicalendorphins2 · 22/04/2015 08:33

Imagine if a school had a sewing course where they sewed their own prom outfits. Be a useful skill for both boys and girls.

ilovesooty · 22/04/2015 08:37

I'm wondering why aproudmummy resurrected a 3 year old thread, and why her daughter needs to take two bags to a prom.

SwirlyThingAlert · 22/04/2015 08:43

Why don't you all just say NO. We aren't buying into all this American tripe. Get real and cut your garment according to your cloth.

Amen to that. All this prom crap is absolutely insane. Bring back leaver's discos!

SwirlyThingAlert · 22/04/2015 08:44

Just noticed this thread is 3 years old, so I guess she's well and truly gone to the 'prom' now.
My point still stands in 2015 though - proms are absolutely ridiculous.

musicalendorphins2 · 22/04/2015 08:47

ilovesooty You're right! I guess she was interested with it being prom season and has been out shopping and so on for it and didn't notice the date?

bruffin · 22/04/2015 08:55

She has bumped all sort of zombies threads to basically boast about everything

TwinkieTwinkle · 22/04/2015 09:01

When I was shopping for a prom dress a lot of us went to Warehouse. They had some really lovely ones.

MissDuke · 22/04/2015 09:15

When I tell friends what I got as a teen, they all say I was spoilt. I find that laughable as I worked so hard. My parents worked full time shifts, so from a young age we did so much around the house. Everyday after school we did at least an hour of chores, including laundry and making dinner, from the age of maybe 10 or so. We all had part time jobs from the age of 14 in addition to bits of babysitting for neighbours. My parents set us up with driving lessons and then cars at 17 and gave us weekly petrol money, which was very generous and we really appreciated it. However we were always hard workers, and still are - so I wouldn't say we were spoilt.

Op your daughter sounds the same to me. Why shouldn't you reward her hard work?

MissDuke · 22/04/2015 09:17

That being said, there's no way we would have asked for expensive clothes. I have always been a huge charity shop fan, and got my formal dress there for £15, it was lovely!

MadamG · 22/04/2015 09:27

aproudmummy tell me dear, what is your issue? Why do you resurrect zombie threads to tell us how amazingly rich and clever you all are? What are you hoping to achieve?

Dowser · 22/04/2015 09:44

I saw a £120 day dress in coast in the same fabric as one in quiz for £20 .

As OH says a lot of these dresses are all made in the same factory abroad and then have different labels sewn in.

My friend paid £300 for her daughters prom a few years ago. Madness!

My beautiful wedding gown cost € 60 and similar ones I've seen are four or more times as much.

Has she learnt the art of shopping around?

Dowser · 22/04/2015 09:57

My dd1 dress was about 1,500 pounds.... But it was an alexander mcqueen gown so it obviously was going to be expensive. I don't have a price limit for prom, some of the kids at her prom are going to have handmade gowns and designer ones too some are spending a couplr of thousand, I am going to hire a limo get her some marc jacob handbag and shoulder bag and tiffany's jewellery and some M.A.C makeup. I just need my personak stylist to come in and help.

....and I need my therapist to tell me that ive just imagined that above post.

Someone give me a slap and tell me this madness has stopped.

Proud mammy you work hard as a surgeon to spoil your children....why?

Is that what children need these days? Thousands of pounds spent on a bit of tat!

Theas18 · 22/04/2015 09:59

Eldests prom dress was from oxfam. It was stunning and noone had the same one- which is real rik getting a current season dress anywhere

bereal7 · 22/04/2015 11:41

I haven't read the full thread as I'm in a rush but wanted to get my 2 cents in !

I think your lovely OP. I would spoil her this occasion. 16th and prom are a big deal ! If you really can't afford it all then I would suggest giving up the new clothes and meal to get the dress instead. I don't think she'll turn out to be a spoiled madame (yyour not spoiling anyway).

My mum gave a limit and I organised everything myself with that budget in mind. My birthday is June and can't imagine my mother would have bought me a prom dress as a gift. 2 separate, special, occasions

redcapsforteeth · 22/04/2015 11:43

Gumtree?

finnbarrcar · 22/04/2015 12:53

The prom was three years ago. Thread has been exhumed by some trolling boaster for reasons known only to them

LadyTmalia · 22/04/2015 14:17

Ohh I was hoping the OP updated with the "what she wants for her 18th" :(

Holy necropost!

ilovesooty · 22/04/2015 14:20

finn that boaster has certainly been busy.

finnbarrcar · 22/04/2015 16:06

I know! Mental! ??

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