To want to do the prom 'relatively' cheaply

[SEmyarse]

I don't even know what I mean by that in terms of a number. And I certainly don't know how to go about it. Help!

My lovely dd1 is to leave school this summer. Of course, she wants to go to the prom, and I want to facilitate that, but I don't want to end up getting dragged into spending crazy money for her to stand in the corner for a couple of hours. She has significant social issues and tbh there's a good chance that she won't cope especially well with it at all. But she wants to go, so she will.

I don't do dresses. (Neither does she really). I'm a delivery driver that lives in grubby jeans - I've worn a dress 3 times in my life (for weddings - 2 my own). I've never been to a hairdressers. I've never worn make-up. I'm so far out of my comfort zone its crazy.
She's almost as bad as me although she does mess with a bit of make-up. But she lives in ripped leggings and a hoodie.

So please help me, how do I venture into this trying to navigate the dresses at the same time as managing expectations and costs? I live near Chichester if there are any recommendations of specific shops that are useful.

Her friend doing her make up is great as it will be more fun and bonding for her. Going to get her make up done might be too much of a jump from where she feels comfortable.

It sounds like whatever she wears it will be such a break from her normal attire that she will look dressed up.

My DD has just chosen her prom dress from ASOS. We ordered several, she tried them on at home and she’s delighted with the one she’s gone for. It’s a very simple dress, with short, floaty lace sleeves and it cost £65.

She’ll be doing her own hair and makeup, which she’s very competent with.

She isn’t interested in a fancy vehicle to deliver her to the venue and isn’t even sure she’ll last the evening as she has health issues and she’s really not a social butterfly.

But, for her, watching the arrival of her friends, having photos and the overall general excitement is what she’s looking forward to.

If she’s had enough after an hour or so, that’s fine. It will have cost £90 (inc venue price) but it will give her memories to treasure.

I hope she had a lovely time.

Our local Salvation Army accepts prom dresses to give to children who wouldn't be able to go.

Also, ASOS offers free returns, which is just as well as we placed 5 orders in the end! We haven’t used them for long, but we’ve had no issues with anything so far.

m.lightinthebox.com/en/search?q=prom+dresses+for+teenagers

Good for some ideas so she could know what she likes. Not expensive either.

I’m place marketing to go away and look for the cheap prom dress site I used.

Shoes are an issue. Despite being very casual in her appearance she is obsessed with towering heels and always covets them in shops.
She has a muscle condition and dodgy joints so I've always been super sensible with her footwear, but I did allow her to buy some heeled boots in H&M recently which she wants to wear everywhere no matter how impractical, and frankly she can't walk well in them and looks like a baby giraffe.

There's no way on earth she'll settle for flats but I have no idea how she'll manage with proper heels at all. I'm not even sure she'll manage to keep them on with her super skinny feet!

Check out Debenhams. I bought a little black dress for myself last week for a bargain. 70% off rack was well stocked.

Maybe plan a day of shopping. Hit up any stores you think look good and try everything regardless of price. That way she might find something she loves and feels comfortable in. Once you know exactly what you're looking for you can try online for that style so you're not constantly returning things

Ok, super cheap prom dresses from Cherlone. Buy in enough time for the creases to drop out, and although the material is cheap mine looked stunning on!
Then you can invest in good shoes with the rest of your budget ( although I wore Indian leather jewelled flats under my long dress)

I second all the suggestions above plus New Look's Apricot Label. They do nice formal wedding guest type dresses and sometimes floor length gowns for not much money.

Also post this in the style & beauty section, there are some lovely posters who know their stuff & will help you out.

For her social anxiety issues I would recommend a few of the online webinars and workshops by the Girl with the Curly hair. Lots of tips and helpful advice & comic style books about social communication issues. Lots of time before the prom to build up her confidence and equip her with some coping skills.

thegirlwiththecurlyhair.co.uk

Dd prom was done without splashing the cash

We searched shops and tried on fancy dresses - tbh she looked like lamb dressed up as mutton ☹️

We happened to pass a Quiz and they had some great dresses at very good prices. They also did silver shoes quite cheap

I asked around friends for make-up and a neighbour did dds make-up

I curled her long hair and clipped bits

Her male best friend came to pick her up

Had a lovely time

Thankyou everyone btw. Lot of googling going on!

My DD hates dresses - which is a shame as she looks sooooo good in them - tall and slender, dresses "hang nicely" - but hey ho.... she went to prom in a black halter-neck longline jumpsuit and looked gorgeous anyhow.

Dresses are not the only option.

Might she be more comfortable in a jumpsuit? Halter necks especially look great if you are slim and if she is self conscious don’t expose too much whilst still being different.

Gap always have 40% off.

www.gap.co.uk/browse/product.do?pid=000232609001&vid=1&preferredLocale=en_GB&kwid=1&sem=false&sdkw=kimono-sleeve-jumpsuit-P000232609&sdReferer

Or

www.gap.co.uk/browse/product.do?cid=1067400&pcid=57372&vid=1&pid=000266296000

www.next.co.uk/g221228s16#193380

www.next.co.uk/style/st270804#525280

My choices might be a bit old as I am!

Try Asos

Have a day out together, trawl the charity shops. Even if its only to try on. see what style she likes
Ours always have lots between them
Start looking now, before everyone else does

Either look for a local dress maker or try ebay, sales rails in big stores.

I met someone who wore a simple dress in a stunning colour to a big, big celebrity do. Lots of people asked where she got the dress ( naming top designers) from but she didn't let on It was £50 and a ordinary shop. She had just customised it with a bit of sparkly braid!

I would give her a budget.
My daughter didn't bother going to hers. I thought she might regret it but she hasn't and went to plenty of parties at Uni with people with more her taste in clothing.

Amazon, search for miusol.

My skinny daughter has to attend a number of military balls, with incredibly strict dress codes. These have been excellent for around £30. They are stretch lace, so lovely and fitted for those skinny mins.

Earlier this year I went to visit family abroad - my niece is from a very poor family, and has prom coming up. SHe is a size 16, and I took 2 of these dresses over for her for prom - they both fitted well, and looked amazing on her too.

So we are 4 for 4 on this brand

We've had these ones....

Skinny girl

this in silver

this in blue

Larger girl

this one in red

this in red

They also do shorter length dresses.

Check sizing carefully, but returns were simple enough

My dd did prom last year and all in we only spent £100. If you go on to Next and look at clearance they have loads of dresses , we got a Lipsy dress reduced from £125 down to £35, cheap shoes from boohoo,, spay tan and hair done in village hairdresser was £40 for both and Dd did own make up. I wasn't prepared to spend a fortune that I didn't have . She had a great night .

Definitely check out Depop. I often buy dresses on there for special occasions!

Someone said look at last years pics. How? I didn't have a child there.

I would love to though, so I can say 'look dd1, not everyone has an enormous shiny dress, some are wearing simpler things', or at least I hope that would be obvious.

Does the school have a gallery on its website, fb page or did local press publish a group pic?

Are you me? Same as you with very little knowledge of whats fashionable and what isn't. I've booked an appointment with DD with a personal shopper (free at debenhams with no obligation to buy) to hopefully get an idea of what may suit her.

google the school name and prom 2017 - or the town name, or the nearest big city name. Then click images. AT least then you know long or short. hair and accessories.