To ask how much you're paying for DD's prom dress

[concernedforthefuture]

I have a younger DD (8) so have this to come . Colleagues were discussing prom dresses for their 16yr olds. I was staggered to hear that they (and most of their classmates) have all bought their dresses from a wedding shop... at a cost of around £250-£350 .

It's not just the dress though.. they're getting new shoes, accessories, nails, hairdressers, make-up artists (with trials too!) etc. I'm only in my late 30s but this seems so different to when I left school and feels like an absurd amount of money to spend on a 16 year old's night out. We don't live in an affluent area and these aren't wealthy families (to the best of my knowledge).

Is this the norm nationally? Had I best get saving

Got my dd’s dress in quiz £19.99
Shoes from deichmann £14.99
She’ll do her own hair and make up
£45 share of the limo so not too bad

Gosh my daughters was about fifty quid from ASOS. That was what four years ago? And she went to an all girls private school with many wealthy families. All the girls dresses were similar priced. I don't think anyone went over the top.

I did her hair, and by the looks of it. Most girls did their own. And their own make up, nails wasn't a big thing either.

Her sandals were a pair of diamanté flat scrappy sandals which cost about thirty quid.

Quite surprised at this thread.

My wedding dress is cheaper than most girls spend on their prom dress! And that was bought a few months ago.

I never want to my prom, didn't want to and couldn't see the appeal of getting a dress for that amount of money! My gran very kindly bought me a laptop in lieu of a dress and as a sort of going-to-college gift so I could do all my coursework etc on it, which in my eyes was far better than going to prom!

Have to say my boys suits cost more than my girls dresses although the suits have been worn again whereas the dresses havent. In regard to shoes dont bother ti spend a lot because they hobble in on them and then take them off.

£600
I thought it was outrageous but it was what she wanted and I didn't have the heart to say no
She can lack confidence so I thought it might give her a boost
Hugh range at our school Lots around this price

£0 - it is a borrowed dress that is the one worn to prom by one of my cousins 16 years ago. We did go and look at some at a prom dress sale which were between £140 and £500 😱 There was no way either I or my daughter wanted to spend that much on something she will wear once.

My DSD dress is costing us 500 quid, which is bonkers - bought and paid for before I had a chance to comment! She does look beautiful in it though. My wedding dress was 200 more than that. I don't know when 'prom' suddenly became a thing here

We paid £22.50 from ASOS.

Have to say my boys suits cost more than my girls dresses although the suits have been worn again whereas the dresses havent.

I'm going to get my DDs taken up afterwards so she'll be able to wear for parties etc

We used Quiz. Fab range

Probably close to £200: less than £100 for an Asos dress, £50 quid for Office shoes and £30 for a strapless bra. No specialist make up or hair needed, I'd say DD is really quite low-maintenance.

I'm definitely hoping she'll get more wear out of the shoes and bra than just the one night!

My dd has a budget before we started of £150 for the lot - I was prepared to be flexible but she didn't know that!tried in several dresses at around the £70 mark in Debenhams, then spotted one in Coast from last year's stock - £29.60. Shoes about £40, so she can have full hair and makeup done and still come in under budget.

£15 for the dress. Make up and jewellery and shoes from home. Doing her own hair. All her friends are doing similar, and at other schools too. Maybe it depends on the region you live in.

dd's dress last year cost £80 from ASOS, there was a huge variation in price in her school year, ranging from £20 to over £500. The over £500 is currently up for sale on the local facebook selling page, no takers yet as far as I can see but they're asking for not much less than it is brand new.

Madness.

I bought my own, a Chinese style turquoise one. Everyone did.

But then it was still called a leavers disco!

Nothing. Elder DD didn't go to hers - had something else to do that night. Middle DD bought something very non-prommy herself - cost about £20 - with her own money.

What?! We haven't started looking yet - my daughter's prom isn't until late May - but there's no way it will in that price bracket.

Where do you even buy standard prom dresses for that price (I know designer ones will cost hundreds)? Most standard Coast/Debenhams/ASOS dresses are around the £50 - £125 mark aren't they?

If I have time, I'll probably make my daughter's out of some material I already have at home to be honest. I don't have much of a clothing budget and she's really tiny for 16 so I can't buy much that she would both like and that would fit. If I don't have time it will be whatever I can get on eBay!

DD1 had a dress from Asos for £50 - it was actually a bridesmaid dress but it was perfect. Shoes and bag from TK Maxx, borrowed my diamond earrings and her cousin did her hair and make up for free. Total cost was £100.
I know I'm biased, but she looked as lovely as her friend who spend 5 times that much, and she definitely had as much fun.

dds was £65 from quiz. Her dad (we are separated) basically said he’d buy whatever one she wanted so she tried on loads all the way up to £400ish but the quiz one was the one she liked the best! So don’t feel under pressure to spend loads, what’s “trendy” isn’t necessarily that expensive. You can even go cheaper than that- eBay, tk Maxx etc.

Her shoes are £40 from Next and she’s going to be doing her own hair and make up.

Learned my lesson with middle DD.... her dress was from Coast and was around £120 which was fine, but then added on £75 for shoes, £35 for the matching bag, hair at £50, make up at another £35 and then a share in the transport of another £50........ then came home the next day, declaring the whole thing had been utter crap and she wished she hadn't gone

Poor baby DD had £150 for the lot though luckily she was a size 6 at the time and we found her dress online reduced to £40 from £180! We bought it in the post christmas sales..... a handy tip we got from another parent!

My DD bought her own Prom dress from John Lewis in the Christmas sale. Think it was £80. I paid for hair, nails and makeup and she walked there.

This isn't a thing at our local secondary. The girls have high street dresses from places like Quiz or ordered online. They all get together and do each other's hair and make up.

And we're in an affluent area. Extravagant spending, "proving you can afford it" and huge budgets for fake nails and limos just isn't a thing here.

@PregnantSea mine was only £90 (brand new, off-the-rack sale bargain...) I sold it on eBay afterwards for £75 !

Jesus. I'm glad I grew up through this age before Prom was a thing in the UK. My poor parents... we'd have been eating beans on toast for weeks.

Oh and if big proms are a thing locally - check out your charity shops. We do get a lot of prom style dresses donated. Worn once. Grab yourself a bargain!!