How much did your 16yo spend on their prom dress?

[SpongebobNoPants]

I have no idea how much these dresses cost but we’ve been asked to pay £500 towards SD’s prom outfit which seems really excessive?
Her dress alone is £500

When DP expressed some surprise (and announce to be honest) at the cost he was told everyone spends that much?
Are we just old and out of the loop or is this excessive?

£50 monsoon sale this winter

Good God!! Five hundred quid for a dress for a teenager, for a one-off occasion? Have these people taken leave of their senses, or won the lottery?

Personally, I still find the idea of "school proms" in the UK a bit strange. To me, they are an American thing that fit with American culture and not with ours. We Brits used to be more sensible and practical.

Bring back the good old School Disco! Let the kids have a fun evening, wearing their best jeans and maybe a new top, eating sausage rolls and crisps. No ridiculous expensive, competitive "dress wars" and no limos. That's the end of term sorted!

2016 £65 from Debenhams. Quiz have a good range of prom dresses at much more competitive prices. Most only wear the dress once, for a few hours, then wear jeans to after prom parties.

No, everyone does not spend £500 on prom dresses. It is a ridiculous waste of money.

Maybe your DP can give her a budget and tell her that if she wants something more expensive she can find the money herself.

I think proms are a particularly stupid American import and I'm so glad they weren't a thing when I was at school. They would have caused me dreadful anxiety and I wouldn't have gone.

less than £200 including hair, accessories

What others pay is irrelevant. You can't afford it. As her mother is teaching her to be spoilt and entitled, push back by refusing this nonsense. And don't fall for the mental health needing a drunken frilly frock party as a remedy shit either.

You don't have to spend £500, it can be done well for much, much less
We we won’t be spending that! If mum wants to then she can make up the difference

£500 is totally unnecessary and ott

Even if you can afford it that is a ridiculous amount on a prom dress.

I think my DD spent £75/£85 plus new sandals at £50. No extras. Some girls did spend £150 plus accessories which I thought was a bit excessive I don't know anyone else who spend more this.

Mine was about £75 in 2011, £40 shoes and my mum did my hair and makeup. Split the cost of transport with a few friends, I think it came to about £30 each. £700 is absurd!

DD1 - Dress £300, Shoes £65, Hair £20, Make up £30. Car (Lamborghini) Free as it was my bosses car.

DD2 - Dress £395, Shoes £35, Hair £20, Make up £30, Car £30.

To be fair, both girls are 6ft so off the rack dresses were hard to find (impossible).

I have twins this year.........thankfully both a normal height so dresses relatively cheap in comparison.

£360 - Dress
£80 - Hair & make up
£35 - Nails

This was 2 years ago now and just the bits I can remember, there was also spray tan, shoes, matching bag, fancy car to take her to the prom.

We ended up with the bill for my stepdaughter
£460 on the dress
£50 on the shoes
I did her hair myself
£30 on her make up
£40 on a bag
And snother £50 on bits-she wore it for less than 3 hours
Waste of money all round

It might get cancelled if the regulations current at the time forbid it?

She could hire something lovely for £200. She's not likely to wear it again.

@tiredanddangerous

That's more than my wedding dress cost

I've been married twice and both my dresses added together were half that! 😆

I'm only in my 20s so prom wasn't that long ago. I actually rented my dress from a ball gown place. I think it was about £100 and then I wasn't stuck with a ball gown I was never going to wear (like my friends).

I got my nails and hair done but I think my mum just did my make up. Probably £40 all in for that. I used my mum's shoes and bag lol so ~£150.

My daughter tried on some dresses that were a few hundred that she looked stunning in. She ended up getting one for £20 (her choice) that she looked equally stunning in. That was about average for her friends who spent between £12 and £40. This was for last summer and the prom was cancelled, so glad we didn't go overboard.

This year:

• dress £30 ebay (sale item, slight seconds)
• dress alterations £80 (reducing length, fixing minor issues, matching face mask)
• shoes £22 I think

no transport
no makeup or nails
will pay for hair to be put up too.

not totally certain prom is happening

No fucking chance! Her dm can pay for it.

We were looking at £200 ish on JJs house. Luckily dd found one in the sale on ASOS for £25. Still got to buy shoes, a bag and get her nails done, but it's come in way cheaper than I thought!!! Would have paid max £200 if she had seen one online.

And when 6 of them eventually met up in their dresses in a back garden, they all happened to be wearing matching trainers in different colours!

A few years ago I paid £10 for mine in the sale at New Look, and that was at a private school. £500 is absolutely insane.

Thank God I thought we were being unreasonable!

If she’d have given us more notice even it wouldn’t be so bad, we could have spread it out over 2 paydays and said we can only afford £xxx amount for example.

Instead she’s gone to buy it, no warning and expected us to transfer £500 at a moments notice

And the angry texts have started...

“I can’t be expected to buy everything. You’re out of order!”
Etc etc etc

I'm not sure what the point of this thread is. Questions like this always attract the competitive underspending crew and everyone has different priorities.

The real questions for you should be discussed within your blended family taking into account your own circumstances and your sd's wishes.

Some people think the whole thing is a waste of money, some see it as an emotionally and socially significant rite of passage, some people find perfectly fitting outfits in the local Sue Ryder, some hire, some earn more, some get given more.

If you can contribute £200 and are happy to do so, have a family conversation around that figure.