To say the price of prom dresses is absolutely ridiculous?!!

[BLUEcups]

So DD is in year 11 and the school prom is coming up and so the pressure is on to buy a dress….. so I start having a look on line and the price of them is astronomical! WTF!

I see all over SM photos posted by bridal shops saying “She said yes to the dress” and giving you options to book your time slot to find it 😳

Then there is the links to hairdressers, make up artists and limousines! 😭 I mean it’s clearly a money making scheme but Jesus wept, in the current climate, it must be so difficult for some parents to be able to afford it.

The dress’s I seen either didn’t have prices on and the ones that did, were between £220-£500 and I was gobsmacked.

What a joke, especially considering the dress is unlikely to ever be worn again.

So my question is, what are your tips for finding a cheaper one? I can’t afford £250 plus the rest and I can’t be the only one.

We bought one off Vinted (had it altered) DD practiced her own makeup but is getting her hair done. Shoes were from an inexpensive shop, about 30. Total spend was 120.
Her school don't allow all the limos etc. They take them to the venue by coach from school.
Some people are ridiculous and I think it's as much about the parents showing off as anything else.

My daughters was from quiz online £50 in a sale ,excellent website with videos of the model wearing the dress ,it was exactly the same colour and style when it arrived and i was very pleased with the quality.
She is very good with her hair and makeup and did that herself , i paid for a spray tan .
She looked stunning and i also think a lot nicer than some of the obviously expensive yet tacky 'official' prom dresses .
She knew i would never spend a ridiculous amount on a dress worn for a few hours and possibly never again ,and she thought the same.
It is absolute madness to me to do so, we still had a lovely time out together buying shoes and jewellery etc , its a big load of fuss though !

You really don’t need to spend that much. A Google search for “formal dresses” brings up some gorgeous ones for £50.

We bought my daughter’s from JJs House online £120 and the quality was surprisingly good. I paid for a few alterations locally and make up and nails on the day (she did her own hair) which brought the total to around £250 all in - still a lot!

Although we could afford to go to the upmarket stores, I refuse to as it’s an obscene amount of money to spend at that age.

I haven’t read through the whole thread,
so I’m not sure if this has been suggested, but have you considered hiring one?

Why on earth are primary schools buying into this Prom crap! It’s ridiculous and totally demeans the Prom when they actually leave school! I’m expecting you to say next they have a graduation ffs!

Avoid the bridal shops or the specialist prom Shops! They look overly blingy -and chavvy- anyway.
Plenty of other options.

Dd had her prom in 2021 and they have to be tested on the day of the prom - so no one knew whether it was going ahead, or whether they'dbe allowed in. I think this focused the kids on the fact that the dress is not really the be all and end all..

Have a look at shein, they do all types, I'm.sure you'd find something she'd love.
Maybe an idea, you order a few different ones,(don't tell her), and have them hanging up and surprise her. Let her pick one and easy to return the rest.
You could make a afternoon of it, and so each other's make up, hair etc.
Hope she has a lovely time.
But yes 250 is to expensive for 11 year old.

My daughter's dress was under £100 online. We also looked at Moonsoon and House of Fraser irl, both had options around £100-£130.

Simple but inexpensive sandals and bag from Amazon, Local salon curled and put her hair up with a vintage clip for £25.

No fancy arrivals at her venue, deliberate choice by the school, thank goodness!

In contrast her cousin chose to buy her dress from a company offering a full 'Say Yes To The Dress' type experience, with family and friends in attendance. Cost her parents several hundred pounds, plus £150 alterations and collected weeks later, like a wedding dress. She looked lovely, but no lovelier than her peers in chainstore, charity or vintage dresses.

Buying online is great i n theory and we tried it - shein, coast, ebay etc and none of them fitted fabric was cheap and fit was poor. They looked lovely online but the proportions were all wrong and for £50 I suppose you aren't expecting anything decent. However my DD is a size 16 so maybe ok if slim with small boobs.

After over 15 orders and returns I relented and we went to a prom dress shop. OMG the experience was unreal and all the dresses that said a 16 were a 16 top and bottom and all of the dresses had bras built in so no need to get a separate bra - we booked an appointment and had a consultant with us for an hour who measured my dd first and then chose the dresses that he thought would suit her shape and I thought I knew his game- he would say that the most expensive was the best fit - in fact he didn't his advice was the cheapest of all the dresses fitted her the best. We then had the dress altered by the in house alteration specialist to fit her. OK it was far more than we wanted to pay but it was worth it because it took us 2 hrs on a saturday afternoon and before that it had taken months of trying on , trying to alter and lots of tears as nothing fitted. Also the shop we used will not sell the same dress to another girl from the same school.

Because the dress was more expensive than we originally wanted we drew the line at limo, or professional hair and make up. I did her make up, a hair dresser friend did her hair , she borrowed some shoes off my niece and she arrived in her dads normal black car.

The following year when it was my sons turn we bought a pair of shoes for £20 and a jacket off shein for £20!!

Have a look on Facebook marketplace or Vinted? In NI the’ in’ shop for formal dresses is Rosie’s Closet. The dresses are stunning but £££. I have seen quite a few on Facebook market place over the years.

JJs house for my dd.
Made to measure for about £120?

I don't agree with spending stupid amounts. Dh is currently looking for a suit/outfit for ds2.

Vinted? I’ve had some lovely Needle and Thread dresses from there for £60 in immaculate condition vs £500 new. ASOS also have a pretty big, affordable range

Sales we ended up getting very good one for about 80 quid reduced from several hundred.

This is the time of year Mums of boys can breathe a sigh of relief as boys can either hire a suit or even buying a suit is not too expensive, and it can be worn for interviews or attending weddings afterwards. No nails, hair or make up either.

Try an Outlet Store like Next Outlet or TK Maxx
When my daughter was going through that phase, she’s 24 now, I think we spent between £30 & £50 per dress (she went to about 5 formals over a 4 year period)

My DGD's school collects donated prom dresses for others to wear. Perhaps encourage yours to do the same.
Spending £100s on a prom dress is obscene.

My DD got her prom outfit from charity shops. Dress:£3. Shoes :£4. Bag :£7. She did her own hair and make-up and DH dropped her off.

Definitely look on Vinted or eBay. Not prom, but I got a lovely second hand dress for a black tie do, paid £20 then another £15 to get it cleaned.
as you say they are only worn once so a lot of people sell them afterwards.

It's year 11 so 15/16yr olds, not 11 year olds.

Windsor Prom Dresses 2025 | Short to Long Prom Gowns | Windsor

DD had an expensive prom dress first time round (my mum had just passed away - we needed something to cheer us up). She had one from Windsor the second time (Y11 and Y13 proms/balls). Actually I think the Windsor one was nicer.

Think as in many things with our children can't afford is often taken over by will afford. That said ,look around, many schools have prom shops charity shops eBay, make one or find someone who can.etc set a budget make it clear what you will pay for and what you can't eg hair, nails etc. Don't get entrenched in the cost, be creative, enjoy the moment.

The Barnardos in our village has a prom night sale every year, where they have several racks filled with donated dresses. Plus shoes, bags and accessories, the shop managaress is very community minded and it is always very successful.
Check your local FB page to see if there is anything similar in your area. I did notice on ours that the Salvation Army was also doing a huge prom night sale last weekend , so maybe you could look if there is anything being advertised near you.

Also, Elegant Touch stick on nails are fantastic!!! I have just removed mine after 10 days, and they were still going strong.
Around £7 at Superdrug for a pack, and there are all shapes,sizes and colours.