Would you/have you spent hundreds on a prom dress?

[Dramatic]

My daughter is in year 11 and a lot of her friends have already started shopping or already bought their prom dresses. Some have spent hundreds (£350-£500) and their parents have actually taken out payment plans or loans to get them....this seems insane to me? Are shops just ripping people off? Just seems like a ridiculous amount of money for a dress to be worn for a couple of hours.

When I got my 18yo her prom dress we went to an ex display shop and paid around £50 for a gorgeous dress.

You're not selling it, sorry.

@mindkey In order for you to be able to insult me I would have to value your opinion

😆 But you keep responding...

Mine cost £55 in 2008, which I guess was a lot. It was from House of Fraser and the brand was “Giant” which I don’t think even exists anymore!

It doesn't Just pointing out it's not the reason for the good treatment.

My daughter had never asked for anything designer, always shopped in charity shops and on Vinted and I took her to the shop I bought me wedding dress from (it cost me £75 in their sale before I get flamed). She tried on a dress (unconventional and had pockets) thinking she'd have a look online for something similar and I bought it for her. It's the most I've ever paid for a dress but I wanted to give her a nice dress and could afford it for her prom. A friend drove her in an old (but lovely) sports car and she did her hair and make up with a mate. It all depends on what you can afford and what they appreciate. I'm glad I spent that money but it's all relative.

Proms are very egalitarian really, everyone leaves school at 16, but not everyone goes to sixth form or University or gets married or attends work events where you have to be dressed up. There's no expectation to have a date. I think it's nice that everyone gets to do that for an evening. And so what if one person's dress is more expensive than anothers, that's life.

Our high school holds a fashion show to resell prom dresses so you don’t need to spend a fortune and can get some money back

Mine was £40 from Topshop in 1996!

We spent hundreds on dressed. My yp were happy to have cheaper dresses but they fell in love with the perfect dress for them and I wanted them to have them. If the perfect dress had cost less we would have spent less.

Mine cost £55 in 2008, which I guess was a lot. It was from House of Fraser and the brand was “Giant” which I don’t think even exists anymore!
Mine was £40 from Topshop in 1996!

Both dresses would cost around £80-81 in today's economy.

No prom as mentioned earlier, but I did buy a cocktail dress to take with me to university. I think it cost about £70 from a catalogue, black velvet bodice, heart neckline, with black silk skirt. That was 35 years ago - it's in my wardrobe to this day! It's been dry cleaned a couple of times but still in perfect condition - they made dresses to last in those days. Whether I could still get into it is another question. It's a vintage 12 with a 26 inch waist😬It has been worn multiple times so I got value for money!

I bought a strapless taffeta dress for my Grad Ball in 1992, I so wish I had kept it. Not that I have the same waist but it was such a lovely dress.

I have just listed DD’s dress on eBay to try to get back some of what I paid. I mean, it’s a very pretty dress but I swear my taffeta dress was better quality.

Doesn’t have to be.

Dd bought 3 prom dresses on Vinted last year. None of them cost more than £20. She tried them on and resold the two she didn’t like as much.
Once she had her dress she bought a pair of Vans. She wanted to be able to dance so she didn’t want anything too fancy and as she says, no one could see them under her dress anyway. She got those on Vinted too for £12.
She wore a necklace she’d been given for her 16th birthday and borrowed a clutch bag from me.
The only thing that cost a bit was her hair - £40 at a local place that was offering deals for prom.
She did her own makeup.
She looked stunning.

She went with a group of friends. One mum took them and I brought them home. No hiring anything.

And she had a blinding evening partying with her friends.