FFS prom dresses. How much are you paying?

[bellinisurge]

It appears I should think upward of £300. Dd said "you'd think I'd want something quirky but I don't ".
We never had this bollocks in the 1980s when I was her age. School leavers disco.

We live just outside East Manchester. Nothing fancy. But all the effing shops seem stupid prices.

So what's your budget?

The answer is JJs House. My DD's dress was £45.
Floaty fabrics are more forgiving than satin when going for a cheap option.

https://www.jjshouse.co.uk/Cheap-Prom-Dresses-c18/?gbraid=0AAAAADmGZzT14MjnDRNMKe9sHATNuyX2c&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjYydlfBBAIVFODtCh0sxw5FEAAYASABEgJylvDBwE&ucid=3858

Hire something?

My daughter had her prom last year. We paid £50 for a brand new with tags Vinted dress from Coast ,I think it was. (It was selling at £90 in the shops at the time ,so a wee bargain.) Her pals didn't go down the big hundreds of pounds dresses route but some of her year did. You wouldn't have know as they all looked amazing. The hairdo, nails and false eyelashes obviously added to the cost. It's a farce and the meal on the night was £50 a head for crap pizza! My DD had an okay time though . Honestly,the big fancy dresses are not worth it as you can get lovely ones on Vinted. It's only for a couple of hours.

We've had great service from JJs House for two different proms.

My dd wore a £50 dress from Chi Chi London. Some of her friends wore the £300 dresses but dd was happy with her dress. Maybe the other girls go to formal events so the dress could be used again? 🤷‍♀️

Give her a budget you can actually afford and tell her it includes any hair/make up/shoes she wants. Does she have a part time job? Birthday/Christmas money? If the dress etc she wants is over your budget she can add to it herself.

DD's dress was actually a bridesmaid's dress £120 but had to have it taken in and up and added a bit of diamante bling on bodice which bumped up price, but everything else was a budget - DS's friend did spray tan for petrol money as she was just starting her own company, friend did make-up for a bottle of prosecco, and hair was £20.
She did her own nails and wore heels she already had and we borrowed a handbag.
No transport costs as it was the Brit school, so kids come from all over, so her dad drove her.
She looked a million dollars

Got both dds dresses from www.sexyher.co.uk

Don't be put off by the name!

One was just under £100, the other just over.

Couldn't fault the quality for the money.

My sister got a custom made dress from eBay for her prom a few years ago, it was only £65. She's very tall so any dress she was buying would have needed alterations but with the one she got we put her exact measurements in and it fit perfectly and tbh she looked just as good if not better than the girls who had spent £300+ on their dress, you literally couldn't tell the difference.

JJ and Chichi have awful trust pilot reviews.

We did ebay, Vinted and charity shops. I would say you can easily pick one up for £20 but there are loads of last year's £300 ones going for £150 or less.

JJ are fine if your expectations are in line with a cheap dress. Yes, it's a bit of a gamble re returns, but lots of satisfied customers. They're true to size.

£40 from ASOS. We ordered a few; she tried them all on and picked the one she liked best.

If you want a "proper" formal dress you will be looking at £200 as a bare minimum.

The quality of the two dresses we had from JJs was great.

Thank you everyone

TK max £25 - excellent! I am going halfs on accessories & hair and a family member is treating her to get her nails done

For both DDs we found something they liked on ebay and paid for alterations. They described what they wanted and I sourced. Shame DD2 never actually got to wear hers (2021 year).

In our town there is a charity shop that has a wedding and prom department. I would not be above asking friends and acquaintances if they have anything that could be borrowed. It is one of those things that languish in people's wardrobes. When one of my friends was having a clear out before a house move she gave me 15 prom/bridesmaids dresses for my girls!

My friend's daughter got a cheap but beautiful and elegant long black dress that they blinged up with a diamante belt and other accessories they sewed on. If you google dress decoration trims or applique lace or dress decoration jewellery etc you can make a completely unique dress no one else has.

We got a couple of gorgeous dresses from charity shops . Some have specialist bridal/prom bits. X

ASOS (constant sale and often an extra 20%) or TK Maxx. I’ve actually had full on ballgowns from the latter for 50 quid or less in the past. You just need to go to the right branches or sometimes they have decent options online. Spending on proms these days is mad. I actually just gave a load of my old evening dresses to a teacher in a low income area to give to her students who can’t afford this stuff for their prom

How utterly ridiculous. Why does this event even happen? I feel desperately sorry for those who can't afford it but feel pressured into conforming to this nonsense.
What horrible pressure for everyone. I bet it's not worth the stress half the time,

DD spent £25 on DPOP and sold it for £25 a week after the prom.
I didn't pay anything. I did pay for her to do a surfing course with her friends post GCSE as a reward. I don't understand the Prom Dress culture and won't play the game - it's just bullshit isn't it.
The shop most girls round here go to buys the dresses from China (I found them for sale on Ali Express) and they are £20-£40 - they give everyone prosecco, stand the girl on a plinth, take photos and charge £300-£500.

Under £80 and from Quiz, we couldn’t afford one costing £100s.

£99 from House of Frazer in January sales - point of honour from DD that she didn't want anything expensive.

Go looking and see what she likes.

DD1 found her ideal dress on the just-about-to-throw-out bargain rail for £25. It had a bust seam, but was perfect for her.
She then got very stressed because the shoes she liked were £40 and she thought it was ridiculous to have shoes more than the dress. 🤣
DD2's got cancelled because of covid before she'd shopped.
Ds has just announced he's wearing football kit with a black bow tie. He's not impressed that the dress code is "black tie" and is blaming the girls for such a silly idea. Apparently "no one would actually want to wear that stuff." The last time he wore a suit was 10 years ago for a wedding and his face said it all. he looked very cute in a suit though