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?

I spent about 300 altogether on DDs dress and outfit last year. I had had an inheritance from my parents, and wanted to treat her, after several really tough years. I had to drip feed the cost to DH or he would have had a heart attack

Look on Next clearance - search bridesmaid dress or prom dress for starters.

@moonbows My DS has prom this year , nice suit and shoes , navy slim fit 3 piece is popular with the boys at the minute with pink or floral ties .

Mine got theirs from Next for £40-50

My daughter had her prom last year. We got it in a shop selling prom and bridesmaid dresses. I went there as she's an unusual size so I couldn't buy "off the peg"!

I spent more than I'd intended but I could tell she just felt so much more confident in the more expensive one (we didn't know the price when she tried it on and she then said she'd happily go for the cheaper one).

However, I'd suggest you go to a department store. They have some really nice dresses at more affordable prices.

Be very cautious when having a custom dress made on eBay. Many of these places have dresses made in Chinese sweatshops. They can arrive late, not fit, or be nothing like the picture.

About £80 from ChiChi London. Absolutely no problem with either delivery or returns (ordered 2 sizes to try). Previously tried to buy a dress from high-street shops, no luck,but on that trip we got a good idea of which styles suited.

There are far fewer options on the high-street than there used to be. House of Fraser had a handful of styles, TK Maxx just a couple of oddments in either tiny or large sizes. John Lewis had only two dresses. Monsoon had the most, but they're really a bridesmaid range, so not all styles/colours suited prom. We found £80 to £130 would have bought a lovely high-street dress.

If you want a high-street dress, start looking early though. Online, there are so many more options, we ordered about a month before the prom.

I wouldn't splurge on the dress though as there are other costs. We bought make-up items (£45 as DD didn't own any!), silver sandals ( Next £35) and a bag (£20), On the day had pedicure (£35) and hair waved and dressed (£25 plus £10 for vintage style hair clip.). No fancy transport craze at her school, thank goodness.

Another JJ’s house here - we bought 3 and returned 2, it wasn’t a massive deal. All in all it cost £90, she borrowed shoes, got her nails done but did hair and makeup herself and declared fake tan as “too basic” (thank god).

Yep. Had no idea but followed suit. Just glad I've only one daughter to go through this

JJs house afaik is a Chinese company and returns can be tricky. There's a few other similar online companies, check online reviews before buying.

40 — asos. She did her own hair and make up and I did her nails. She borrowed my heels. She looked lovely.

It's depressing isn't it? At least the 'leavers disco' outfits we got in the 90s were used for clubbing after. Such an utter waste for one night.

It's a dress they wear once.

I bought my Dad's from Marketplace secondhand.

There is also Vinted and many secondhand shops will have rails of dresses for prom a few weeks before prom season.

I refused to pay hundreds for a one off, Americanised school disco. Considering my wedding dress cost me £112 secondhand (but unworn) on eBay in 2021 there was no way I would pay silly money for a school disco dress.

*DD sorry bloody autocorrect

Definitely look at charity shops. My friends Dd wore an old dress of hers - flattering! Some are quite into “vintage”

Boys will wear a suit of some sort (possibly borrowed from Dad/Uncle or their sui they wear for anything formal) and won't have all this angst about expensive dresses, hair makeup, jewellery etc

Lots of options on Vinted for very reasonable prices, or another alternative is hiring the dress - have a look on MyWardrobeHQ, By Rotation etc. She could be wearing a genuine designer dress to her prom that would retail in the thousands and it'd cost you about £100 - massive bragging rights for her though!

DD1 £300 dress plus hair and nails - did own makeup
DD2 £60 from a start up business did own hair and makeup.
DD1 6th form prom £18 ASOS dress.
DD2 6th form - own dress from Shein £20

It can be done!

eldest DD spent £50 on chi chi london for her dress, shoes £25 off amazon, bag £10 T K Max. youngest daughter about £140 from house of fraser, dress is still in box unworn as prom got cancelled in 2020. She still loves the dress so is currently planning to save it.

DD1 and I had a look online last night after reading this thread. We've ordered a selection of Coast dresses from the sale section to try on. There's some lovely options on there and the prices are excellent - the most expensive one she's chosen is £42. £2 for delivery and £2 to return. Fingers crossed one of them is nice!

Vinted. No kid needs a £300 dress. It's just obscene.

Well, I guess it's up to people what they spend their money on. Dd wanted a cheap prom outfit but then an expensive piece of clothing for her sport - so it was a trade off

I imagine the sports clothing will get a lot more wear. Of course people can choose to spend their money on whatever but for prom it's kids asking parents to spend their money on keeping up with the other mini Joneses, they're not spending their own money.

Pastiche in the arndale is amazing....
My daughter got hers from there...

I've just bought this from Shein, beautiful dress and only £54