How do I go about getting a prom dress for DD?

[PrincessOfPreschool]

No idea where to start, really. She has a fixed idea of what she wants, which is a bit different to majority of dresses, but has not tried on anything so doesn't really know if she'd like it. Where do you go to try them on? What are best websites once we have an idea? Is buying online not a good idea?

Presumably she’s talking to her friends? talk to your dd and find out where her friends are buying

and start to encourage her to be open minded rather than have a fixed idea about what she wants

There’s a certain shop in our town that sells the sort of dresses she will want. Try asking other parents or googling.

I got DD1s from zapacka. Really good quality. And was half the price of the dress she'd found but very similar.

how on earth do you know what she wants?! 😕

There are dedicated prom dress shops in most town/cities. Take her to try on a few styles, you don't have to commit to buying one there.

DD went from very fixed ideas in September to finally buying a £40 dress from Quiz in May for prom: ihttps://www.quizclothing.co.uk/en-GB/occasionwear-prom-dresses

Via much discussion with friends. So just give her reasonable idea of what you'll pay and leave her to it for a bit.

My advice would be to aim for as cheap as possible and spend extra budget on hair, nails etc. I thought my DD would probably use her prom dress again for university events but her tastes changed so rapidly she was appalled at the idea! For one night you don't really notice the dress is cheap.
When DD was a bridesmaid this summer with a 'buy your own dress in set colour' brief we picked a dress out then saw a worn once example in her size on vinted for £20 and just bought that. Unspent budget went towards shoes and jewellery which are actually getting reused. Absolutely indiscernible on the pictures that she is in a not new dress. (And would happily pass the dress on should your daughter's vision be a full length sage green princessy type dress though I realise this is somewhat unlikely.)

Start with a trip to Quiz as if they have something, happy days. One of my DD's had a dress from a Goth type shop for year 9 prom (weird school dates here) the other from Quiz. For year 13 one had a dress from Debenhams (online though it hadn't closed yet) and the other from Chichi London (online). One was size 6, one size 8 which does make a difference, only the length needed changing which i could do myself (have a sewing machine), more recently for an event dd1 bought from Jj's House custom length and it fitted perfectly, still size 6 (jealous here) dd2 bought from a London designer at 3 X the price and really wasn't better plus she paid for alterations on top (she's no longer an 8, think dress was 14)

We just went to Bentalls and got a simple dress from there. My daughter is not a dress person so knew she wouldn't want anything too much.

Which cities can you shop in, max budget and what kind of dress does she want?

People might be able to recommend some stores, it's a bit harder now that highstreet stores and department stores like Debenhams have closed down because they would have been good starting points for trying on a few different shapes and styles to narrow down a final wishlist.

What style is she after?

Vinted. No need to buy new, people wear these dresses for one night and you can get a bargain.

We have a dedicated prom shop in our town. Otherwise try Vinted. Prom dresses are worn once, it's so sad. We've been trying to sell DD's and there are hundreds on there, all effectively new.

I’d definitely tell her to start with Vinted.

My daughter looked online on one of the popular prom / bridesmaid dress websites (JJs House I think) and then found the exact one she wanted on Vinted, worn once. It’s arrived and it’s perfect.

We’d be able to give better suggestions if you told us what she liked!

I've done the expensive route and the cheap route. ASOS option has been worn again and looked the part, although others did have the same dress. No one cared!

JJs online has thousands. My DD got hers from there, and it required hemming but otherwise fit beautifully. There was nothing at any of the shops we went to. Including John Lewis.

In our town there’s a shop that sells prom dresses but off the rail. My daughter went with an open mind to try on lots of dresses to worn out what suited her and partly just because it was a fun experience.
I gave my daughter a budget which included what she needed to spend on drsss, transport, and any appointments she needed- my dd chose to get lash/tan/hair done than spend more on the dress.
I also paid to have the dress professionally altered.

This is such a helpful thread! First time prom mum here and not really a clothes expert so no idea where to start. Totally agree with the idea of spending less on the dress and then adding on hair / nails etc.
What sort of overall price do average families pay do you think? I am afraid that we live in the sort of area where people might go the designer/expensive route...

Another one here saying vinted. I think we bought 4 from vinted in different styles and DD plumped for one, which wasn't what she originally wanted but fit like a glove
I don't think we paid more than £45 for all 4

I was going to resell the spares on vinted but ended up giving to school so they could provide a prom dress for those who couldn't afford one
They are part of an academy so they were distributed out of catchment.

I am afraid that we live in the sort of area where people might go the designer/expensive route

Trust me, no one will be able to tell the difference.

DD's year 11 prom was cancelled because of lockdown. She'd already bought a dress from ChiChi London for about £80. She wore it for her Sixth Form Leavers prom and looked gorgeous. She and her friends wore their frocks for prom then changed to go clubbing.

And she curled her hair herself and did her own make up and nails. Lots of YouTube tutorials for practice. There's really no need to spend lots of money. She and her friends had a great time but it was just one fun evening in their lives, not a big deal.

I've just sorted DD1's prom dress, we went to a hire shop in the end. It was £85 to hire, but they make alterations to fit it included in that. She's a willowy size 6.

I did find others to buy for less than that online but it was nice to go and try lots of different colours and styles of dresses on.

She'll do her hair, make up and nails herself, you tube is a godsend!

Thanks so much everyone. Yes, I love vinted and been looking but worried about fit and then not able to return (at least you can return online). The dress attached is what she likes (but higher on the boob!) but in red. It's very 'ball-y' but she likes simple, classic, conservative (TOTAL opposite of me) and she looks very similar to this girl (olive skin).

DD said she'll ask her friends where they've gone for theirs (2 have got theirs but the rest haven't) - but I know they spent at least a couple of hundred, which we wouldn't be doing. Spoke to her about trying on different styles and she is pretty open to that. Hopefully we could get an idea of size and shape from that.

I tried getting dd a cheaper dress online and it wasn't great as a lot of the companies are based in China so sending them back was a nightmare.

In the end I booked her a slot at the local prom dress shop and we had a lovely afternoon trying on dresses.

Dd found a lovely dress which was reduced but was still around £300. I only have the one dd and she loved it so 🤷‍♀️