Help - NEED a dress for a summer ball and haven't got a clue where to start....

[triffictits]

Please help me - this is desperate.

I'm going to a summer ball (its in an Officers Mess, so if any forces people around who could advise it would be fantastic) but I need a dress. It has to be full length and can either be a long evening dress or a ballgown type. I dont want to get one from Debenhams (got one a couple of years ago) - they are fab but 4 others had it on .

Soooooo can you help me please - I am quite tall 5ft 10.

When I say ballgown i dont want a huge fluffy ball, but something a little like a bridesmaids dress maybe? I dont know where to start!

Must avoid high street wherever possible as I dont want to be in the same dress as anyone else!

I've managed to get a couple of dresses from Monsoon in the past, and House of Fraser sometimes have a variety in.

Can you not find some great material and a good dressmaker?

How long do you have before the ball? I'm going to a mess ball in August and so desperately need to lose wright before deciding which dress to wear. I have been to 9 previously and Dp is a Free Mason so I go to Ladies Festivals too, so I have many gowns to choose from, even though I'd love a new one...no money though, so it's a previously worn one for me
You could have a look in TK Maxx, they have lovely dresses usually and different branches have different stock too...I have never arrived wearing the same frock as someone else, even though many of mine are from TK maxx. I sometimes make my own wraps, which of course are totally unique, so if you are handy with a sewing machine, you could make your accessories to go with your gown. Oooooh! isn't it exciting!

LL I absolutely ROARED with laughter at your 22.40 post!

have been summer ball gown shopping myself recently, it is tricky if you want to look formal but not as if you are trying to get a second wear out of a bridesmaids dress iykwim

Hav eyou tried dress agencies? They often have great stuff, really good quality at a fraction of the first time round price

oh, and imo, please don't wear black.

What's wrong with black? I love black!

Not at the ones I go to! There are loads of different colours. I've been known to wear fuschia pink, sky blue, pink with black over, red, midnight blue, raspberry and biege, not to mention BLACK! I look good in black too, so do often lean toward that shade/colour/tone

I have gold sandals to wear this time. Do yoou think I ought to wear a dress too?!

solo - when you are at the bar, and one of his colleagues asks DH which one his partner is - would you rather y our DH said, "the one in fuschia pink" or "the one in black. No, not her, the fourth from the left one in black"

absolutely, lots of black dresses, partly because it is percieved as a "safe" choice, so worn by many women that it doesn't suit (tho am sure you do look nice in it.) I would just rather not wear any colour that a lot of others are wearing, whether that's black or fuschia.

mind you if you were at the bar in just gold sandals, you'd be easily identifiable AND wd get served quickly!

I got one from tk maxx last year, they have loads but unlikely anyone else would have the same

LOL@keepcalm. I make an entrance donchaknow, so they always know who I am
Could be a good evening then, me in my sandals(lovely sandals too)and my smile! Now that would definitely be an entrance!LOL!

Solo have just checked out yr profile, and see you're a single parent - apols for the lazy assumption that we are all in nice neat tidy couples with DH's/DP's

I go to quite a few of these things and am in my late 30s so want to avoid really sort stuff. Find Austin Reed surprisingly good for grown up dresses. See here.

Don't apologise keepcalm, I do have a Dp, but it's rather complicated and I do bring up the Dc's on my own, so I do see myself as a single parent(so does Dp, even though he's Dd's daddy, he works away and we don't live together).
I have only ever been to my annual ball with a man twice, though I'm hoping that Dp is going to make the effort this year(think he will as he's paying and he wants to wear his mess dress before he retires!)

wow loads of responses - thank you ladies.

I will definately check out TKMaxx - sounds like a good option. I still love the one OJ pointed out.

Also spotted this today and like it - what do you think?
www.bbride.com/acatalog/prom_lauren.html

and I quite like this, although it may be a bit too full for me

www.bbride.com/acatalog/PP807575.html

I've got about 4 weeks to find something. I agree I dont want black if I can avoid it.

Solo - think you'll look great in your shoes and a smile!!

repeat after me

"Would Grace Kelly wear it?"

gets me out of all sorts of pickles, that mantra

LOL! so for me, with that particular mantra, I'm wearing my big knickers and jeans then!

Goosey. Most formal balls won't allow you to wear a dress shorter than at the ankle. I took my best friend a few years ago and I said to her ' long dress, it's a formal(Military)do with a strict dress code'. She turned up in a very short dress! It just isn't done!
Since then, every invitation has on it that those not wearing correct dress will be asked to leave.

At our local girls' public school summer ball last year, my RL friend was the only one in a proper ball gown. Everyone else was in what she described as cocktail dresses.

With solo and the military all the way. We don't want to see your ankles, laydeez, still less your calves, or knees, for heavens sake.

This is how it should be done...

LOL!@keepcalm...sooo true! We even have to cover our shoulders during dinner. Anyway, I love dressing up in long frock and high heels, it's lovely to be all girly for a change and just sometimes, you are even treated like a 'laydee'.
I couldn't go last year due to a crazed baby and her not sleeping through etc... am really hoping for a vast improvement this year...I've ordered the tickets!

this one does show calves but I think tis fab, v 1920s from Monsoon

Wow solo - I didn't know that anyone did such formal dos now. Sounds great fun though!