Prom dresses! So the stress begins.

[Whippet75]

My daughter has her prom in summer and so the preparations are beginning! How much do people spend on prom dresses?? I am told "by my daughter" about £500, I nearly had a panic attack!!
Please tell me this is not true?

[moochypooch]

Agree £500 is too much - I am hoping dd doesn't think that will be spent on a one off dress. She's not concerned about labels and is developing a taste for the quirky, I think I might encourage the vintage option.

[endofthelinefinally]

My dd wore her grandmother's evening dress, circa 1950. She looked stunning.

[LoniceraJaponica]

£500 for a dress they might only wear once seems a bit OTT to me. DD's dress was £65 from Debenhams a couple of years ago. Her entire prom outfit cost less than £100. She has worn it once since.

We have bought her year 13 prom dress already in the Next sale. It is a Lipsy dress and was £36.

Quiz are good for prom dresses at sensible prices.

[ElfrideSwancourt]

My daughter is in Y11 so we went into a Debenhams just after Christmas and tried on loads of dresses- got a lovely Monsoon one in the sale for £80. She hates dresses but loves this one- says it makes her feel like a Bond Girl:)
Her shoes cost more but they are flats so she will definitely wear them again.
She has short hair so no need for hairdresser and might let me paint her nails.
I think the whole prom thing can be a bit over the top- at her school it's all about the transport there.
Someone at work last summer had their daughter's prom video- I'll be happy with a few photos!

[Ragwort]

Check the charity shops or Oxfam on line, there are some fabulous bargains around.

I have a DS and was fairly confident that at least with a £150 suit be would get a bit more wear out of it - he's worn the jacket once since - under duress for lunch with grandparents - .

[funmummy48]

My daughter had her prom last year and bought a gorgeous dress online from Chi Chi London. It cost £65 and was so lovely that she wore it again at her brother's summer wedding. There's no need to spend a ridiculous amount of money. 😉

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

I can't remember where dd got hers from - online. But the key was to buy it in plenty of time to that it could then be altered to fit really nicely. We paid under £100 including alterations.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

To add, it was impossible to play guess the price as they went into the prom (nor would you want to!), they all looked fabulous and individual with so many different styles.

[BigSandyBalls2015]

Twin girls here who had their year 11 prom last year. We started out with a reasonable budget in mind then things escalated .... dress, shoes, bags, hair, nails, tan 😳, then DT2 suggested another dress would be nice for the 'after prom'!!

To be fair her dress was a third of the price of her sisters. DT1 really isn't a dress kind of girl and was dreading it so when she found a dress she was comfy in which looked fabulous I didn't really mind about the price.

[cestlavielife]

Dd got sale dress from joy www.joythestore.com/sale/womenswear-1/sale-dresses
We spent another 20 at local dry cleaners having it taken in. So under 50 altogether.

[MairzyDoats]

Another vote for chichi at ASOS here - I had a gorgeous navy lace prom style dress delivered yesterday, waayyy too fancy for my 41 year old self, but reduced in the sale to about £25. Its great quality too, heavy with a netted underskirt. I'm going to return it as it's OTT for the wedding I was planning on wearing it to and I'm too old to wear it but I wished I had a daughter!

[cathyandclare]

DD2's was £200, it was a vintage Dior one from Vestaire Collective. It was lovely and a bit different and I'm sure she'll wear it again. She did her own hair and make-up but had nails done. £500 is a load of money.

[thisagain]

We have just bought my daughter's and it was £150 in a sale in a wedding dress shop. Full price was starting out at £250 and the very ornate were £375. I didn't really see any for £500. My daughter's was an end of range and we obviously had to take the colour/size available rather than order any colour/size we wanted in. We are paying £40 for transport. Will also have to buy shoes (prob not bag) and have hair and nails done. My daughter's friend's dress was also £150 in a wedding dress sale. We will sell her dress after. Hopefully for a similar amount to the amount we paid.

[Bobbybobbins]

Wow £500 is more than I spent on my wedding dress!

[Sparklingbrook]

I have a 16 year old DS, and he will be needing a prom suit, but I am not spending £500.

Around here all the beauty places do 'Prom Specials' for nails/spray tan etc so i can see how that might bump up the expense for DDs.
My friend's DD ordered a dress online and then got it adjusted , I think it was about £100.

Then there's the transport. You can't just turn up in your Mum's hatchback oh no.

It's one evening, I don't think it's worth overspending. If they stay on for 6th Form you have to do it all over again 2 year's later.

[BigSandyBalls2015]

Thankfully my DDs year 13 leavers do is much more low key - boat on the Thames and a disco, wear what you like.

[BigSandyBalls2015]

Prob a good time of year to sell last year's prom dresses!

[Sparklingbrook]

That sounds great BigSandy, here the Yr 13 leavers do was a Winter Ball. Very very posh. And of course any suit bought for a 16 year old DS is no longer going to fit when they are 18.

[Sparklingbrook]

Oh no! Just realised. There was a summer ball when they left, the Winter Ball was in the January after Yr 13 started.

A lot of balls. Literally.

[moomoogalicious]

Thank goodness my dd is wearing a suit

[OakIsBetterTho]

My prom dress is to this day the most beautiful dress I've ever worn. It was slinky and posh and an absolute bargain; £60 from a charity shop. Your DD may not agree I suppose but there are bargains to be had on eBay or in second hand shops.

[spugzbunny]

My wedding dress wasn't that much!

[BigSandyBalls2015]

Sparkling - so two balls within a few months of each other!! Blimey! I suppose the boys could wear the same suit, maybe diff shirt/tie, but I doubt if the girls would want to turn up in the same dress. Sounds expensive

[Didntcomeheretofuckspiders]

10 years ago mine was £120ish. It was a gorgeous little beaded shift dress from French Connection. I’ve worn it to a few events since as it’s lovely! It’s totally worth steering away from the big prom princess thing and going for a more grown up cocktail dress that you can actually rewear.

[Sparklingbrook]

Yes, it was all a bit odd thinking back BigSandy. Both involved staying overnight in hotels quite far away too.

This was a state High School. Gone all posh.

No Proms when I left school, I feel I have missed nothing, and saved my Mum and Dad ££££s!.