Has anyone successfully bought a Prom dress for a very small 16 year old?

[Bramshott]

DD2 will turn 16 in the spring and of course Year 11 is all about preparing for Prom choosing the dress etc etc (whether this is a good thing or not is not the topic of this thread, we are where we are). A lot of her friends have been Prom dress shopping already and had lovely days out with their mums in Prom dress boutiques etc.

The problem is that DD2 is very small - the typical size and build of a 10 year old. She is seeing a paediatrician about this, and is on oestrogen tablets but they don't seem to be making a radical difference so far, I guess she will just grow in her own time.

I had made a few suggestions about how I thought we could approach the Prom dress question, partly because I don't think most Prom dresses will fit her, and partly because I am not about to lay out hundreds of pounds on something she will (hopefully!) quickly outgrow. I suggested looking in charity shops, or me making her a dress (I have reasonable dressmaking skills). However, of course she wants the whole Prom dress shopping experience, and got rather tearful about not being able to do the sort of thing her friends are doing.

SO - has anyone had experience of shopping for a Prom dress with a 16 year old who is way smaller than average?! I worry that anything that will fit her will essentially be a child's party dress or bridesmaids dress which is of course not what she wants. Any advice gratefully received.

Coast clothing do dresses from size 4. This is where we got our daughters prom dress, sizing is great and dress fitted perfectly.

You can always order several dresses online and then your DD can have friends over for a “say yes to the dress” afternoon at your home where she tries them on and then goes Ta da! In the living room and sees what her friends think. They could do the same, bring four or five dresses and they can all have a little party like your house is a pop up dress boutique. Change dresses in a bedroom and then go and do a twirl in front of each other.

Our youngest is small. 4’11”, size 2 shoes, size 4 clothes when she can find them.
Prom and graduation ball dresses did require an amount of searching. We went to an independent boutique that did alterations and were able to take things up. We would have had it made but she wanted the fun of trying things on.
Now she has a few decent evening dresses and a few cocktail dresses in the cupboard that should see her through the next few years: she doesn’t wear white or black tie very often, so can rewear most of the dresses without comment.

Perhaps have a look at the Lipsy Petite range on the Next website

Yes, the same problem here so we’ve bought online from Monsoon teens range. My DD tried Lipsy from Next but it didn’t work for her. Most of her friends were buying online from ASOS. It’s much cheaper. I know only one person who went to the bridal shop - it was very expensive dress.
If your DD wants to have “experience “ more then anything, can you get her colour consultation and/or make up consultation? Could be her Xmas present or part of prom preparation, depending on your budget.

I would like to see Proms consigned to history.

Hope you can find a way forward and somehow also get your DD to focus on the important things in year 11 such as English and Maths GCSE.

You can do both you know? Most DC do.

DD1, got Eng, Maths & prom
DD2, got no Eng, no Maths, and no Prom due to covid.

When we went prom dress shopping for my daughter she chose her dress they pinned her into it and then it was altered to fit her perfectly. Maybe you could a find a shop that offered this service too.

Thanks to everyone for your really helpful suggestions on here! She's currently quite taken with the options on JJs House and the possibility of getting 3 delivered to try on. I think we'd better wait a bit though as with any luck she'll grow, even if just a bit! I suppose one of the benefits of being tiny is that no-one else is likely to have the same dress...

You can do both.

My son’s friends all did v v well in their GCSEs yet also looked stunning in their prom dresses.

Who would have thought teenage girls could possibly have more than one thing in their little heads?

DD was 5'3" but absolutely tiny (UK size 4). We went to a local bridal/prom dress shop and they were able to order a dress in a US size 0 which we then had taken in slightly by a seamstress.

I'll be sure to tell DD that she could have had all grade 9s (instead of some grade 9s and the rest only being grade 8s) if only she hadn't gone prom dress shopping one day in the February, 4 months before her exams!

DD got a bias cut bridesmaids dress from Asos for £80 and had it shortened. Stylish, sleek and sophisticated. Then that fucker Boris cancelled her Prom so she had it shortened further and wore it to her 18th birthday party where she looked fab!

Just to report back that thanks to suggestions on here we ordered a dress from JJ's house in the smallest adult custom size they do, and it fitted like a dream! DD went to Prom and felt like a million dollars (and yes, I did get guilt-tripped into letting her get her nails, hair and make-up done to make up for the lack of prom dress boutique trip 😉)

Nice! My DD also did both .. 9 grade 9’s and 1 grade 8 and also had a fabulous prom with wonderful memories to look back on. It’s not an either / or you know ..

DD had a lovely time trying on Prom dresses and choosing one. Her BFs suit matched and we hired a classic car for them to go in.
Pair of them did brilliantly in their GCSEs - I had no idea Prom and good exam results were exclusive.
Hope your DD finds a great dress and has lovely Prom (and does well in her exams) OP

Dd bought some dresses from asos and some other online stores (size 4),she kept 2 which I had a local lady take.up and adjust slightly so they fitted her frame. We did go to the prom dress shop so she should try on fluffy creations but I couldn't afford the 400 for those. She looked amazing and stylish in her asos streamlined dress