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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

Original poster

Prom costs

54 replies

TakeMeToLondonTown · 30/12/2023 17:46

Hello,

Has anyone bought the prom dress yet? How much? And, what sort of figure am I looking at for hair and make up?

Daughter has chosen a £700 dress 👗 😱! I think this is way over the top but she said it's the going rate.

OP posts:
TeenDivided · 30/12/2023 17:57

£700 - she's having you on. Absolutely no need to spend that much.

My suggestion is you give her a sensible budget and then she can choose expensive dress OR cheaper dress, plus nails / spray tan / transport / hairdo / shoes.

Both my DD's had ebay dresses which we then got altered to fit / blinged.
DD2 was a covid year so never got to wear hers.

If you know the look she wants you have 6 months to source a pre owned one.

MintJulia · 30/12/2023 18:06

I have a ds and rather than buying a dress suit that he will promptly grow out of, I'm hiring him a dinner suit. I've allocated £150 max.

Can you hire a dress for your dd?

DawnButlersGayGiraffe · 30/12/2023 18:07

DD wore a dress off Vinted for £15. She bought 3 and sold the others one. None of them were more than £20.

SingingSands · 30/12/2023 18:10

Which year group?

Yr 11 prom - DD's dress was £88 online in January sale.

Yr 13 prom - DD wore my "vintage" TopShop dress I bought in 1997.

I think £700 on a prom dress is pretty outrageous. It's one night, and she really will not wear it again. There are some unscrupulous shops out there who feed the dress frenzy.

Quitelikeacatslife · 30/12/2023 18:11

That's really not necessary, my dd got one on line for about £90 and we went halves as good for them to chip in. I paid for hair as needed it cutting so got it done that day she paid for one nsils, no other malarkey. They will look gorgeous anyway. I'd tell her to be a bit more quiet amongst her friends over the dresses they are getting or what they are spending as she needs to learn that others are in different positions.

Butterfly44 · 30/12/2023 18:14

£700 is crazy. I spent £400 and thought that was bad enough.

Butchyrestingface · 30/12/2023 18:18

Daughter has chosen a £700 dress 👗 😱! I think this is way over the top but she said it's the going rate.

Tell her a lot of people don't spend that on a WEDDING dress.

elliejjtiny · 30/12/2023 18:36

£700 is ridiculous. I know it's different with boys but DS1 wore dh's suit that he wears for weddings and funerals so only worn 4 times. We bought him new cufflinks for £15 and he wore his school shoes. He arrived in our scruffy old car. Total cost £15.

ds2 isn't going to his prom so the cost is zero.

At ds1's prom lots of girls were in normal dresses from new look, topshop, next etc. Some had hair and nails done, some didn't. Transport varied between expensive hired cars, couple of tractors, 2 girls on horses and lots just came in their parents cars.

Alabasterbox · 30/12/2023 18:45

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2chocolateoranges · 30/12/2023 18:48

Dds prom dress cost £100.

Not a chance I would spend £700 on a dress for approx 6hrs. My wedding dress didn't even cost that. My max budget was £300 for her prom dress.

Some friends dresses were £500 . Dd looked amazing in her dress and hers was one of my favourites out of all her friends dresses.

TeenDivided · 30/12/2023 18:49

dd1 was very pleased I bought her some cheap fold up ballet flats to go in her bag, so when her not very high heels got uncomfy she had them to change into.

Waitingfordoggo · 30/12/2023 18:52

DD’s dress was about £30. Her grandparents kindly offered to buy it for her and would have spent more if she’d wanted something pricier but the one she chose was £30. She did her own hair and put some eyeliner and mascara on. She looked beautiful and had a great night.

baileybrosbuildingandloan · 30/12/2023 18:53

Ask her how she proposes to earn the £700?

Jacfrost · 30/12/2023 18:56

Butchyrestingface · 30/12/2023 18:18

Daughter has chosen a £700 dress 👗 😱! I think this is way over the top but she said it's the going rate.

Tell her a lot of people don't spend that on a WEDDING dress.

Exactly! £700 is almost double what I spent on my wedding dress (in recent times). The mind boggles! I'd just laugh if it were my DD

CeeceeBloomingdale · 30/12/2023 18:57

I gave DD a budget of £300 this year but secretly would have gone to £500. That was before I saw how bad the quality is and what else is available on the high street. DDs was £36 in the Quiz sale. It looked quite red carpet and left plenty for shoes, bag, jewellery, hair and make up. If anything she looked more dressy than most of her friends. £700 is insane.

idontlikealdi · 30/12/2023 18:57

Your daughter is taking the piss op.

TulipTuesday · 30/12/2023 18:58

MintJulia · 30/12/2023 18:06

I have a ds and rather than buying a dress suit that he will promptly grow out of, I'm hiring him a dinner suit. I've allocated £150 max.

Can you hire a dress for your dd?

Both of my DS’s suits cost less than that to buy.

DS1’s was from Matalan. The jacket was a display one so we ended to getting money off it. Plus I had a voucher so was about £80. He already had shoes from when he was an usher at my DB’s wedding. The tie and pocket square I ordered from Ties r us.

DS2’s was a bit more, £110 from M&S, but the shoes and shirt were from Matalan and again got a tie from Ties r us.

lalaloopyhead · 30/12/2023 18:59

£700!? Wow that is more than my wedding dress coat...unless money is no object there is no way I would spend that on a prom dress. Both my older dds dresses coat less than £100 and they looked fabulous.

maisiemoolou · 30/12/2023 19:00

DD's dress was £220 and she asked if she could have converse instead of heels. I was glad she chose converse because I knew it meant she would wear them again. I must admit the total cost did creep up to the £450 mark. My DS had a Next suit bought in the sale and new shoes. Total cost around £150. Both of them just went in DH's car, no fancy hire vehicle.

FeltCarrot · 30/12/2023 19:01

Please don’t fall for story about it being the going rate unless you are a multi millionaire.
DD went to an all girls school where the dresses were very much from ASOS. They did each other’s hair and nails and looked gorgeous, all for probably less than £150 each. Which is still ridiculous for a 16 year olds party imho.

TooOldForThisNonsense · 30/12/2023 19:01

£700 is ridiculous. I have a boy and hoping very much his outfit comes in at a fraction of that. In fact hoping he wears his dad’s kilt but I don’t know if he will want to or not

idontlikealdi · 30/12/2023 19:01

Also it's very much the thing in dds year group to get vintage from Vinted

SutWytTi · 30/12/2023 19:01

LMAO at £700 being the going rate! She's got your card marked.

You set the budget, then she looks.

craigth162 · 30/12/2023 19:02

Shes being ridiculous. No doubt shoes etc will take to over £1000.....

Vinted or high street

QuillBill · 30/12/2023 19:05

There were on,y a couple of girls at my DD's prom with big old expensive bejewelled dresses and to be honest they looked somewhat out of place. Everyone looked absolutely beautiful, because they are 16.

There were a lot of slip dresses (I think).

My DD's dress was £49 from ASOS.

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