Need to find a cheap prom dress for daughter, help!

LouBlue

HairyHandofDartmoor wrote: »

My daughter has a prom in June. She's in year 11 and all the other girls seem to be acquiring dresses, but we are very short of money at the moment and I just can't afford to spend very much.:o

I want her to feel and look lovely at her prom! I don't possess an evening dress myself, so don't have anything she could borrow.

Has anyone any idea of how much prom dresses cost and where I could get a reasonably cheap one?

Avoid any high street chain as you don't want her turning up and not being the only one wearing it.

My niece had her prom last year and sis was on a budget, so we found a dress hire shop, where we hired a dress which cost £150, but it was £50 to hire, lets face it, how many times would she wear it? And also, its the only one in the shop, so they guarantee no-one else will be wearing it. . She looked fab and we spent a fraction of what her friends spent.

So see if you have any dress hire shops nearby or Ebay.

doelani

What about hiring a dress? Most places you can also include accessories and if local they will make sure no 2 pupils at same formal are wearing the same dress as most do one off's

My eldest girl (19 ) has been to 4 formal over the years and has 3 dresses in her wardrobe, one from debenhams which cost £90, one off ebay that cost £50 ( quality cr*p) and one from Bridal/formal shop that cost £300 :eek: The last one she went to she hired a dress for £40 and wondered why she had not done that each time lol

TBH it is not just the dress but all the other bits, shoes, jewellery, hair etc and for a few hours hiring a dress is good value


p.s just one other thing , get her dress sorted asap, I know of someone a few weeks ago who left it to late and could not get one to suit, had to get one made and got it finished 1.5 hrs before she left for formal.

LouBlue

doelani wrote: »

What about hiring a dress? Most places you can also include accessories and if local they will make sure no 2 pupils at same formal are wearing the same dress as most do one off's

Snap. Last post.

doelani

LouBlue wrote: »

Snap. Last post.

lol great minds think alike

ailuro2

TK Maxx if you have one, then resell it on e-bay next year.;)

dreamyd

How about having a day trip to another town (the more affluent the better) and doing a charity shop hunt, somewhere like Bristol or Exeter, if they're anywhere near you. TK Maxx are brilliant, but they are very hit and miss.

I'm sure Gok Wan did a book quite recently to go with that show where he did the high street vs designer challenges- that could be good for ideas.

Good Luck with the dress hunt- have fun!

tattoed_bum

again i would go for ebay ,or a matalan clearance store they have some for as little as a fiver ,or how about a catalogue clearance store they have some really good deals at this time of the year .
if you find one cheap enough even slight alterations can make it look individual ,this could be as simple as changing the colour of the sash belt

i_wanna_save_money!

With £50 you will be best to try TK MAXX. My step daughter went shopping with her grannie so money was no object for her - but out of all the places she looked she bought a dress from TK MAXX for £35 I think. She ended up being made prom queen! :T Some of her friends bought dresses worth over £500 plus accessories plus hairdresser, beautician spraytan, limos...more money than sense lol.

If you buy early you also have the advantage of finding cheaper matching shoes/accessories.

Hope that help X

Gingernutmeg

Monsoon did a lovely dress called Oriane - it's sort of 50s style, sleeveless but not strapless, very full and pretty. There are quite a few on ebay and the plain ones (black and red) aren't that dear. I saw an article where they'd taken the black one, put a full red net underskirt under it, and then just stitched a bit of the hem up towards the waistband, catching it with a big red silk flower. It looked stunning and really unique, and you could get all of the bits you need quite cheaply off ebay.

Strapped

Defo eBay for this sort of thing. There are loads & loads of 2nd hand dresses for literally a few quid (if your daughter doesn't mind 2nd hand - who would know!)