8th grade dance dress

[earfulofmagic]

+1 to all of the suggestions for sale/clearance racks at Dillard's, Macy's, Nordstrom Rack and so on.

on the off chance your daughter (or anyone else's!) has any fandoms or likes Disney, try Hot Topic. their store items vary from what's online, but they have a ton of dresses (casual and more formal), plenty of which would be appropriate for an 8th grade dance. or homecoming!

http://www.hottopic.com/trends/retro-disney-collection/
http://www.hottopic.com/prom/

And, aside from dresses, they have cheap but unique costume jewelry.
http://www.hottopic.com/product/dis...-culture-shop-by-license-beauty-and-the-beast

The absolute best time to shop at Hot Topic (online) is during their Hot Cash promotions, during which you can get 50% off anything so long as you're combining items correctly.
For example, this BATB dress could've been bought for ~$45 during the last Hot Cash promo. I got this dress during the last promo: http://www.hottopic.com/product/disney-princesses-cold-shoulder-gown/10857719.html

In-store sales and especially stock vary at all locations, so on short notice you're definitely better off browsing in store anyway. Once you know her size, items are generally consistent going forward.

 

[agavegirl1]

Also try Herbergers and Kohls in the midwest. I actually got my wedding dress there on clearance.

 

[onescgirl]

Dillard's, Nordstrom, & JC Penny's junior formal wear departments are great stores for 8th grade dance. The short formal dresses look really nice and it's a chance for them to get dressed nicer than they normally would to other events. Girls wear long dresses to prom, so it may be the only chance to wear a short formal dress unless her high school does a Homecoming dance. I ordered my daughter's on eBay. We tried on dresses at bridal shops and Dillard's so we knew what size/style she needed. We were able to purchase an expensive brand for a cheaper price.

 

[havaneselover]

So we checked Dillard's and Macy's and ended up with this dress in Melon (dd looks good a Caribbean colors. Price was right, it looked adorable, and was comfortable.

https://m.macys.com/shop/product/ci...B&cm_lm_mo64=c2hhcm9ucGF1bHVzQHlhaG9vLmNvbQ==

I also ordered it in ivory/beige for 8th grade graduation.

Thanks again for the great suggestions!

 

[LovesTimone]

Having been there done that...

Having a DD that was into a lot of things in school... in 5th grade it started for us, but 8th grade I knew that I would have to really ahead of the game. School, Color guard, Band, Government, French club, there were all kinds of dance's, banquets, dinner's, luncheons, + Dance school events, & Church events.

So here is now I survived and the budget survived too. I was constantly on the look out for dresses, skirts & tops, shoes, handbags, and accessories. I would scour the clearance racks constantly... DD is tall and thin, so I would get lucky with sometimes with more to choose from due to the size. Macy's, Penny's, Belk's, Bealls, Kohl's, TJ Maxx, Ross's, Marshalls, all great places to find stuff. Luckily DD wasn't into whatever was this minute style was cool. She's more classic... So any basic solid color dresses short or long, black, any shade of purple, burgundy, soft colors.. blue, cream, pink, lavender. Skirts for more casual events, but I did find a few for dresser church events to. I bought every color of cami to go under everything, also think about strapless bra's or convertible bra's, Black pants and a white shirt are always needed. I bought lots of accessories, check the clearance racks, I would score really pricey items for next to nothing check not only for the basic's earring, bracelet's, & necklace's, but hair clips, fancy bobby pins, belts. I scored Swarovski crystal earring and matching necklace at a small boutique I paid less than 20 for both, DD wore them over and over for special occasions, and still wears them today. We had a closet with nothing but all this stuff in it and I had a drawer with all the accessories. Also with her in all this stuff I was team mom for 4 years, and helped with a lot of events, so I need some dresses and options to. When I would be out shopping, under 25 was my goal, never more than 50. The only time I did not cringe was for her senior prom, she fell in love with a 150.00 dress. I had budgeted a lot more... I cut it off and she wore it to a friends wedding a couple of years later.

You have to realize that more than likely she is only going to wear it once.

 

[laughinplace199]

We had a lot of luck at Bloomindale's in the girls dept (especially with the Aqua brand) when DD was that age. DD is petite and the kids sizes fit her better at that age.

 

[pxidst119]

We have also had success at Macy's and Francesca's. Check Windsor too. (Windsorstore.com) We've had good luck there for party dresses for this age range at very reasonable prices.

 

[Mom9905]

Try Charlotte Russe. Small sizes and very cute. I got my daughters grad dress there this weekend for $14
She is an xs or 3
Windsor has little sizes too

 

[KTSMOM]

Try Altered State. My DD got her 8th grade dress there.

 

[angierae]

DD got all of her dresses (8th grade and four Homecoming dresses, including her senior year when she was on Homecoming Court) at Kohls.

 

[Kellydelly]

I am late to this thread but I have three daughters that are 17, 15, and 13. I have discovered that they need dresses for so many different events at school and they are filling their closets with them! Thankfully they have worn some of them more than once (the 17 yr old and 13 yr old can share clothes a little, but the 15 yr old is taller than them both and built different so she can't share). While shopping around I have found the best deals at Windsor, Charlotte Russe, Macys, and Kohls. At our middle school the 8th grade farewell is not quite a formal, so the girls normally wear something nice but not overly fancy.

 

[kinntj]

Asos.com is another place where girls shop for 8th grade dance dresses. My daughter wants to get hers from here next year for her 8th grade farewell dance. My older DD bought hers from Macy's. We had to drive to the bigger store which is an hour from here. Well worth it for the selection. My younger DD is more tomboyish so she'll wear a black dress with converse/Doc Martin shoes with special colored ribbon as shoelaces.

 

[kinntj]

I am late to this thread but I have three daughters that are 17, 15, and 13. I have discovered that they need dresses for so many different events at school and they are filling their closets with them! Thankfully they have worn some of them more than once (the 17 yr old and 13 yr old can share clothes a little, but the 15 yr old is taller than them both and built different so she can't share). While shopping around I have found the best deals at Windsor, Charlotte Russe, Macys, and Kohls. At our middle school the 8th grade farewell is not quite a formal, so the girls normally wear something nice but not overly fancy.

My kids can't wear the 8th grade dance one's again since they are pretty formal even though short dresses. The award dresses are casual enough that my girls can wear them to sports banquets too so those get multiple wearings.

 

[mjkacmom]

Went with the blue one from lulu's. It's a bit casual, so bought a rhinestone choker, earrings and bracelet. It's an xs, and lucky for dd she doesn't need a bra.