Affordable Evening Dresses?

[arizonacolbys]

I thought I'd come here to ask for help!

I have about a month to find a nice evening dress to wear to an Annual Military Ball with my hubby in February. I'm hoping to find something nice, but affordable (especially, since I'll probably need a new one at least once a year .)

Does anyone have any ideas on the best places to shop for this? Any preferred on-line shops??

Thanks for any advice!

 

[cseca]

Hmm... depends on what type of evening dress you're looking for.
If you're looking for "little black dress" type of number you can try Marshall Fields. I've gotten several dresses from them for $40~60. Or sometimes you can find Ann Taylor or AT Loft dresses with pretty decent price when they're on sale (around $70~150).

Or if you're looking for more flashy kind of evening dress, I've gone to a store called Deb (in malls) and they seem to have all kinds of evening dresses. I'm not quite sure about prices but I think they range from $30~60.

Good luck and Have fun shopping!

 

[jennifer293]

you can get some really nice dresses on ebay. Search in wedding, prom, formal, or bridesmaid dresses and you should get a great variety to choose from especially being so close to valentine's day and upcoming prom season.

You can also try David's bridal or Chadwick's. they both have nice dresses at very affordable prices!!!

Have FUN!!!!

 

[Buttercup26]

If you have a Deb or a Mariposa near you they both have a nice selection of "dressy" dresses. They are pretty inexpensive too.

 

[KarenAylwood]

This is the best time of year to look for evening dresses because it's right after the holidays. When I was in college I had 2 formals a year, plus any fraternity formals I went to, so I bought a lot of evening dresses.

My favorite time to look was around now and the sale racks are full of them! Macy's is the best place to look, followed by JCPenney's. Kohls and other department stores are also great places. My favorite dress is one I found on the sale rack a few years ago around now that was only $15 marked down from $90!!

 

[gypsydoodlebug]

I bought this one to wear to the premiere of my commercial in NYC. Got it at White House Black Market (www.whiteandblack.com) if you don't have one in your town, which has a TON of really pretty, CLASSIC cocktail dresses. I also bought two there in white for $10 each (regularly $98 each).

I think it was about $98 and I got the shoes for $24 at Off Broadway shoes. The wrap was $1.98 at New York and Company after last Christmas!! I bought THREE!

 

[vanyel]

My daughter got a great "little black dress" at Coldwater Creek's outlet store for $10, originally $99. It's a great time of year to find sale dresses. Try all the major dept stores in your area, and the discount stores like Marshall's, TJ Maxx.

I don't like to buy clothes on-line because I want to try them on but that's just me.

 

[crisi]

I'd suggest two things:

1. Shop consignment. Lots of nice dresses are worn once and end up being sold consignment. I much prefer consignment to eBay, because if I'm going to buy a dress, I want to make sure it fits properly - a $30 dress that needs $50 worth of alternations is no bargin - a $45 dress that fits like a dream is!

2. Look for a few classics. Honestly, if you stick with some basic black classic formalwear, and collect a few gowns and rotate them through, no one will remember "oh, she wore that dress two years ago." The other advantage of this is that it is flattering to your husband. I'm going to my husband's annual party and just went dress shopping and decided not to buy anything and go back to the classics - the dresses were all making me look a little to much like a bimbo - and that doesn't reflect well on him.

(If the object is yearly formalwear shopping, then I suggest after holiday sales at Macy's and dresses people can't possibly forget in at the height of fashion - so that next year you can say "everyone will remember the fuchia dress with the asymetrical overskirt!")

 

[westjones]

Also check JCPenney. They are having 40% off clearance here today and tomorrow. I saw a floor length formal for $20 on clearnance and with the extra 40% off, it would be $12. I'm not buying it because we are only going on the 4 night cruise and I won't need a formal dress. But if I were going on the 7 night, I would have bought it.

DJ

 

[ChristyJ]

Do you have any friends you can borrow from? My sisters and I (our shapes have changed somewhat, so it's not as easy to do this anymore...) borrow each other's more formal dresses from time to time-also done it with good friends (I'm in my mid 30's, not a teenager-although we shared clothes more often then! ). That way, you really only need a nice pair of shoes & stockings to go with it!

I bought my most recent formal dress from Ann Taylor-the Loft-I had a 15% off coupon and it was on sale-I think I paid around $70 for it (but I justified the cost as I RARELY buy clothing like that for myself).

 

[arizonacolbys]

Thanks for all the great ideas! I'm thinking of stopping off at the mall after work tomorrow - I'll check out our Dillard's, Penney's & Kaufmann's for clearance racks. The last couple times I looked at TJ Maxx & Marshall's locally they didn't seem to have any evening dresses - maybe it's a local thing - I know I've gotten some there in the past.

I looked on ebay a bit, but didn't see any great deals & agree that I'd probably like to try a dress on first. Sometimes it's difficult to find a good fit.

 

[arizonacolbys]

Do you have any friends you can borrow from? My sisters and I (our shapes have changed somewhat, so it's not as easy to do this anymore...) borrow each other's more formal dresses from time to time-also done it with good friends (I'm in my mid 30's, not a teenager-although we shared clothes more often then! ). That way, you really only need a nice pair of shoes & stockings to go with it!

I bought my most recent formal dress from Ann Taylor-the Loft-I had a 15% off coupon and it was on sale-I think I paid around $70 for it (but I justified the cost as I RARELY buy clothing like that for myself).

I was actually just thinking this might be a good back-up plan - I have 2 SIL's around the same age that might have something that would work. One SIL is VERY tiny - so, not sure I could fit into anything she has, though. I think this is my back-up plan at this point if I don't come across anything tomorrow. Thanks for the idea!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Definitely do not buy a formal dress that you can't try on first!

I go to a formal AIDS fundraiser every year so I have a pretty impressive collection of dresses. My favorite is from Foley's, but I have others from Dillard's. One I got from Dillard's was only $35 on clearance, but it had to be hemmed which cost almost as much as the dress! It is also cut funny in the back which required a new bra. Formal wear is quite labor intensive!

Good luck!

 

[nbodyhome]

There is a store called Group USA at the Prime Outlets - I am not sure if that is the name actually on the store, there are two of them on International Drive. One is in the Prime Outlet malls, and the other is in a strip mall a bit up I-Drive.

Last year, we went to an Inaugural Ball in DC, and I paid $15.00 for my dress there. Then we went to another ball, and I paid $29 or so for that dress (I loved that one!) I am not sure if Group USA has other stores, but they have wonderful priced dresses, I think they are their own brand. I did buy one wrap from them fairly inexpensively, and a wrap elsewhere for $25 or so (that one is beautiful, and I'll hopefully use both again).

I don't like paying a lot for clothes! Both dresses have been donated - I lost too much weight to wear the beautiful purple one, and the inaugural dress was too fancy to wear anywhere else. But I paid less than a tux would have cost for both!

Denise

 

[Kellydelly]

I bought this one to wear to the premiere of my commercial in NYC. Got it at White House Black Market (www.whiteandblack.com) if you don't have one in your town, which has a TON of really pretty, CLASSIC cocktail dresses. I also bought two there in white for $10 each (regularly $98 each).

I think it was about $98 and I got the shoes for $24 at Off Broadway shoes. The wrap was $1.98 at New York and Company after last Christmas!! I bought THREE!

Mandy you look fabulous in that dress! I would have to put chicken filets in the top to pull it off !

 

[Kellydelly]

What size are you looking for?

 

[DonnaL]

Don't know if you have Kaufmann's near you in Ohio....but, I've always had good luck finding eveningwear there. My daughter was going to a formal country club type wedding last September and I knew she was looking for a dress. One afternoon I happened to be in Kaufmann's during a coupon sale and they had two racks of evening dresses (most were $100/$200 range)
for $15/$20 each. I picked out three in her size, figuring she would like at least one of them. She absolutely loved one of them and it looked gorgeous on her (this from someone who doesn't like ANYTHING I do) LOL. I also agree that after the holidays is a good time for evening wear sales.

 

[gypsydoodlebug]

Mandy you look fabulous in that dress! I would have to put chicken filets in the top to pull it off !

Thanks! They have GREAT "little black dresses."

 

[arizonacolbys]

What size are you looking for?

Probably a 6 in a dress - I've been losing weight, so it's hard to tell. I do have another 6 at home that fits pretty well.

 

[shades]

Arizonacolbys: I'm sure you know this already - but, for a military ball - you will most likely want to wear a to-the-floor length formal. Most ladies are dressed very formal at these events. Fancy hair-do and all