Homecoming dresses within budget?

[Pigeon]

JCP has been good for prom and homecoming dresses. Occasionally, we've had luck at Sears. We've gotten good deals on prom dresses at David's Bridal. We've picked up dresses when they are off season and on sale. Dd got a gorgeous gown at JCP for $39 on clearance that she ended up wearing to the prom. One of the benefits of that approach is that the kid is less likely to encounter other people wearing the same dress. I just picked up a beautiful gown from Kohl's for dd that somebody ordered online and returned that they gave me 80% off, plus I had a coupon. It came to just under $21!

My kids also tried on the idea that you could never wear the same dress twice, but I shut that down pretty quickly. They are also free to swap with similarly sized friends, if that works.

I hate Deb with a passion.

This past prom season, it seemed to me that there were lots fewer dresses in the stores (JCP, Sears, Boscov's, Macys) than in past years, and I saw the same dozen dresses over and over. I hope that trend doesn't continue.

 

[danygirl]

Delia's has good online sales and lots of cute dresses

 

[JanaDee]

What a coincidence...your 11th post is a link.

 

[tina.tina]

Penney's, Ross, and TJ Maxx. I forgot DD has a dance Friday night at the school. Middle school dances are dumb.

 

[HM]

My DD is in college now, but she was always able to find a dress for less than $50 by shopping around. It is good to start early. It's the shoes that were the expensive part of her outfit.

 

[drinkme]

I know this is an older post and I'm sure homecoming has come & gone for the OP but I wanted to also mention Rent the Runway. Dd15 has used it twice so far. As another poster said, you'd be surprised at what you can get. When else can a teenager wear Versace??? And it was CHEAP! I think the total came to $55, and that included shipping & insurance.

 

[LovesTimone]

When DD was middle school the whole "I need a dress for this and that started", So I started thinking ahead. So what I did was during the off season I would ( we would pick up dresses for whatever she thought she might need) I have gotten 300.00 dollar dresses for as little as 5.00 up to 50.00, at Dillard's, Macys, some specialty shops, Ross, Marshalls etc. . I also pickup, hair, earring, necklaces, and bracelets on clearance racks. She was involved in lots of activities, there was always some banquet, dinner, show, or dance to go to. We would stick to a classic fit, timeless look. She really was not into fad dresses, so this worked well for us. All of her friends would comment on how many dress that she had, she never wore anything more than once at a school functions. But we did use some on vacations, and cruises. Then sold the dressier ones once she graduated.

 

[findmewdw]

Jcpenney, Deb both have reasonable ones. Also dillards has clearance dresses every year.

We found my DD's at Dillards for a whopping $20 on clearance one year! It was adorable on her. We had good luck at JC Penney and Deb's for winter ball dresses. She is in college now and has a whole selection of cute dresses sitting in her closet! I need to make her try to sell some the next time she comes home. LOL! Good luck and have fun shopping! I miss those trips now!

 

[Chris Lee]

Go to online shops and get some cheaper ones.

 

[indimom]

DD17 needed a semi-formal dress for a dance a week ago. We went to Dillards. The sales were so good (formal and semi-formal dresses in the $30-$50 range), that we went ahead and searched for a Prom dress also.

She found two perfect dresses, and when they rang up, they each were $9.66. Awesome! We ended up getting her shoes for both dances also. All for less than I expected to pay for one semi-formal dress.