Homecoming dresses within budget?

[PelletierBears]

My daughter got a really cute dress for her freshman formal at Sears. They had a great selection and I was very happy with the price. I know it was under $100 but can't remember the exact amount since it was a few years ago.

She got her junior prom dress at Macy's which was in the $100 range.

If you have a JC Penny in your area you could try there also.

 

[Iowajes]

Big fan of JCPenny's. And if you can buy off peak (like buy a homecoming dress after football season, and use it for prom) you can get some really fabulous sales.

 

[TXDisGurl]

My daughters would find theirs in the summer at Dillard's, some as low as $19.

 

[StephMK]

Deb around me still has some prom dresses, and as of yesterday they were 80% off at our mall. My DD's friend who is shopping for homecoming got one she loves for $24!

Thanks so much for posting that! We decided to run over to the mall and DD14 found a dress at Deb for $15! It looks like it was made for her, it fits perfectly and is seafoam green - her current favorite color.

We are disagreeing over shoes though. She wants "Barbie" heels and I don't want her to break an ankle. She was never a Barbie fan and isn't particularly a dressy kid so I don't know where the super high heel interest is coming from. She thinks the lower heels are not in style.

 

[kbmartin]

I don't know if you have an outlet mall near you, but if you do, see if there is a BCBG outlet. BCBG is a very fashionable brand worn by stars and generally very expensive. BUT if there is an outlet near you, you will EASILY find dresses at about $100 or less. They always have sales. My sister and I got tons of unique dresses there over the years for high school dances and sorority formals.

 

[zippehsmom]

Last year my daughter was a freshman in high school (my first experience with homecoming). We bought a dress at Carson's for $35. It was on sale, and they frequently have spend $100, get $50 off coupons. So I bought a couple more items and purchased the dress for $35. Carson's is in the BonTon group, not sure if they have those in Illinois.

She has already informed me that we need to start looking for this years homecoming dress, which is at the end of September.

 

[texasroni75]

Payless has a lot of cute dressy shoes. If you look at their website, and search for "Special Occasion" shoes - there are a ton of options that have shorter (kitten) heel but are strappy and sparkly enough for most teens And they are under $40.

For DD's prom last year we found that most of the heels she loved in the department stores were like $150!!

 

[anewvance]

Ross if you have one, you'd be surprised. I got both of my daughters prom dresses there and paid so so little for them and they got so many compliments.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

Jcpenney, Deb both have reasonable ones. Also dillards has clearance dresses every year. My DD is a senior this year and has gone every year and I've never paid over $100. She got a $300 prom dress last year for $125 at dillards (clearance rack) and got so many compliments, it was beautiful. You can do it without going used, although there's nothing wrong with that if you find one she likes.

I agree with Deb... tons of cute cheap dresses. I was just at our JCPenney yesterday and they had racks of party dresses on clearance for $19.99!!!!!

Another vote for JC Penney. DD15 got her HC dresses there the last two years. The first year the dress was on sale, another shopper gave me a coupon and we found awesome silver sparkly shoes on the clearance rack. She looked stunning, was very happy and the total for dress and shoes was $48. I couldn't believe it! At $48 I was super happy. She got this year's dress on sale at JC Penney for $19.99 this past spring.

 

[HarkiQuinn]

It's been a while since I've been to homecoming. I remember I went to a department store in the mall and my dress was only 50. I'm sure she can find something at one of the top ones. What style is she looking for?

 

[ceecee]

We have done well at Macy's, they have a large dept. at our store for Prom/Homecoming dresses, you may find the same dress on someone else though. They also mark down last years (if you time it right) for next to nothing if you can find one in the right size. We got DD's at the Bridal/Prom shop in the mall for $50 it was 75% off, luckily she didn't like the $400-500.00 ones! They take names so the same dress doesn't get sold to someone from the same school.
I would also recommend a thrift store, we saw a lot at the one in our area last week. There is also a school that does donate one/get one near us. I have 5 in my closet, all were worn once!!!

 

[Cindy B]

My daughter found a gorgeous prom dress for $35 on ebay. It had free shipping. It did originate from China and she did have to pay for alterations (length and a zipper issue)

She got so many compliments.

 

[okeydokey]

There were several racks of clearance dresses at Dillard's.

 

[captainjen]

Another vote for rent the runway. Rent the dress so it's not sitting in a closet for the next 10 years, and get something super stylish that I bet no one in your town has seen before!

I also vote for rent the runway You should at least check it out, you would be surprised at what they rent out

 

[krrrristen]

In high school I had good luck at JCPenney. Also it's too late for this year, but for future reference I always bought my dresses at the end of prom season for $25-ish and saved them for the next year. I'd get one for homecoming and, later, one for prom.

ETA - Another vote for eBay as well... I bought a couple of dresses on there from China for around $15 that I wore to band banquet, celebration dinners, etc. It took almost a month for them to come in but they were really cute and held up over time!

 

[scrapquitler]

We have a store in our mall called Windsor that has cute dresses at reasonable prices (definitely below or close to $100). Also Deb, JCPenney and Macys.

 

[kylmac]

Haven't read through all the posts, but if you have a Macy's near you then I have seen dresses under $100.00. My sophmore daughter has informed she is going again this year with a group and needs a new dress-I informed her it has to be under $100.00 as she rarely ever wears it again-her dress last year was so pretty and the one she found at Dillards is quite pretty as well-sdaly, we just don't have a Dillards near us anymore. Good luck!
Elizabeth

 

[taymaesmom]

We have always had good luck at Debs too. All of my older dd's homecoming and prom dresses came from there, the most we paid was $80 but on average we paid $30 because we shopped off season and clearance. All her dresses were beautiful. Younger dd got her homecoming dress there too and is already been watching for this year.

 

[LovesTimone]

When DD was in high school she was involved in a lot of things, so we would need multiple dress's each year, and you can not wear the same dress or outfit ever. She would have banquets along with dance's, party's & dinners so we would need quite a few dress and outfits for the school year. During the summer and off season we would pick up dresses or outfits for the upcoming school year. Penny's was always good for shorter dress's and Macy's for the longer for prom. TJ Max, Ross is another great place to find great buys on dress's. Also check out the clearance shoe racks at these places as I have found several designer shoes for cheap, and another thought is places like Charming Charlie's, Claires as well as department stores will put accessories on clearance right after each season, so stock up on a few things for the future.

 

[wendybeth75]

JCPenney and raid the clearance rack at any of the dept stores (Macy's, Dillards etc.) Watch for additional % off clearance prices then pounce!