How much would you or have you spent on a prom dress?

[princess pooh]

You could try buying a sample from a bridal store. I found my friend a $300 gown for $25 that way. There might be a lot of discontinued dresses out there now since the 2005 lines came out.

My prom was a long time ago and I had my dress made, but I looked into renting a gown. There was some really beautiful stuff!

When done with them and never having to wear them again, I usually donate them to womens shelters, so women who might need something formal for a work party or anything else but could never pay for it, can have them. I do the same thing with old business clothes. A lot of times, the women use the old business clothes to go on job interviews.

I just did that this morning! I had a bunch of suits that didn't fit anymore and some older winter coats that were just taking up space. My prom dress went to a place that collects clothes for the poor and I'm sure my wedding dress will end up there too.

 

[CrazyDreamer]

I spent about $200 on my prom dress, but it was completely worth it. Every now and then, when I'm alone in the house, I wear it. It's too pretty to just sit in my closet.

 

[CinderellaIam]

Well, for DD jr prom we set a budget of $250 for a complete outfit. We shopped and shopped and shopped. She must have tried on 100 dresses. Finally we were in a shop and the sales woman brought out the most beautiful princess dress ever. DD went into the fitting room with the sales woman and when she came out in the dress it fit her like a glove. She looked absolutely radient, I got goose bumps, my sister had tears in her eyes and my 6 yr old DN said "You look prettier than a princess". Without looking at the price I said we'll take it. When the sales woman rang it up....$550.00! Was it worth it? You should have seen the look on her grandfathers face when he seen her, he had tears in his eyes! I NEVER seen my dad get like that.

Sr. prom, almost as bad at $400.00, just for the dress.

Would I do it again? Yes. Will she ever wear the dresses again? Probably not, but I have a niece who is just entering H.S. and constantly says she will be wearing those dresses to her proms! I jokingly tell my sister that it is possible...for a small rental fee! lol

 

[winniedapooh]

My DPrincess, 14 almost 15 going on 25, has her first winter ball on the 29th, it was cancelled from last weekend due to weather. I was dreading this as she has an exceptionally wide back as I do and even though a she can wear a size 15/16 she needs a 18/20 for back width. I wanted her to look like a princess and feel like one too as she is my girly girl and DD, 7, is my linebacker! After having surgery in November and being bored I found ebay, lol. Total for dress with shipping was 29.24. The dress fit her to a t! I pulled the straps up and then the chest and back fit perfectly. Length is perfect even with her new shoes. Crud, the shoes at Payless and matching purse cost more than the dress, lol. Her friends have seen it and love it and they have no idea where she got it and what we paid for it!

 

[Lil_Tink]

I would spend.. Maybe 100 dollars for bag and dress.

 

[Pam]

I don't think we spent more than $150 on any of my dresses. (Thanking God that BR is a boy..

Ooooohhhhh babycakes - just wait:
football or baseball uniforms
athletic cups
Scout & camping uniforms and equipment ($$$$$$$$$$$ )
Golf clubs (another )
hiking boots at $100.00 a pop - if we're lucky - we get a whole year out of them
Hooter's t-shirts.........

 

[Lil_Tink]

Yah boys are expensive to.. They dont wear just jeans to the prom either. They have tux

 

[Lil_Tink]

Girl scouts is cheaper than boy scouts

 

[Pam]

Girl scouts is cheaper than boy scouts

I agree! Less rigidity with the uniforms - but I have to say that seeing a Troop out in public with their full Class A uniforms on makes a parent feel very proud!
And - my son has almost 175 nights of camping since 2000 with the Scouts - so he definitely utilizes all of his equipment.

 

[Aimeedyan]

My junior prom was 10 years ago (oh my gosh!) and my gown was $90 - I wore shoes I already had, did my own hair, etc.

My senior prom, I paid about $110 for my gown, plus $15 shoes, and a matching $10 purse (it was a kids purse LOL). I did have my hair done that year.

I paid $400 for my bridal gown, so I can't imagine paying near that for a prom gown, but times are changing...

I have found the BEST formals at places like Ross, Marshalls, and TJ Maxx - they have great name brand ones!

My two gowns are still hanging in my closet. I think it's time to get rid of them =)

 

[dash]

Good luck shopping! There are MAJOR sales in my area today at the mall. I got some good eals at Macy's and Penny's. I don't know if you have these department stores near you. MAybe you can find a nice dress at a bargain price.

 

[Microcell]

I am one who will "spoil" my daughter. I did this for homecoming. In my mind, I had hoped to spend a total of $300. We looked everywhere. OMG, we found a dress at Dillards marked down to $70. I was sooooo happy! Then we went downstairs to get a little bag and matching shoes. Bag was about $40. She was gathering up shoes for the salesman to get when we came upon the most beautiful shoes.........and we both knew that unless there was something terribly wrong with them........well, the salesman was very discreet and asked me if I had looked at the price and did I want him to go get these? The shoes were Beverly Feldman.......and they cost $275. Crap.

I looked at my daughter (who didn't know this was going on) and thought about how every girl wants to be a princess............YES, go get the shoes.

Of course, they were perfect. At the end, when my daughter saw how much they were, she wanted to put them back (to save me money) but I saw how much she was trying to hide her real feelings..............WE GOT THE SHOES!

I will never regret doing that. Sometimes........you just have to do things that may not be practical, or affordable, or whatever! Go with your heart.

I like to go with my heart, but Oh my goodness!

 

[totalia]

My prom dress cost me $50. I'd have spent $100. Anything more is a waste.

 

[katerkat]

Ooooohhhhh babycakes - just wait:
football or baseball uniforms
athletic cups
Scout & camping uniforms and equipment ($$$$$$$$$$$ )
Golf clubs (another )
hiking boots at $100.00 a pop - if we're lucky - we get a whole year out of them
Hooter's t-shirts.........

Nooooooo! At least tux rentals are cheap in comparasion to dresses!

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

I was willing to spend about $150...money neither my mom or I even had.I wanted a really cute little dress we found at a resale shop. It was a 1950's style prom dress, strapless with a cute little half-jacke to go with it. My mom almost bought it for me but when I tried it on I was about 3 inches too big in the bust. Oh well...my mom ended up spending around $50 bucks on somebody's old bridesmaid dress that was the UGLIEST prom dress in the history of the world.

It was white shiny material with giant butter-colored flowers super imposed with lilac-colored flowers. It was off the shoulder and had a crinoline sewn in so the skirt was kind of poofy. It was hideous...makes me glad I don't have any prom night photos to haunt me.

TOV

 

[Evil Princess]

I think my prom dress was around 300.

 

[Pam]

Nooooooo! At least tux rentals are cheap in comparasion to dresses!

Honey - I really hate to be the bearer of bad news - but for the past two years DD's BF spent over $125.00 each time on tux rentals!! The first two times he spent around $75.00-$80.00 each time. And then there's the girl's flowers.......... (we went dutch on the prom tickets, though since they had gone together to all 4 proms over the years.)

 

[luvdisney81]

My mom spent 250 on a dress my 11th grade year.

The next year she paid 200 for my dress, I loved it!

I would check department stores, I was just in them before Christmas and they had gorgeous gowns at half off. Like Belk, Nordstram and Dillards.

What to do with them, well you do wear them again in college I find. Also at prom time their is an organization in my area, may be in your area too, where you can donate a prom gown to girls in high school who cannot afford a gown and hence would miss out on the prom experience. I have donated there also, old bridesmaid gowns and stuff like accessories. It helps to part with them.

Also the fabric is great, nice and big with few stiches some times...pillows, shams, tablecloth, quilt, shawl.

 

[marlasmom]

I don't remember what we spent - Sarah had a closet full - but most were on sale - Talbots used to have some nice ones. I just gave them away. After college I sent a memo to the folks in my office and asked if anyone wanted them. They were snapped up and the moms (many of them single and struggling) were thrilled.

 

[HunnyPots]

OK - We went shopping today. She fell in love with the first one she tried on at David's Bridal. It is hot pink or I think fuschia is the official name, and it is a princess style ball gown with bugal beads and tiny ribbon roses on the bodice. It was really beautiful on her. It is $169. We decide to keep shopping and make up our minds later. They took her name and wrote down this dress as her choice if we decide to come back. Next we tried Dillards and Cache. No luck in either place. On to Whatchamacallit, a designer boutique. Nothing under $350. We didn't really like anything in there anyway. Everything just seemed so "over the top" as far as beading, sequens, crinoline, etc.
Next we try Windsor. Lots of really odd colors. Lime green seems to be the hot color this year. NOT dd's color at all. (Is it anyone's?) We try another Dillards and find two more that we really like. Both in the hot pink family, so I guess that's going to be the color of choice this year. Both around $160 each. DD thinks that is way too much so I guess we'll keep looking for a couple more weeks. I'm going to keep checking ebay now that we know what she likes and doesn't like. Oh well... we had a great day even if we didn't settle on anything yet. The shopping is half the fun!