Need Homecoming Help...and Fast!

[Christine]

My DD (14) was invited to a Homecoming dance by one of her old classmates from the Catholic school she just "graduated" from. My DD is now in public school and her classmate has continued on to a private high school (where most of the people going have quite a bit more $$$$ than we do). Anyway, not sure any of that REALLY matters, just that this is not "her" school.

The dance is on October 1st. Now, I have not been to a homecoming in over 20-something years and things were much more low-key then. I didn't get my hair done, nails done, nothing. Just threw on a Gunne Sack dress and went.

I know we need to get a dress. I am told by other parents that while the event says "semi-formal" about 99% of the girls go formal and wear long dresses. Okay. I live in Northern VA and not quite sure where to go for a dress. How about mail order? Anyone done it?

Besides buying her date a flower for his lapel (sorry I can't spell the "b" word this early in the morning) is there anything else I need to do?

I am starting to choke on how much this might cost me. I'm sure she will need to get her hair done that day because it looks so bad now. It is shoulder length and we have a hard time putting it up. Do most people do all this for homecoming or am I going overboard?

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

homecoming:

Gown, shoes, purse, hair, nails, makeup, jewelry, flower

Then depending on the date: Maybe some money to help pay for dinner? if they are goign out as a large group or something..

have not done mail order dress, too big of a pain with sizing. Department stores usually carry great dresses at great prices.

HTH!

 

[MsDisney23]

First relax, everything will be fine! Try JCPenny Catalog, the only problem is if it comes in and does not fit! Around here in our Mall they a store called The Deb shop, they have alot of gowns at great price! Just get out there and do some window shopping with your DD. Maybe she could pick up a babysitting job to help with her hair & nails. If not do not go to an expensive shop!

Your not going overboard, sounds like you are very excited for your DD, which you should be! I am sure she will look very pretty for Homecoming!

 

[Marla Hellwig]

Just got my daughter's first homecoming dress - luckily another mom showed some pictures from previous years - her is black with lace - mid calf length and just happened to get a super duper price on it - shoes we are still discussing - though since we both wear same size I have a couple pairs that would work in a pinch

 

[chrissyk]

Try Ebay for the dress! People sell really high-end nice formal wear on there for a song. Even if you had to have it taken in a little or hemmed, it would still probably be much cheaper than buying something locally.

I'm not sure about the purse/hair/dinner thing, though.

 

[helenabear]

Truthfully, it can vary quite a bit from school to school. My homecoming was more formal than my friend's prom at a different school. Get your DD to ask her date exactly the style they do wear there. I'd guess JC Penny would be good enough of a dress for a semi-formal attire. And she wouldn't be "required" to get her hair or nails done. Most of us did that ourselves if we were good at it. As for money for dinner, again that can vary from school to school, but usually who did the asking would pay for it. I think she needs to find out from her date the real specifics of it for their school... it really can vary a lot, and unless these parents you are talking to have kids at the school, they may lead you the wrong way as well.

 

[Poohnatic]

There's a store in Potomac Mills that I think is great for promwear. Group USA-it's in the section between where the LL Bean is, and where Ikea used to be. Everything in there is reasonably priced.

MsDisney also mentioned Deb-they're good for dresses, too.

Suzanne

 

[CEDmom]

There are plenty of stores to find reasonably priced dresses. As far as all the other stuff, I went to a private school and we made much less of a big deal out of proms etc than the public schools around us. Is there any way you could contact this boys mom and ask her opinion of what the dance would be like. Just because these students have money (and you'd be suprised how many really don't have more than you) doesn't mean they go crazy over things like this. I'd think his mom would be more than happy to check with some other moms at the school to find out what most of the girls do.

 

[720L]

JC Penney sounds like a good idea. A simple black dress with nice jewelry and shoes, and get her hair done (definitely get hair done).

 

[Tiggeroo]

I've gotten alot of my dd's dresses at Boscov's. Always got good deals. Sometimes we had hair done sometimes we didn't. If you don't want to pay for beauty salon go to Claire's and get some hair accessories and play around with some styles. Payless is fine for dress shoes. No reason to spend big bucks on shoes she'll wear once. Order boutenierre (sp?) early.

 

[golfgal]

Another place to look are bridal stores. They always have clearance racks and dresses often go for less then $50. Our homecoming isn't formal, which will be nice when our kids are old enough to attend.

 

[clh2]

Try Ebay for the dress! People sell really high-end nice formal wear on there for a song. Even if you had to have it taken in a little or hemmed, it would still probably be much cheaper than buying something locally.

I'm not sure about the purse/hair/dinner thing, though.

I totally agree with checking out Ebay. Another idea, is check out if there are any resale shops somewhere nearby. At a resale shop you might not get as good of a bargain on ebay, but you do have the advantage of trying it on before it is purchased.

 

[trappednabox]

WOW!! Homecoming is really diff. then it is here in Houston! We have really casual homecomings no formals, usually jeans and tees. But ALL the girls wear huge homecoming mums.

That's where most of the money goes to pay for. I would try a bridal store for a dress too. I think I got my prom dress at Davids bridal for less then $100

 

[Poohnatic]

Trapped, yours sound like what I remember. We had a dance in the gym, which was only decorated by the stage for the band. We all wore jeans (pinstriped were the cool ones to have then!) and went stag!

Suzanne

 

[trappednabox]

Yeah, that exactly how ours was, except we had a dj not a band.

 

[Beth76]

I just wanted to add that if she's going to get her hair done, I would make an appointment for that RIGHT NOW! Around here, every stylist books up for those events very early.

 

[WDWAurora]

Prom dresses from last year are on clearance racks now! That's what I did for winter formal nearly every year and I always had an awesome dress that was WAY cheaper than the other girls' dresses. I did dept. stores in the mall for that: Belk, Dillard, Proffit's were the best ones. Hair-just have her wear it down with some cute sparkly barrettes (clips, whatever) and it'll be way cheaper. We never had makeup or nails done for winter formal (our homecoming was way casual).

 

[DizMare]

Bought my dd's at Penneys two days ago - they are having a 40% off sale on all their gowns/cocktail dresses. Very nice!

 

[EthansMom]

Your DD will need a dress, shoes, hose, etc. Does she have any friends who would lend her one of their old dresses? You could try your local consignment stores. Also, check the sales rack at the local department stores. Heck, in a pinch, you could post her dress size here and see if anyone has a spare dress in their closet. (I know I have at least one formal gown in my closet.)

I would go to Payless for the shoes since they'll be worn once. DD should probably have a purse also -- check Claire's, Walmart, and Target for an inexpensive one.

I would get DD's hair trimmed a week before the dance and then curl it and pull it back with a sparkly hair clip. Likewise, I would do the home manicure/pedicure.

You should order a flower for the guy. IMO, you can't go wrong with a single rose with baby's breath -- it's both classic and relatively affordable.

If you can borrow a dress, you could get by on less than $100. If you buy a dress, she could always wear it to a formal later at her own school.

Good Luck.

 

[Christine]

Hi everyone. Well, we are back from the mall. I had to go up to my office today, so we decided to pop into the mall close to it that has a Macy's and J.C. Penney's. We first hit JCP and found several dresses that she liked. She tried them all on (they all fit--MUST BE NICE!!!) and fell in love with a burgandy dress. The bustline was a v-style but it had some netting material over it that pulled up into a halter style and did very well on her. She is on the "small" side, so a lot of the skimpier stuff just makes her look like an overdressed child. Really this dress was so perfect on her. We then went to Macy's and, I was shocked, but they had an absolutely horrible selection of dresses. We ended up at JCP and got the burgandy dress and a matching purse. The total purchase, with tax, was $86.00. Both the dress and purse were on sale. Now for shoes...

I don't know what I will do for hair and nails. DD has fairly bad hair sorry to say. It is fine, limp and hangs there. We get it trimmed regularly but it is so hard to work with that I've had no luck doing her hair on my own. We did got to a wedding and I used the fake hair on her for an up-do and that looked good but she doesn't want to do that because she is terrified it will fall out. So, we may have to get her hair done. She also has very thin, weak nails (just like me) and they do not grow long and stay nice. So in order for her to even have nails, we will have to get them done. We were cheated in the hair and nails department!!!

Anyway, thanks for the heads up on the flower thing for the guy. I had no idea I had to order it early.

I did check with a parent who put two kids through this private school (she is my cousin) and she told me that they do not wear short dresses to the homecoming at this school. She said a handful of freshman *might* show up with a short dress but they will be in the minority and they usually never do it again. I guess it's a "bad" thing??? I also found out that at my DD's own high school, their homecoming is semi-formal but all the girls get long dresses.