<p>bunsenburner, thanks but I have used bluefly and got dresses a long time ago for my older D (when they could be shipped to our HOME!). </p>
<p>The D who needs a dress (plus the D who doesn’t) does not buy designer clothing and so names of designers won’t matter to her. My kids have had what I think of as a very nice clothing budget. They don’t have cheap clothing but it is not designer clothing. Also, my 20 year old, since she just graduated college, is now supporting herself, and the clothing budget is not from us any longer (though older D’s is from us as she is still a student). But even in the clothing budget she had with us, I would not have spent over $200 for a party dress. And I do believe a nice dress can be had for that and she could care less about designers and has never worn any. While she is trendy and a New Yorker, her roots are here in VT where nobody knows one designer from another. And she, nor we, have that kind of clothing budget, even though I think my kids’ clothing budgets have been quite generous.</p>
<p>Older D had a silk dress from J Crew last year for her college graduation dance and that is an example of a dress that younger D could buy (though was likely too conservative for her but is a great dress for my older D).</p>
<p>Is your D the one who is an actress? As you’ve mentioned, she will have lots of occasions to wear this dress…and other dressy dresses. I wish you could talk her into pounding the pavement to find the store that has “her” kind of dressy dresses; then she could find out their sale schedule, and rely on them for years to come.</p>
<p>I used to buy lots of cocktail dresses at the Talbot’s Outlet, for oh so cheap. Then they started stocking it with clothes that were way out of style and I stopped going.</p>
<p>Back to missy’s question … My 19-year-old daughter was totally unimpressed with Century 21. But I’ve heard wonderful things about Top Shop. Unfortunately, many of the local boutiques have been replaced by chain stores (H&M, Gap, Old Navy, everywhere you look). </p>
<p>Acutally, soozie – your daughter might want to go to Top Shop.</p>
<p>Are there still stores on the lower East Side (Orchard St., etc.) that sell designer stuff for low prices?</p>
<p>fireandrain…LOL, you can somewhat relate to our shopping history prior to living in NYC. :)</p>
<p>I’ll have to ask her if she knows of Top Shop. I also think she doesn’t want me to bug her about a dress, but on the other hand, she tends to appreciate when I look online and save time and find her links to this or that. </p>
<p>Missy…yes, this D is the one who is an actor/singer. She already has several performances where such a dress would be good to have but will likely wear what she has but this one coming up next month is of the sort where nothing she has should be worn (she better not!). Big NYC theater. But I see her friends in such shows and they all have these sorts of dresses and so I wonder where they shop. Then again, some may have very expensive budgets but I can’t imagine that they all do.</p>
<p>D has gotten all her dresses (cocktail to knits that are good for work/auditions) at either Ann Taylor or Ann Taylor Loft, Century 21, TJMaxx, Lord and Taylor or Bloomingdales. Also Charlotte Russe and Forever 21 may surprise you on the lower end of cost. Good luck!</p>
<p>To SVt: It can be hard to find a dress, but I’d recommend trying edressme.com–most dresses will be over your budget but some will be within it. Check the sale “rack” too. There is a real “live” store in addition to the website; Century 21–it’s very hit or miss and she might get lucky; Daffy’s–also hit or miss-- the 57th Street Store is usually best for juniors; Banana Republic–there’s one across the street from Bloomingdale’s; Macy’s; Loehman’s–also hit or miss; TJ Maxx and Filene’s Basement which are in the same building near the downtown Loehman’s, and Lord and Taylor.</p>
<p>Thanks you guys. I’m familiar with most of those stores already. This D would not shop at Ann Taylor Loft. A few years ago, she may have gotten some cheap things at Forever21 but certainly not a good dress. Doesn’t seem to shop there anymore. Charlutte Russe…is in VT and she’ll never shop in there. We have Banana Republic…not her kind of store! (Older D got some tops for her professional job this summer there though) This D is more the trendy sort but will need a dress that is not too trendy and is dressy but young. More trendy than a J Crew dress though. I often find dresses online that would work and I did last time she needed one and she actually liked some of them but found none of them in NYC. She also did not spend the time looking that time to my chagrin. This time, I think she HAS to. </p>
<p>Uskoolfish, this is for dressier than an audition. She has plenty of dresses but not of this type. (to be very honest, she has had some auditions recently and coming up where you would look anything BUT dressy)</p>
<p>What happens when you rub silk again badly silk screened shirt? Slightly dampen the silk…and the color from the shirt comes off. Whether you like the silk screen shirt or not…doesn’t matter. A correctly done silk screening won’t run. I learned this from my decorator when I bought a silk Persian rug. He, the decorator, showed me this little trick.</p>
<p>soozievt…I got what you meant…In some of those stores she has bought some dresses that were casual or trendy and others that were dressy cocktail (like appropriate for black tie.) She has also done really well in Saks (reduced rack!) for dressier occassions. For the last 3 summers she has interned at a PR firm and has needed cocktail dresses for special events. So I always keep an eye out for them if they are the right price. She currently has a great silk black and white dress in her closet that she was going to wear for a Tony Bennett benefit concert downtown 2 weeks ago, but at the last minute interns couldn’t go. I picked it up last summer at Lord and Taylor for less than $75 reduced from like $400.</p>
<p>missypie- Definitely go to Filene’s Basement and T J Maxx. I know they are chain stores but the ones in NYC always tend to have better stuff. Right now, Filene’s Basement has a ton of Vineyard Vines stuff. It’s worth it to go in more than one of each if you are in the area, sometimes they carry different stuff.</p>
<p>As for cocktail dresses, I will agree that BCBG does always have better prices in stores. Also, Anthropologie has a ton of dresses on sale right now and a lot of them are young/trendy looking.</p>
<p>uskoolfish, when she ever gets around to shopping (I think it is the last thing on her mind right now with all the shows and things she is working on), I’ll mention Lord and Taylor. </p>
<p>Ilovecrew…a few months ago, I found a few dresses from anthropologie online and she liked them and does go into that store but did not get to that store to get the dress for that occasion as she felt she had no time to shop and wore something she had for a long time that wasn’t as dressy but sufficed but would not for this upcoming thing which is a lot bigger. So, she would shop there, yes.</p>
<p>The problem with TJMaxx, Filene’s Basement, type stores in NYC is that much of the merchandise is pretty manhandled – grime, lipstick and makeup stains, etc. I only shop at a suburban TJMaxx, never at the one in NYC. Not worth the bother.</p>
<p>My D has found really nice cocktail type dresses at Macy’s and even at H&M, so it’s still worth a try even if your D hasn’t found something there in the past.</p>
<p>Brooklyn has much better shopping than Fulton St Mall. Try Williamsburg (Bedford Ave is the main shopping strip but there are tons of stores on all the other streets), or Smith St. (between Atlantic Ave and Carroll st), or Park Slope. Both areas have tons of small boutiques with unique designers that you will not find in dept. stores and although prices run the gamut, they tend to be cheaper than the small boutiques in Soho or Nolita. Williamsburg, in particular, is very popular with20-25 yr. olds. Tons to do there. My D loves to hang out there, although my S turns his nose up at it (too much hipster central).</p>
<p>I live in Brooklyn and I sincerely hope you are not still considering going to Fulton St. mall here. IT IS AWFUL!!! Sure, I buy stuff there, but it is totally not worth the trip. It is really horrible. Instead, I would suggest that you go to Soho to go shopping. Broadway is full of great little stores (mostly not mall-type stores), but very original stuff. My favorite is Anthropologie (not on Broadway, though-- it’s on West Broadway, and there are a couple more in NYC). They have a web site. But there are plenty of other places in Soho. Please avoid Fulton Mall. I hate to talk this way about my own neighborhood, but it’s the truth!</p>
<p>So confused…is Century 21 different from Forever 21? I’ve never heard of Century 21 either…
Sooze…I buy almost all my clothes online and shudder to think of ever living anywhere with a package delivery issue. My son is moving into an apartment in Boston in the Fall. No doorman. I’m curious now if he will have a similar package delivery issue. If so my credit card bill will certainly go down!</p>
<p>mousegray,
It so happens that my D lives in Williamsburg (in Brooklyn). I was just there with both my D’s and in fact, we had dinner on Bedford Avenue. And I do think my D would like smaller shops as the large department store scene in NYC overwhelms a smaller town girl. My older D actually wanted to go into one of the shops on Bedford Ave and it had closed for the night and so the next morning on our way back to VT (she was going back with us but not the D who lives in NYC) she asked to stop there and bought a bag she wanted to take to Europe (she is working in France this summer) and I actually saw a dress (not super dressy but in between) that I liked that I wanted THAT D to look at but she is not into wearing dresses and would not try it on but actually my other D would have liked it too. However, the other D flew home the next day and we went shopping (all three of us) in VT like old times. I find it funny as D lives in NYC where you can buy anything but I think she like the more manageable size of shopping in Vermont. That’s why I was irritated that there was a dress shop in VT that had so many cocktail dresses for her age that would have been great and she was not in the mood to deal with that and just wanted to buy regular clothing at Urban Outfitters, etc. that day. </p>
<p>Teriwtt, I am a catalogue shopper and have ordered from Nordstroms for myself but they are not in my state, nor NYC. My kids grew up using catalogues a lot and online shopping. The shipping with younger D now is a hassle but also she lives in the biggest city and one would think you could find anything there!! Part of it is that her lifestyle, particularly during the school year had NO free time. I wanted her to spend just 45 min. stopping by Anthropologie that time she needed a dress a few months ago and I called ahead and they had the couple of dresses she OK’d with me that I had sent links to her in email but she never took the time to get the dress that time. Low priority I guess. But there are some things she does, including a performance coming up, where she can’t be funky and will have to bite the bullet. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, back to missypie…do you guys have Urban Outfitters in your neck of the woods? If not, I think your D’s would enjoy it in NYC. Trendy and hip.</p>
Yes, they are absolutely different. Century 21 is a GREAT discount store with wonderful stuff. Forever 21 is a chain store, more for the young, hip crowd. Not that Century 21 is not hip; it is, it’s just different.</p>
<p>If your daughter is looking for a young, trendy dress, I would recommend taking a look at Betsey Johnson (I think she has three stores in Manhattan - Upper West Side, midtown and Soho). There are often dresses there on the sale rack that are amazing. </p>
<p>I would also recommend looking at Saks Fifth Avenue (yes, the one on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan). There is an entire floor dedicated to trendy, younger clothing. The best part is that the sale racks on this floor are fabulous places to find wonderful designer clothing at a great price. I’m sure your daughter will be able to find a BCBG, Betsey Johnson, DKNY or other amazing designer dress on sale!</p>