<p>A while back my daughter was quite sure that she does not want to go to prom because she thinks it is stupid to waste so much money on a prom dress, ticket etc. Then she started talking about prom the last couple of weeks, since she found out all “her friends” are going. She still thinks paying a few hundred dollars plus alteration is too much money for one event. Because of her small petite size (4’ 10", weighing less than 100lb), she cannot just go to department stores like Mayc’s or Lord & Taylor and be able to find a dress her size and I do not want to spend the kind of money at a specialty shop.</p>
<p>She also claims that prom dress must be a long dress, I thought some girls wear shorter dress, maybe I am wrong.</p>
<p>She is feeling sad not able to find a dress she likes at a reasonable cost, skipping prom will be even worse, I don’t know what to do.</p>
<p>Many girls wear long dresses, and girls who wear short may feel self conscious.
However, other schools there may be a greater mix of attire.
My oldest wore a long dress, but my youngest got dressed at a friends, so I am not sure what she ended up wearing. I think she did originally pick out a shorter dress because she thought heels were enough to have to deal with!
We went to the BCBG store at an outlet mall.
You might also find separates. My oldest who is petite but curvy on top found separates at Macys that went together although different material.</p>
<p>If even the sale rack is beyond your budget right now, there may be a local prom project in your area to help with that.</p>
<p>She’ll have a better idea of what dress length others at her prom will be wearing. There have been quite a few short prom dresses lately.</p>
<p>I’ve seen prom type dresses at shops of all price ranges. Her size is not an impediment at all. THere are any number of stores with inexpensive dresses of that sort for her size. Long or short. I don’t have girls and have not shopped in ages, but I do know that a lot of people who have dressy clothes for their size 0 and petite junior DDs are finding these special clothes at stores that sell them inexpensively. What kind of budget are thinking about? What’s “reasonable” in cost to you for a prom dress?</p>
<p>Have you checked out eBay? I just did a quick search of very small sizes (0, 2, xxs, xs, 2p) and 16000 long dresses popped up. Most of them were under 50.</p>
<p>Also, if you have an upscale consignment shop in your area, check that out. The dress could be inexpensive enough,mand then you pay for alterations.</p>
<p>Our daughter went to the prom in a $99 dress. She paid for it herself. We had agreed to lay for her dress BUT we did set a budget with her for shoes, dress, etc. she found the dress on a clearance rack at Macy’s. </p>
<p>Why don’t you give your daughter what you would like to give her towards her prom things, then if she wants to send more, she can either earn the money worki g, or you can decide to give her early birthday presents, a treat from the Easter bunny, or something like that!</p>
<p>My D got two chic BCBG long dresses for her junior and senior proms on eBay for steep discounts. The savings was more than enough to pay for any needed alterations. They weren’t latest season but who cares. </p>
<p>I think what style of dresses is normal really depends on the prom. At my school, short dresses were for homecoming, long dresses were for prom-- but prom dresses were not nearly as grand as what some of my friends on the east coast wore. My dress was $80 from Macy’s and perfectly appropriate. I have a friend in NJ who spent double on her prom dress what I recently spent on my Maggie Sottero wedding gown. I went to my cousin’s prom and wore my old Macy’s dress and was almost overdressed, but they all wore long dresses, too. I know some schools do wear short dresses. I think each school has their own culture.</p>
<p>There is some sort of group around here, might be church affiliated, that collects old prom dresses every year for people who can’t afford them. Might look for something like that to find a cheap dress OR as a way to justify spending the money elsewhere-- she can donate it later, or maybe even sell it on ebay.</p>
<p>I might be in the minority, but I would say to encourage her to go and not feel bad about the expense. Prom isn’t necessarily the greatest thing in the world, but if she thinks she might want to go she doesn’t want to look back and wish she went and imagine it as something greater than it really was. That was ultimately why I went even though I didn’t plan to, and while it wasnt the greatest night of my high school career I definitely enjoyed it more than I expected and am glad I went. You can always resell the dress on ebay or at a local used clothing store and get some of the money back.</p>
<p>Has she tried Rent the Runway? It is a website where you can rent dresses. They will send two sizes in case one doesn’t fit well. You can also see photos of other women who have rented the same dress, who tell their height and weight, to get an idea how it will look on your body type. It’s a great way to save on a dress you will only wear once.</p>
<p>My short dd got a really cute short dress that she wore to prom and then wore it to parties at college. Cost was about $30. She got it at Body Central. She looked just as good as those in very expensive dresses. Her first prom she did a typical long dress but I know the short one was her favorite. Luckily, these days, you have a lot of choices.</p>
<p>This brings back our sweet memory and we even do not have a D. (Do you think having a D will bring more fun to the parents? S does not care much about what he wears in general.) But we remember we needed to buy a nice wrist corsage for the girl DS took to the Prom. The girl’s family drove them to the city where the prom took place and we drove them back. I think it was the first time they were allowed (by girl’s family) to go out one-on-one between them in the evening and they had a great time that evening.</p>
<p>I think it is a tradition for the boy to buy a corsage for the girl. Is it right? At least we think this should be the case back then. </p>
<p>I remember we originally ordered a corsage from the school, but it looks so bad and of such a low quality that we went out to buy a better one in the last two days. DS knew the color of the girl’s dress by then, so we could buy one with matching color.</p>
<p>Another vote for figuring out a way for her to go. If she doesn’t she will always wonder what if? Many adults will agree when looking back that their prom was not worth the money, but how do you tell your kid that? Around here I see more short dresses than long at prom, but it is a personal choice. It you can somehow afford it I would go for it. </p>
<p>At my older D’s school, some wore long dresses, some short. I’m seeing the prom dresses in the stores starting to arrive and I’m seeing both. A short dress would need less altering-that’s how younger D’s fiend deals with the length issue. The outlet mall near us has at least two, maybe three special event dress shops. I’m sure you could find an affordable one there. But if you have any consignment shops nearby, those can be goldmines. Even Goodwill-ours has special prom season displays and the teenagers I see shopping there aren’t always low-income. Thanks to Macklemore, thrift shopping is hip now.</p>
<p>You might also try online. My sister and both her D’s for some reason have been in several weddings recently, and several of the wedding parties have gone online for their dresses. You can shop by height, size, etc. They’ve found some lovely options. Good luck-we’ve got another couple of years to go before our next prom.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your suggestions. My daughter is so very picky. She wears size 00 jeans, casual dress in xs sizes. She has looked at dresses in different stores at the mall when we went shopping in the last couple of months, nothing she likes comes in size 0, forget about size 00. She wishes she is more of a “normal” size where one can find some good bargains on clearance racks.</p>
<p>I think because she is so short, she will look better in shorter dress, but she wouldn’t hear of it. I told her to check with her friends to see what they will be wearing. We do not have any upscale consignment store in the area, have a Goodwill and a Red, White and Blue, but they have mostly junky stuff, unlike some of the CC members who always brag about the good buys at the thrift stores in their area.</p>
<p>I will tell her to browse ebay site. I try not to spend more than $100 for the dress. She did not bother with junior prom, but I agree if she does not go to senior prom, she will regret it.</p>
<p>For my daughter’s prom most girls wore short dresses. Very short dresses. Ms. Ellebud’s dress was purchased on super sale Last Call for $90…down from $600. BCBG has wonderful sales. My best opinion: a black dress, short, that your daughter will be able to wear again. </p>
<p>My D is 95 pounds and a size 0 or 00, 5’2". We generally could find ONE long dress in the entire two large shopping malls that fit her with only hemming (which I did). Generally the dress was about $100 and she has re worn one of them for an elegant evening event. Some of her classmates did use 2nd hand from dibs or thrift shops. A few spent a LOT of money–many times what we spent on D. </p>
<p>We were glad she attended because she wanted to attend with her friends and make memories. </p>
<p>Here in NY, I see all kinds of cheap dresses in all sizes. By cheap I mean under $30 for a fancy long dress. Not saying they were good quality, but with costume jewelry, young fresh looks and the evening lighting and corsage, anything looks terrific. My friend got bridesmaids dresses on the cheap by calling Ross es all over the country to get a half dozen of a certain dress in the sizes of her DD’s brides maids and they got those for under fifty bucks, and they looked fabulous. Her son’s wedding featured rental dresses for under a hundred which is also an option. Those were amazing dresses that would retail for several times that price but rent out for far less. </p>