<p>Classof2015, The girls in my son’s 8th grade class wore long white gowns for graduation, boys wore white pants and their navy school blazers. While it annoyed me to buy white pants for exactly one wearing I felt I got off cheap!</p>
<p>I have bought my nieces prom gowns at around $370-$400 each. I never told my sister the budget I had in mind and she was urging her daughter to try on a $700 dress. Luckily my niece glanced at the price and refused to try it on. I hope my sister hadn’t seen the tag or else I’d be a little annoyed! I don’t have any daughters, just an only son so it’s nice for me to go along for the shopping excursions and splurge a bit. One niece borrowed a pair of shoes from me for her prom. They looked amazing with her dress. They’ve also borrowed jewelry. It’s fun to play fairy godmother.</p>
<p>No dinners served to prom go-ers in our big school district high schools. So in addition to tickets and clothes, they also have to go out to dinner or get someone’s parents to feed a group in their homes. Then there is the limo. or party bus ride from the suburbs into the city where the prom is held that must be paid for.</p>
<p>Funny this thread popped. I was trying on dresses in a big mall dept. store last weekend.
In the dressing room beside me were two or three girls trying on prom dresses. Listening to the comments was very entertaining. I heard one ask another about how much money she could spend on the dress. Her reply was “Dad said $200 but I’m sure I can get more than that out of him!”</p>
<p>Yes, dresses for my daughter cost up to $400, but she also had some under $100. One year a school nearby, had a swap and she was able to trade some in and pick out a few new.</p>
<p>Everything is expensive, but these things are up to the individual families, if you have it to spend, go for it. If money is tight, check out other options that would still put a smile on your daughters face…ebay has something for everyone!</p>
<p>I have sewn for years. I made two of my four prom dresses so many decades ago. My daughter actually asked me to make two of her homecoming dresses and I made one for one of her friends as well. It floored me that she wanted me to sew for her. Oh the good old days…</p>
<p>My daughter’s high school requires a white dress for graduation, and of course, it was only worn once. All of the girls chose short dresses, and they did look wonderful. The boys were required to wear navy blazers and tan pants. </p>
<p>Last year, with all of the end of year dances, parties and such, I think I bought about six dresses. But, I did know ahead of time that it would be a big year for dresses! She wore each one a few times, except for the graduation and prom dresses. Her prom dress was a very un-glitzy silk jersey Pucci halter gown - very different from her classmates’ vavoom styles. It looked great and I hope she does have the occasion to wear it again this year.</p>
<p>At my son’s hs, the girls routinely spend $300 and up on their gowns. But prom is the only formal dance they attend, though they do wear white gowns for graduation.</p>
<p>More importantly, it is well within the means of the majority of families and I guess the parents feel it is worth it. Since I have a son (who was able to wear hubby’s tux), I didn’t have to go through the whole dress thing but we did spend in excess of $300 on prom tickets, after-prom, corsage and picture packages -both his junior and senior year. In an expensive private school that is pretty much the norm. You have a lot of upper middle class families who can afford it.</p>
<p>Classof2015-
Aha we had to wear white floor length dresses, and white/silver/bone shoes or we weren’t allowed to walk at graduation. Our gowns were silver though. Boys had to have black pants and a suit jacket</p>
<p>I don’t feel bad spending what we did on D’s dresses, as I believe I have only bought about 5 dresses total for her since middle school, including 2 for proms, one (short) for a wedding and 2 (short) for winter balls. Fortunately, it worked out OK for our budget and she loves the dress we bought for the wedding & has worn it several times since. One of the winter ball gowns she has also worn for a wedding. She does plan to wear the other gown as well. She outgrew (literally) the winter ball dresses and the total price for the two dresses was about $60, I think.</p>
<p>D & her friends never wear clothing to impress anyone, just attire they are comfortable in & fit their budget. She rarely will even go shopping for clothing, so when we shop & find things we both love that look fabulous on her, we purchase. Her favorite store is Ross. :)</p>
<p>* in our town, the <em>tradition</em> is that the senior girls wear white floor length gowns for graduation. If there’s anything that can’t be worn more than once, it’s a white floor length gown you buy when you’re 17/18.*</p>
<p>I think some enterprising seamstress could get some business in this town by offering to make these dresses in a few different styles.</p>
<p>The Actives in my college sorority all had a matching gown, sleeveless, with a surplice neckline that was flattering on nearly every figure type. A local seamstress used to make them for around $35 each. Certainly, the cost would be higher now, but not ridiculously so, since it was an easy pattern to make.</p>
<p>“My daughter’s high school requires a white dress for graduation, and of course, it was only worn once. All of the girls chose short dresses, and they did look wonderful. The boys were required to wear navy blazers and tan pants.” </p>
<p>Gourmetmom: is this a public high school? What do they do if someone refuses?</p>
<p>Our public high school girls wear light colored graduation gowns, so they wear white underneath so it doesn’t show through. They have a practice with robes to check that everyone is in compliance and if they are not, they do not march in the graduation ceremony.</p>
<p>We did get the dress last night. H came along to bargain with the folks at the store, only to be told that there is no bargaining She looked gorgeous in the dress and after he saw her in it, he didn’t have the heart to say no! This is the first time she has gotten a dress over 50$! The last time she was shopping for a junior prom dress, she found one she loved on clearance for 40$. Prior to that, she found a dress to wear for a bar mitzvah for 10$!! Doesn’t get any better than that…</p>
<p>^^ditto on the white dresses for private school graduation; </p>
<p>we asked our daughter and she has already said that she thinks her grad dress is more important than her prom dress and will be “shopping” accordingly…</p>
<p>not sure why, but it seems that proms from private school are less of a “production” than publics…my older daughter graduated from local public and the prom was the “thing” starting in February…by the time we got to the “dress” we were tapped out; she had to pay for it herself…</p>
<p>younger daughter at private doesn’t even know where or when the prom is…and I think is going to have to be convinced by her friends to even attend…</p>
<p>At our D’s private HS, all the girls wear matching white floor length gowns. A friend offered her D’s to our D, but our D had no need for one, as she left HS after JR year to start CC. That’s an original way to avoid the whole grad clothing issue. I believe we paid $17.50 in cash so she could have a disposable grad gown to graduate with her GED the following spring, when her classmates were buying their white floor length dresses. </p>
<p>To date, I am unaware of any of the young women ever wearing their dresses a 2nd time. We never found out the prices of these dresses, which look nice on some but not so nice on others (depends on figure, height, etc.) Since at her former private school, the class chooses ONE style, you would stick out of you didn’t buy the same style as your peers from the same company (not sure if its even allowed).</p>
<p>I never went to the prom, but my best girlfriend attended several (sometimes in the same year, with different guys from different schools!) Anyway, this was the mid 80’s, and I remember she found a dress that was $100 - a lot of money at the time. Her mother refused to buy it, stating that her own wedding dress didn’t even cost $100!</p>
<p>I sewed all my fancy dresses & prom gowns or would have had to borrow my sister’s or go without (we weren’t quite the same size–she was more buxom then I and slimmer and taller). Many of my outfits I was able to wear for several other occasions (I felt I ought to since I put so much work into making them)! </p>
<p>I stopped sewing the day in my early 20s that I realized that my aunt who was about 30+ pounds heavier than me was sewing the same size and I fit things just perfectly off the rack & had the income I earned to purchase clothing instead of fabric & patterns.</p>
<p>My wedding gown was about $150 with tax and alterations. Borrowed sister’s gown & mom’s wedding cake topper.</p>
<p>Here is the answer to your prayers for a prom dress:</p>
<p>www .renttherunway. com</p>
<p>You get a membership and you can rent a dress for 4 or 8 days. We just rented a $600 Nicloe Miller dress for my daughter’s prom for $100. They will send you two styles of dresses for an extra fee and you can also get two sizes.</p>
<p>They have FANTASTIC customer service! They will chat with you about shoe selection,etc.</p>
<p>You get the dress via UPS and it comes with a mailer. You just put the dress in the envelope and mail it back–no dry cleaning.</p>
<p>Perfect for homecoming, prom, and all those formals in between. Rentals from $50 to $300.</p>
She looked gorgeous in the dress and after he saw her in it, he didn’t have the heart to say no! This is the first time she has gotten a dress over 50$! The last time she was shopping for a junior prom dress, she found one she loved on clearance for 40$. Prior to that, she found a dress to wear for a bar mitzvah for 10$!! Doesn’t get any better than that…</p>