How much would you spend on your dd's prom dress?

[Scrapper007]

Our oldest went to her Freshman prom two years ago and her dress was right around $125. She didn't go last year, but she is going this year. She has her heart set on a dress -- for $400! I think that's pretty steep. I am thinking $200 and under is reasonable. Just curious what you all think/what you would spend..

[rach3975]

This is coming from a mom whose DD is only 2, but I wouldn't spend $400. I was my sister's maid of honor in the fall, and I gave myself a budget of $300. The dress I chose was about half that, but unfortunately the 2 small alterations it needed ended up being crazy expensive because of the design of the dress (boning in the bodice and multiple layers in the skirt). I think $150 to $200 is reasonable, and anything beyond that she could make up the difference herself. That was my mother's solution when we wanted something that cost more than she thought was reasonable.

[Misty Cato]

Hmmmm ... well my daughter is 3 so clearly I'm not ready to tackle these dilemmas yet. My first instinct would be to look around and see what the general price range is and pick an amount where she would have some choices, but at the lower end of the range. Then if she wanted something more expensive, she could chip in or do extra work at home to earn it. That way it wouldn't be easy for her to pick an expensive dress because it's 'mom's money.'

[Megan Turnidge]

I had to buy my own dresses... most of mine came from clearance racks or Ross. I saved up for a dress I LOVED for my senior prom and it was about $150 and that was the most I spent on any of my formal/prom dresses. As a mom, I absolutely would not spend $400 on a dress for a dance.

[jessica31876]

when I bought my daughters dresses for any event whether it be a formal party, prom or homecoming I paid around 20 dollars for the dress. She bought three herself. One was like 45, another was 25 and the other was 180. Shoes were usually more then the dress. I shopped at stores like TJ Maxx, Ross and Marshalls. I could share some pictures of her dresses if youd like to see them. They arent like super fluffy type dresses and her homecoming dresses were not all long (she is super short though so even shorter dresses are longer on her). Anyhow I think it is possible to get a nice dress for less if you shop around and check stores like TJ Maxx, Ross & Marshalls. The one my daughter bought she bought at Dillards and it was full length with lots of embroidery and a corset in the back. It was really pretty and even it was only 180.

[SarahMD]

I say Vote NO to the dress that costs $400!!

I still had my parents buy all my high school dresses, they ranged from $21 to I think the most expensive dress I had bought MIGHT have neared $100.... but I never went over, as a high schooler I didn't see any reason in buying a dress that expensive since I might wear it just that once. I even doubled up, if I wore a dress for Freshman Prom, it would be next years homecoming or winter formal dress

[Milmomma]

My prom dress was 145$, and I thought it was steep then.
Now we go to balls 3-4 times a year which I have to buy formal dresses for. I try to keep my cost from 90-150$ at most each time. I think for my daughters Sr Prom her limit will be 200$, all other proms limit of 150 max. You can find some nice dresses for 150$. But I'm more worried about the style/coverage, than the cost sadly. The way most now days are so skimpy.

[emmasmommy]

i'd never spend $400 on a dress for my daugher OR myself. i'd say about $200 would be my limit.

[NeverendingJen]

150 to 200 for dress and accessories. When I went, the most expensive any of my dresses was $50, but I shopped thrift stores and friends siblings closets and remade a lot of dresses. We all did because we were all stingy, lol.

Even my wedding dress cost less than 200....I just don't see the point in paying a fortune for a dress my daughter will only wear for less than 6 hrs. Weddings are one thing, but prom is totally different

[MamaBee]

Hmm... I think my dress was $150? I'll have to ask my mom on that... I can't believe she would have spent that much on a one time dress... it must have been $50. But that was *gulp* 15 years ago! It was from a second hand wedding shop... I could have rented it or purchased it... I purchased it because it was the only dance I went to in all of high school.

Then like 5 years ago, I went shopping with my SIL who was still in high school for her dress - she ended up getting a very nice one (even though I thought it was too low cut for a 15 year old... )... that was $80 from JCPenney's.

Do you have a prom exchange near you - they sell consignment prom dresses...

[ZaCola3]

Well...I'm not sure what to tell you, I think you have to judge for yourself what your family can afford.
I can however tell you that I went Prom dress shopping with one of Zachary's friends 3 weeks ago and her dress cost $650! Yes-that is not a typo-the dress was nearly ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS! The deal that Meg made with her mom was that she would pay anything over $300 dollars-that was the limit of what her parents would pay. Meg has a job, so she had to think really hard and decided if the dress was worth her hard earned money-she ultimately decided it was. It is a gorgeous dress-but I admit to being totally gobsmacked at the price. I had no idea.
I have since asked around, and found out that $400 is pretty customary for a brand new prom dress. Unreal IMO.
We have some great re-sale shops around here that offer used dresses anywhere from $75-$200 bucks...any chance of any of those around you?
Good luck making your decision. It is one of those times that I'm glad I only have boys and $150 gets his tuxedo rental including shoes!

[mummytothree]

Well I know what my mom spent on mine (Jr year $500 and Sr year $650) and I think she was slap crazy!!! But that was what the style was and what the girls wore in the 1990's.

I however WILL NOT be spending that much on my 2 DD's dresses. First off, prom is only for Jr's and Sr's and I figure for those 2 years I will let them spend between $200 and $300 hundred dollars. If they get asked their Fr & Sophomore years (by an older boy) I'll give them a $100 "allowance" or they will have to borrow a dress.

I'm actually a pretty good seamstress...so I'm hoping they will both "want" me to make them their dresses!!!

[SweetMelissa]

My most expensive dress was $150. The rest were all under $100. I think that I would spend about $100 for Freshmen, Sophomore, Jr year and for her senior prom I would let her spend a little bit more.

My sister had more expensive tastes then me so my parents paid the first $100 and then anything over that she had to pay (expect for senior prom then they paid the fist $150).

[crecia27]

Wow, having a boy is so much easier apparently! $400 is many people's food budget for an entire month. I guess I need to start saving now even though my daughter is only in 1st :-)

[pewtertm]

400---ouch! That's how much my wedding dress cost in 2004 and I felt bad spending that much on it. LOL.
At this point in time, for junior or senior prom, I'd probably put a 150-200 limit on it...because you'll also be shelling out for shoes, clutch, hair, nails, etc.
I have to agree with the PP...if she was younger and asked by an older boy, I'd put a lower limit on it.

[maryinaz]

I work in the prom dress industry and $400 is not unusual. However, me, personally, would never pay that much. I too am thankful that I have only boys and several brand new tuxes in the closet!

[kim21673]

Well, I don't have a daughter and can just go by what my mom spent on me! LOL

My junior prom my dress was almost $400. I went shopping with a friend and her mom and found THE DRESS. I called my mom and she said NO....called back and she said do what you think is best...I came home with the dress....back then kids could use their parent's credit cards!!! My mom told me I was getting married and burried in that dress!

My senior year...I went to a bridal show and the dress I ended up getting was in the show. It was right around $150.

BTW...my first prom dress almost cost as much as my wedding dress!!!! My limit was $400 for a dress and I went over by under $75.

[HeatherKS]

Where I went to high school we had an all-school prom so you could go all four years regardless of if you were going with an upperclassman or not. My freshman year dress came from a consignment store for like $25, sophomore and junior year dresses were purchased on clearance for around $75 each and my senior year dress was the most expensive one at $125. I had to beg my mom for that one. LOL I'm thinking now that anything under $200 sounds pretty good. I can't imagine $400, but considering my oldest dd is just in 3rd grade, I really don't know what is normal.

I agree with whoever said that whatever is the right price is what you can afford in your budget. If you can afford the $400 dress, go for it, but if it's going to cramp the rest of your spending, work with her to find an alternative.

[mariewilcox]

$400 - No. I know they can be costly but I would make her dress before I spent $400 (yes, I actually could make it myself, but it would be much easier to spend half that and not hassle with making it - LOL).

When I was in high school Gunne Sax dresses by Jessica McClintock were all the rage. Fortunately, my very close cousin lived just minutes away from an outlet in the San Diego area. I would send her $100 every year that my 3 friends and I went to the Sr. prom (3 years) and she would pick out 4 dresses and ship them to us. We would then pick which one we wanted and we were set for 25 bucks each. I have no idea if Gunne Sax is even a brand that is still made - if they are I'll be sending same cousin money for DD's prom dresses when the time comes!

[newfiemountiewife]

Here, people spend crazy amounts, like $800!!! My dress was around $200, it was hand sewn. I would spend $400 if I could afford it, but I wouldn't put myself in the hole over it!

I spent $150 on a skating dress for my daughter last year, and my wedding dress was $1200. I don't mind spending money on dresses obviously lol

[taracotta7]

When I was in High School (Grad '95) our proms were high dollar. It was an amazing event that was at a huge banquet hall or neat location. I graduated with over 650 students. MOST of the girls at my school (including myself) wore pagent dresses. My junior year dress was $300 ish? I can't exactly remember. My senior dress was $600. I did have to chip in for my senior dress. I think I spent $200 of my own money on it. That did not include the jewelry and shoes each year.....which I always paid for. I would say the average cost of a dress for our prom was $400-500. I was also in homecoming court for college and that dress cost about $500.

Now that I am a parent.....I am looking at that thinking, "WOW!". I have shopped with my teenage daughters for their dresses (3 of them are out of high school now) but none of them were into getting really fancy. I think the most spent for them was $250. Not because of the budget I set. It just happened to be the dress they fell in love with.

[nun69]

I am not sure that even if I could afford it, I would spend $400 on a prom dress...MY dd is pretty trhrifty and money savvy so lucky for me SHE will shop around and find somethign she really likes Here Prom is ONLY for Seniors so this is the only year she is going....but I will probably spliurge and spend up to $150 for her including shoes. My DD is more of a tomboy than anything, so I don't spend alot of money on shoes for her because she never wears them again! Bought her shoes for homecoming and befor ethe night was over she was in MY flip flops that I brought for myself!! {I was chaperoning and changed at a friend's house before going} Their prom is not until May 21st, so I suspect will start looking around in April....

[Julie Billingsley]

I know Lynnette has talked about the Rent The Runway website before so I thought I'd mention it if she doesn't pop into this thread. Maybe that would help your daughter get the dress she wants without the crazy price.

[tuneskids]

I am so thankful they don't do things like this here. There are high school dances, but no biggies, until you actually graduate from high school. So only one dress is required.
My grad dress cost ... $0 - yup, nothing. I borrowed a dress from a friend's older sister. I was a single parent by the time I graduated, and I couldn't afford anything fancy, so my friend's sister gave me one of her old dresses (she had two, one for the dinner and one for the dance, she purchased both herself), and did my hair & makeup for free.

I do know that I will allow Jenna to spend up to $100 this year, for her dress & shoes, for her elementary school graduation (it's kinda a big deal here when you leave the elementary school for the high school).
And when it comes time for her actual high school graduation, there will be a $200 limit from us, for the dress.

[ColleenSwerb]

I think my Jr Prom dress was around $100, and my Sr Prom dress was like $75 (I found it in January, lol, it was marketed for NYE but I fell in love with it).

I think $400 is too much. I would think that $150 would be reasonable, higher for Sr Prom. But who knows, I won't have a prom aged kid for 20 more years, LOL!

[Shawna]

I graduated in 1996 and went to Prom my sophomore, junior and senior years (would of gone freshman year too but got grounded right before and didn't get to go lol). My dresses sophomore and junior year both came from Maurice's and I'm pretty sure both were under $100 each. My Mom would never have bought me a $400 dress back then!! My Senior year I bought my dress at Dillard's (had a job by then and paid for it myself) and it was probably between $100-150, it was a Jessica McClintock dress and was my most favorite of all my dresses! I actually still have all three of my prom dresses and my girls use them for dress-up dresses now lol!!

[Scrapper007]

Thanks ladies for the replies. DH and I do NOT plan on spending more than $150 or so ($200 with shoes). If she wants the $400 dress, she can make up the difference. She doesn't work, so I'm not sure how she would do that...but if she wants it that badly, then I guess she can always pull money from her bank account (birthday money, etc.). I really think that $400 is ridiculous for a dress that will be worn for only a couple of hours.

[nanienamou]

I don't have girls, but I don't think I would spend that much.

I graduated in 1998 and my dress cost 20 $ on the clearance rack! It was an awesome silver dress and I had it altered a bit for 50 $. With shoes and purse, I don't think my parents spent more than 125 $.

[Amber1279]

my most expensive prom dress was $225 (in 1996) ... my wedding dress was almost $700 (custom made in 2009)

[lauren grier]

My Sr Prom dress was $50. Second hand bridal/prom dress store FTW.

[jessica31876]

One thing to consider is you can put the dress on ebay once she has worn it and list a buy it now price instead of auction to resell it. I dont think they have a time limit on buy it now or at least Im pretty sure they dont because I saw an item that has been listed since December on there the otherr day when I was browsing the site. Also consignment stores will take the dress and sell it for you so you dont have to handle any of the haggling etc. I know one of the things I really hated when my daughter spent so much on her dress for just the one night that it would be the only night she would wear it. She is planning on selling her dress on ebay before prom now which is in late April here. So she will get some of the 180 back that she spent on it.

[color of my heart]

mom made all 4 of my prom dresses. i think the most that was spent on materials was $100 per dress. and they were all perfect. i kept two, the others got donated.

i grew up in a town with money. and i, like everyone else, would but the prom magazines and look at the pictures, and then go and see how much the dresses were. a girl my junior year had a $850 dress. and it looked awful on her. whereas i, with my custom fit dress, got compliments. and my senior year, a girl in my class asked my mother to make her a dress as well. which was amazing. and she got so many compliments on that dress as well.

anyway. i agree with everyone else- if she wants the $400 dress, she should have to pay the difference. if you and your hubby are only willing to pay $200, she needs to come up with the other $200. it's only fair.

[lovely1m]

I do not have a dd, but both of my dresses cost $100. This was a little over 10 years ago though, but I did buy my own dresses. I think maybe that helps kept things in perspective.

[gracelikerain]

Wow, am I cheap or what? My wedding dress was from the clearance rack and cost $100. I had a hand-made prom dress (yikes, back in 1990) that I know didn't cost any more than that.

I can't imagine spending more than $100 on a prom dress. But yes, I'm fully aware that I'm on the cheap side of frugal

[marnel]

136 w/accessories that's what I paid for My dd's Prom dress and that's not counting shoes, hair and ticket so add it all up and it'll be under 300.00 it's so not cheap and my dd is grateful to have even gotten that dress
My limit was 150.00 so she made it and I was as happy as she was! IMO $400 is way to much
Hope you guys can come to a middle!

[DawnMarch]

I'd think $150 would be a reasonable limit. I'd probably go up to $200, but it'd have to be a pretty d*mn nice dress.

[FrancisMen]

Originally Posted by NeverendingJen

150 to 200 for dress and accessories. When I went, the most expensive any of my dresses was $50, but I shopped thrift stores and friends siblings closets and remade a lot of dresses. We all did because we were all stingy, lol.

Even my wedding dress cost less than 200....I just don't see the point in paying a fortune for a dress my daughter will only wear for less than 6 hrs. Weddings are one thing, but prom is totally different

it is surely the most difficult decision I have ever made.. There are so many wonderful dresses and very expensive too.. I gifted my bride dress of $500...

[staciahall]

My daughter went to prom in 2009. I remember shopping the entire day with her to find a dress, having no luck at all. We went into a tiny little dress shop and she found the ONE. When I saw her in that dress, I would have paid dearly for her to have it. It really was that beautiful! We were lucky it was 40% off, right at $200 I think. She didn't have her nails done but did get her hair done. I can't imagine spending $400 on a dress though...

[glumirk]

I didn't spend anything on my dresses... Jr year I borrowed a dress, and Sr year I was a bridesmaid for my brother's wedding, and my mom made the dress and I snuck another use out of it for prom. I wasn't really into high school aside from academics, so it wasn't a big deal to me.

[jenny]

Mine were under $100. I think $400 is kind of extreme for a prom dress, believe it or not that's more than double what my wedding dress cost me

[Sherri Tierney]

I didn't realize how old this thread was! To think it was a couple of years ago... I wonder how the prices vary now.

I have a daughter who will be 11 in a few days, so we have some time before Prom. However, I can't foresee paying anything more than $100 really. Luckily I'm a great bargain hunter.

I didn't go to Prom at all. I had no desire to, especially considering I had activities going on through church and other clubs both times. I didn't miss it at all. Looking back, it's a good thing I didn't go. We couldn't afford even $50 for a dress back then.

[lingovise]

my parents would have had a huge laugh if i had ever asked for a $400 dress for a school dance. not. even. i went to prom all four years and either shopped in the closets of my girlfriends or at the local thrift/consignment shop.

[KristinCB]

$200 would be my limit and here in canada you really just have your one big grad dress.. we don't have lots of proms just grad

[origami]

Originally Posted by KristinCB

$200 would be my limit and here in canada you really just have your one big grad dress.. we don't have lots of proms just grad

Canadians seem to be very sensible.

[MissKim]

My daughter's dress was $80 but I had a coupon code (ordered online) and it was only $60ish with shipping. She wanted short and fun and original. We ordered it from ModCloth and no one had anything like it. With shoes, earrings, necklace, and purse, we probably spent $125 or so. Hair and nails was another $50. We paid the whole thing.

I think for senior year we'll set a $100 limit and if the dress she wants is more than that, she can pay the difference. I just can't spend a lot of money for a dress she wears once. My younger daughter is already taller and bigger than my high school daughter so it's not like we can hand it down and make alterations, either.

[disneyaddict]

My cousin paid $550, and my sister-in-law paid a bit more in 2011 and 2012. Both dresses were gorgeous.

[marnel]

My dd's dress was around a hundred bucks plus shoes. $400 is outta the question w/3 other kids at home for us or not I'd still say NO!
I went the other day to JCPenney and they had prom dresses for $15 - $40 in all sizes. I was like whattttt? I'd loved to have those prices when I was looking for a dress last year.
She did reuse her dress for an end of the year show the following year so it was ok, it's now sitting in her closet.

[Paula]

I won't spend more than $150. But, I only spent $150 to make my own wedding dress. I don't see the need in spending tons of money on a dress that will be worn once.

[carriesmom]

I think I spent about $120 on my dress and I felt guilty about that. I would have a hard time dropping $400 on a dress for a prom. Particularly not a senior prom. But if it is within your budget and you don't have a problem spending that, then that is the decision your family can make. I would probably do like a lot of other ladies have said. Set a "budget" and your daughter pay whatever is over that budget.

[Julie Billingsley]

It cracks me up this thread keeps popping up! It's from 2 years ago I think her daughter is probably graduated by now!