[AnnieApple]

My daughter is leaving school this year and has her prom in July. Her friends are all looking at £300 dresses :-0 . I've been looking at some on ebay which are made and shipped from China which are coming in around the £80 mark.

Has anyone used any of these or can recommend any cheaper prom dress sites here in the UK?

She's looking at floor length fishtail or mermaid style dresses.

Thanks for any advice.

[Aesa]

One of my friends ordered a dress from eBay shipped from China for one of the end of year balls we had at university - despite ordering it a month in advance, it arrived on the day of the ball (just as she was getting ready to run into town to buy a replacement!), a different colour and a size too small.

Not saying that all experiences are like that, but just be sure to check the seller's feedback etc properly before you place an order!

[SupernovaNebula]

Where did your daughter's friends buy there dresses from? Do they have any cheaper ones? Have you tried the high street?

[Baban]

There's a lot of great places online to buy, if your a little cautious however about buying something online, you could always go to somewhere like topshop or debenhams, they often have nice expensive but not too expensive dresses, also missguided.co.uk is amazing for dresses, and has a few prom style dresses, such as this one http://www.missguided.co.uk/harriet-...xi-dress-46882

Not sure what ordering off missguided is like, I've had good experiences with them but some people say otherwise.

Here's a few UK prom dress sites around the £100-£150 mark you might like to try, a little expensive but they look like lovely dresses
http://www.dresseshouse.co.uk/
http://www.bride-dress.co.uk/
http://dress.vponsale.co.uk/long-pro...c-307_309.html

Good luck!

[boredof_lurking]

Goddiva do some stunning dresses and are very reasonably priced.
I've bought several evening dresses from them, plus many many daywear dresses and am chuffed every time.

http://www.goddiva.co.uk/Home/evening-dresses

[lea_uk]

This site is pretty good. I love this dress https://www.sexyher.co.uk/product-Lo...dress-519.html
Ignore the fact it has "sexy" in the url, many of the dresses will be suitable for your daughter.

[ilove2dook]

Coast have some stunning dresses. I'd try there. And lipsy had some mermaid styles in however I think the quality of lipsy dresses aren't the best and I'm not sure if the mermaid dress is even in stock now as I was looking at Xmas time!

http://reviews.next.co.uk/4377-en_gb...ws/reviews.htm

http://www.lipsy.co.uk/store/vip-dre...is-VP00081_051

http://www.lipsy.co.uk/store/dresses...is-DR06759_011

Phase 8 had a nice mermaid dress in recently too.
Tried this on in real life, it didn't look like much on the website but looked fabulous on, a real hour glass shape

http://www.phase-eight.co.uk/fcp/pro...ress/201926050

[AnnieApple]

Thanks so much for the replies - I am busy checking out the recommended sites. At first glance the sexyher site looks promising.

I am looking to spend under £100 for the dress if possible as she needs to get shoes and accessories as well as getting her hair and nails done and forking out for a limo and the prom ticket itself.

I don't remember all of this when we had our "leavers disco" back in the eighties!

[jarryhack]

Originally Posted by AnnieApple

Thanks so much for the replies - I am busy checking out the recommended sites. At first glance the sexyher site looks promising.

I am looking to spend under £100 for the dress if possible as she needs to get shoes and accessories as well as getting her hair and nails done and forking out for a limo and the prom ticket itself.

I don't remember all of this when we had our "leavers disco" back in the eighties!

I was just saying the same as my Son leaves this year, luckily the boys don't cost as much to kit out, we have got a £35 'prom package' from a local hire shop, suit (dinner jacket), trousers, shirt and tie. The tickets are £30 each and I think we have to chip in for a limo. Our leavers disco was £1.00 to get in and if we were lucky we got a new outfit, we never had a 'date', I remember the boys all down one side and the girls all down the other lol

[picklesandginge]

What sort of style is she going for? Prom dresses are such a huge rip off!

Dresses from Coast are lovely, but they're often still £100+. Try ASOS, they have a lot of lovely, fancy dresses (both long and short) that would be perfect and are a lot cheaper. If you can get to any big high street store they often have a lot of dresses that would be appropriate for a lot cheaper. My sister got her bridesmaids' dresses from h&m for £30 and they were beautiful.

[AnnieApple]

Sorry can't quote posts as I'm a bit new to all this, but yes its expensive - her ticket alone is £45. Worst of all my second daughter leaves next year and if I mention reusing the dress I'm getting daggers from both of them!

She wants one that is quite formal. Full length, corseted with a fishtail or mermaid skirt. She wants it in a dark green colour too, she is quite specific, which makes it hard to look for a bargain! We've got a while to look but I think she may have to compromise if a good deal is spotted.

Gonna go into town next weekend to try some on just to make sure of the right colours for her skin tone. She is very pale - a proper english rose complexion.

[picklesandginge]

Ah it's a lot more tricky if she has something specific in mind, and by the sounds of it something very 'prommy.' Maybe look into buying the material and getting it made up?. If you don't know anyone who can sew then a lot of those wedding/prom shops will have seamstresses who can make it for the fraction of the price.

Otherwise look into ebay or Asos marketplace, but make sure you leave plenty of time for it to arrive!

https://marketplace.asos.com/search?...dress&oss_ss=1

[eluf38]

Ebay or Preloved - loads of girls buy their massively overpriced, over-sized prom dresses and then sell them because they're too big to store!
You could even get a mermaid-style wedding dress and dye it a colour of your daughter's choice?

Something like this?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FISH-TAIL-...item3a7e0f40d3

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Stunning-L...item589b5bb0bc

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BNWT-FOREV...item53f402ba82

I do pity parents today. Proms have been blown out of proportion - I've seen some dresses which must have cost the same as a wedding dress; and if everybody has them it must be hard to try and persuade your daughter that an off-the-peg debut from Debenhams ballgown is good enough.

I remember paying £80 for my sixth form dress and thinking it too much money for one item of clothing (however lovely it was) but £8o would be considered nothing by a lot of girls now. The £300+ dresses seem to be the norm!

[loddellbosh]

Originally Posted by AnnieApple

My daughter is leaving school this year and has her prom in July. Her friends are all looking at £300 dresses :-0 . I've been looking at some on ebay which are made and shipped from China which are coming in around the £80 mark.

Has anyone used any of these or can recommend any cheaper prom dress sites here in the UK?

She's looking at floor length fishtail or mermaid style dresses.

Thanks for any advice.

My sister got one from China last year. She ordered it a few months in advance as the website said it would take a month to arrive. I think it was exactly a month, and it looked exactly as it did on the website. The only problem was it was too big because the sizes weren't too clear (we ordered the smallest one they had), but that was easily solved by a neighbour who does alterations.

[shakeyershammy]

http://www.rubyprom.com is a good site - dresses from around £80 upwards

[stud u like]

Fancy dress shops hire them out.

[Steve Pearce]

We used this shop http://www.fabfrocks.co.uk/promdresses.html when my daugther wanted a prom dress.

[purplelinus]

Debenhams Debut range normally comes in at less than £100 for a dress. Brought myself and dress from there as a bridesmaids dress for my Sisters wedding.

[DaisyBumbleroot]

My friends shop!!!

https://www.facebook.com/ThePromParlour?ref=ts&fref=ts

[Christa]

Originally Posted by AnnieApple

Sorry can't quote posts as I'm a bit new to all this, but yes its expensive - her ticket alone is £45. Worst of all my second daughter leaves next year and if I mention reusing the dress I'm getting daggers from both of them!

She wants one that is quite formal. Full length, corseted with a fishtail or mermaid skirt. She wants it in a dark green colour too, she is quite specific, which makes it hard to look for a bargain! We've got a while to look but I think she may have to compromise if a good deal is spotted.

Gonna go into town next weekend to try some on just to make sure of the right colours for her skin tone. She is very pale - a proper english rose complexion.

I think she needs to be a bit more realistic, unless you know a dressmaker she can't just say 'this is what I want', it depends what's available. Also, I wouldn't wear dark green if I had really pale skin - not very flattering.

I'd check out Coast & Monsoon.

Coast does the following dresses in dark green:

this

this

this

[lucy.mallam]

Hi there

Im in the process of starting up my own business of having a shop in my local area (Teesside) selling new and pre-owned Prom dresses, along with Bridal gowns and accessories.
As part of my market research I need some feedback and comments about my idea and wondered if yous can help by answering a few questions...

1.) Would a shop offering this service and selling new and pre-loved prom dresses under £100 be something that would have, or still would, interest you if in your local area, and why?

2.) If you have recently looked at Prom dress prices in UK shops, what would you say was the average cost?

3.) How much would you expect to pay for a pre-loved prom dress if immaculate and in a local shop?

Thankyou in advance for any replies

[Baban]

Originally Posted by lucy.mallam

Hi there

Im in the process of starting up my own business of having a shop in my local area (Teesside) selling new and pre-owned Prom dresses, along with Bridal gowns and accessories.
As part of my market research I need some feedback and comments about my idea and wondered if yous can help by answering a few questions...

1.) Would a shop offering this service and selling new and pre-loved prom dresses under £100 be something that would have, or still would, interest you if in your local area, and why?

2.) If you have recently looked at Prom dress prices in UK shops, what would you say was the average cost?

3.) How much would you expect to pay for a pre-loved prom dress if immaculate and in a local shop?

Thankyou in advance for any replies

For a pre-owned dress I would expect to pay around £30-£60ish, (depending on the quality) but for a new one I'd say average was about £150?

[AnnieApple]

The new prom dresses seem to start at around £200 on the high street, but they can be much much more.
I wouldn't want to pay more than £75 for a second hand one, but it wold have to be a good fit - I wouldn't want to pay for alterations on top.

[*Purdy*]

Annie, this site may be worth looking at. Dresses are reasonably priced and your chosen style can be made in any colour. Looks like it is fairly easy to contact them with live chat available.

I've NOT used them so this isn't a recommendation - just a point of reference.

Prom Dresses

[cnbcwatcher]

Originally Posted by eluf38

I do pity parents today. Proms have been blown out of proportion - I've seen some dresses which must have cost the same as a wedding dress; and if everybody has them it must be hard to try and persuade your daughter that an off-the-peg debut from Debenhams ballgown is good enough.

Ridiculous, isn't it? My own debs dress (that's what they call proms here in Ireland) was from Debenhams and I loved it. I even got to wear it again at a college ball. Only cost me £120 (bought it in the UK as it was cheaper). The money I saved went on things like college books, an iPod Touch and later my Macbook Pro. Any time I need a posh frock I go to Debenhams. I got a really nice one in a sale last year. I paid less than £100 for the dress and a bolero to go with it. Are there really prom dresses that cost the same as a Retina Macbook Pro (yes I compare dress prices with Apple products )?