Prom season is something nearly every teenage girl looks forward to at the end of the school year. Despite the pandemic, many schools have still found ways to give students a great prom experience. Be it a virtual prom or a socially distanced live event, your teenager and her peers can still find opportunities to celebrate the occasion.
Picking the perfect prom dress is probably the part most girls and moms eagerly await. An amazing prom dress will help your daughter feel more comfortable and confident. It’ll also help you take some great pictures!
You still have a couple of months before prom season begins, giving you plenty of time to prepare. Here are several tips to help you and your daughter pick the perfect prom dress. It’s always good to plan!
Set a Budget
Most young girls already have some idea of their perfect prom dress. However, their dream dress probably won’t be something that fits your budget.
Before taking your daughter prom dress shopping, talk to her about your budget first. Tell her how much you are willing to spend, and discuss that you may have to compromise when choosing a dress she would be happy with.
If you’re starting this discussion early enough, your daughter might want to save up on her own to contribute to her dress fund.
Having a firm budget helps you rein in your finances, avoids unnecessary expenses, and teaches your child a bit of financial responsibility.
Talk About What You Want
Once you have your budget down, it’s time to talk about the dress. What does your daughter want to wear? Does she already have a specific design or color in mind?
There is a wide range of dress designs and color combinations available. Talking about you and your daughter’s preferences helps you narrow down your choices and have a more concrete plan for dress shopping. Knowing what you want helps enables you to decide where to go and how much to spend.
Here are some common prom dress designs your daughter may want to explore:
- Ball Gown. This prom dress is probably the most traditional out of everything on this list. With its fitted bodice and voluminous long skirt, it’s the one dress to make your daughter feel most like a princess. Despite the traditional cut, there are many ways to update the dress through different sleeves or accessories.
- Mermaid. A mermaid dress gently hugs the contours of the body, giving it a flattering hourglass shape. It then flares out near the bottom, reminiscent of a mermaid’s tail from which it got its name. It’s a popular choice among many girls, as it gives the body great shape without being too revealing.
- Two-Piece. Two-piece gowns are becoming more popular nowadays, especially with the crop top trend. It’s also a very versatile design, as your daughter can mix and match different sets for a unique look. They can come in various sizes and cuts, giving you and your daughter a wide array of choices.
- Illusion. An illusion dress isn’t necessarily a cut but a type of adornment. It uses skin-toned mesh in parts of the dress, such as the shoulders or neckline. The designer can put beads, laces, or gems in these parts. The mesh base is sheer, which gives the illusion of bejeweled or lace-adorned skin. Depending on the design, an illusion gown can be elegant and ethereal.
- Short. Prom dresses don’t need to be massive and extravagant to be beautiful. People’s tastes can vary, and a shorter, midi-length prom dress could be the perfect one for your daughter. Shorter dress lengths can be just as elegant and are a lot more practical. A shorter dress in a sea of long gowns would definitely make your daughter stand out in the best way.
Start Shopping Early
As soon as you start thinking about prom, begin planning the dress search right away. Shopping early helps you avoid busy shop lines and gives you the first pick out of all the dresses available.
It would be likely that the rest of your daughter’s classmates wouldn’t have done their shopping yet so that you would have a wider selection of dresses. This gives you a better chance of finding something your daughter truly wants, and not just leftovers from other promgoers.
Consider Event Requirements
Before buying a dress, it’s important to check with the school. Ask whether the prom has a theme, color scheme, or if the school has a strict dress code.
Knowing these things beforehand serves as a guide in picking the right dress. It also avoids a lot of frustration or possible embarrassment. Finding out about the dress code on the day of the prom itself wouldn’t be a great situation for your daughter.
Explore Different Shops
Most prom dresses don’t come cheap. When shopping for them, it’s best to explore your options and check out various retailers to find the best deals. Most times, you can often find similar dresses at a more affordable price in a different shop.
You can also shop online, but this method involves a little more risk. You can never be sure what the actual dress looks like until you see it in person.
However, if it is your only option, try to find a dress or a seller that has several reliable reviews with photos to gauge whether the listings are accurate or not.
It’s important to pick a high-quality prom dress that fits your budget. After all, your daughter doesn’t get to attend prom every day. A special dress is sure to make prom night truly special, especially if it’s her cool mom who helped her pick it.
