While the prom-posal is getting a lot of attention, the prom dress (and the girl in it) is still really the star of the night. Girls start thinking about the dress long before they think about who they will be going with. And, so, it deserves its moment in the spotlight.

 

Shopping for a prom dress can happen in many waves, but when it comes right down to finding the perfect choice, anxieties run high. What should I wear? How long? What color? What is everyone else wearing? These days the girls from one class post their dresses on a closed chat group so there are no duplicates. And schools even have “unspoken” rules relating to length or color depending on your year in school. See, it’s complicated!!

 

Let’s break it down into bite sized pieces so we can address all the layers of trickiness the prom dress comes with. First of all, there are about as many price points as there are prom dress styles. You can find something inexpensive and consider it a one time affair.

 

 

You can keep the budget tight by altering a vintage find (I altered something of my mother’s back in the day and had a stunning and budget conscious dress!). You can also channel The Accountant’s Anna Kendrick as Dana Cummings who amortizes her expensive-but-sure-to-be-worn-again dress to rationalize the more pricey option. Love that thinking!

 

Second, it’s important to remember a few things about prom if you are the girl or the mom. This is an important day. It is a lifetime memory. Pictures from prom night immortalize the time, the age, the trends, and even the ups and downs of high school. It is also a time when girls both want to fit in with their peers AND to stand out from their peers as they assert their independence and personal sense of style. It is a precarious balance to strike.

 

Here are some tips for walking the tightrope. Number one: the prom dress you choose should make you feel beautiful. Number two: you can pick a simple dress and bring out the more individualized stand-out side of yourself by enhancing it with more unique jewelry, shoes and hairstyles. You can really spice up a simple dress with a hairstyle that helps you put your signature stamp on it. Number three: You don’t have to wear a dress, necessarily. Pants can be elegant and truly chic. A skirt and a gorgeous top could knock the prom out of the park. And, a reworked vintage piece, updated to today’s standards, could really be amazing. Finally: if you google “prom,” you will find hundreds of websites with every ruffly, flowery, lacy garment, as well as a virtual stockade of dresses that are way to low here and way to high there. You will see. It’s important to strike out and see what fits best, what’s most flattering and what makes your heart go pitter-patter (yes, you have to kiss a couple of frogs to find the right one!).

 

Shopping for prom can be daunting for the parent and the daughter alike, but when you get it right, it’s oh so fun and special. Remember when…? Let me know and I will help you and your daughter find the right one for her own posterity.

 

x K