It’s a stunning color for a prom dress. But it’s also something dress shoppers are worried about this prom season: The economy affects everything.
“We’re quite the bargain shoppers,” Northwood High School junior Chelsey Cardwell said while at JC Penney in Bristol with her mom, Karen Clear, one Sunday afternoon.
Chelsey bought a dress from the store earlier, which, after two coupons and a weekend sale, came to about $60. But it had to be returned because Chelsey switched prom dates and the heels she planned to wear with the shorter dress made her too tall for her date.
She was browsing for a longer dress she could wear with flats.
The 17-year-old said she and her friends scored a stretch Hummer limousine for just $25 a person, and they plan to go to Applebee’s to eat dinner before the dance.
Chelsey said her family does her hair, and she doesn’t plan to get her nails done
grad dresses, because she plays softball. She has, however, “been tanning like crazy” to give her skin a sunny glow for the big event.
“This is the way we always do it,” her mom said of bargain shopping. “Hopefully we won’t spend more than $150 total.”
Watching the wallet
Mildred Simerly, who works at Fantasy Formal, said people are paying more attention to cost this prom season.
“They are a little more money-conscious,” she said. “But this is something they’ve waited for
cheap grad dresses, for a long time. They don’t care to go all out for it.”
She said the girls often pay for their own dresses and accessories, and the store has been busy with buyers since January.
“Today was a calm day,” she said, and at least two girls and their parents were in the store at any given time. “It’s nothing to have all four dressing rooms full and people lined up down here [by the door] to get in them. It’s been a good prom season, and it’s not over yet.”
Lydia Hayes and her mother, Connie, were in the early browsing stages of choosing a dress at Fantasy Formal in early April. Lydia, a senior at Virginia High School, said finding a balance of color, style and price is important.
“If you find the dress for you, you’d pay more than you would normally,” she said.
Her mom, Connie Hayes, said she has two daughters
cheap Formal dresses, and Lydia is the youngest so her senior prom will be the last they have to buy for.
“I’m not quite as nervous because it’s my very last prom, and I might spend a little more this time,” she said. “I’d probably spend $250 for one – I might, but I never have in the past. In the past we’ve gone for around $125.”
She said some aspects of prom, like the meal beforehand
cheap Bridesmaid dresses, are important and something prom attendees should budget for. But, she said, last year she and Lydia took precautions to try and save money.
“Last year we bought a pair of shoes so we’d have the right height for the dress and not have to trim it,” she said. “Maybe those shoes will work again this year.”
Emily Kendrick, a Honaker High School sophomore, is going to her first prom and said she and her mother were considering asking older friends to loan her a dress. She’s going to Grundy’s prom with her boyfriend
plus size prom dresse 2011, and said her mom told her she’d rather spend more money on Emily’s own prom.
“Especially since it’s not her prom, I would spend more on her prom than another school’s,” said Emily’s mother, Jennifer Kendrick. “I told her I wouldn’t go over $400. I just want her to look nice and feel comfortable.”
Ethan Davis’ mother, Tammi Davis, said her son pays for his own prom tickets and the dinner before prom, but she and her husband pay for the tux.
“He didn’t get a class ring so we said we could get more expensive pictures,” she said. “So that leaves him leeway to get a more expensive tux.”
Ethan, who is planning to go to prom in Honaker with his girlfriend Emma Kaiser
A-Line prom dresses, said prom was important because it’s unlike any other dance the school hosts.
“Pretty much it’s the one formal event we have,” he said. “It’s not a casual thing.”
Find the money
Belmeade Formal Wear manager Theresa Miller said she thinks sales have gone better this year, despite the economy.
“They always find the money for a girl,” she said. But, she said, that might be due to the store’s layaway policy: Customers can put down $75, and then make monthly payments on their dresses or tuxes.
“Because they’re able to put it in layaway, it’s not so hard on them to find $300 or $400 at one time
ball gowns,” Miller said.
She said her prom season started before Christmas, and by now, most girls have bought their dresses and are bringing their dates in to get the tuxes properly color-coordinated.
“We’ll be busy probably until the last of May,” she said. “It’s always exciting – I never get tired of this.”
Similarly, First Impression Salon and Day Spa hasn’t seen a significant drop in customers this year, co-owner Tracy Lewis said.
“Maybe we don’t have as many as we usually do when we have the Sullivan East prom, but it’s not a big noticeable difference,” she said. “When it comes to prom, they go all out.”
On prom Saturdays, she said, the salon is packed full of girls and their mothers.
“It starts at 9 a.m. and goes all day long,” she said. “We just pull up chairs … the moms are sitting around. Last year we set off the fire alarm because there was so much hairspray.”
Martha Groves, of Misty’s Florist and Greenhouse, said sales this year have been about the same as in the past.
“When they’re in school and going to prom
prom dresses 2011, they’ll always have a corsage and boutonniere,” she said. Wrist corsages at the shop start at about $25, she said, and boutonnieres at $8. Then there are the add-ons – rhinestones or ribbons or other “bling.”
Flower sales are just starting, Groves said, because girls order their dresses first, and then typically a couple orders flowers together to match the dress.
“Many of them bring their dresses in,” she said.
Dancing on a dime
Students in high school seem to be concerned in general with saving money in this economy
Formal dresses, said consumer saving expert and blogger Andrea Woroch. That includes saving money on prom-related items.
“Everyone wants to look like the belle of the ball, but if you just wear that dress one time, it’s a quick waste of money,” Woroch said. “Look for a dress to serve multiple purposes ... that can be worn for graduation, to weddings and at college.”
She also said consignment shops and the Internet are good places to find bargains.
“No one has to know that you bought it at a consignment shop,” she said.
She suggests girls borrow jewelry from their mothers, aunts or friends. “The women in your life have dazzling jewelry,” she said.
Also, Woroch said, a lot of money can be saved by not going to the salon for hair, nails and makeup.
“Practice with friends or look at magazines and online,” she suggested. “You don’t need to spend $100 to get your ‘do done.”
Flowers can be bought at a grocery store, and photos can be printed from an online source like Snapfish.com, Woroch said.
“Scratch the professional photos,” she said. “I don’t even know where my prom pictures are and I don’t even know that I’ve talked to my prom date in years.”
She said candid photos taken with friends or on the dance floor may be more meaningful than the formal, professional photo.
“I think everyone has the same concerns,” she said. “Whenever you can trim your spending it will be helpful. Get your friends involved and make it fun.”
But, regardless of how much they planned to spend, or how much their parents had budgeted for them, most students seemed excited just to be going to prom – to experience that rite of passage with friends.
“I’m so nervous and excited for my first prom,” Emily said. “Last year my best friend went to prom in Council and I went with her and helped her get ready and it was so fun. I was almost as excited as she was.
This year, she’s coming with me.”Topics related articles:
2011 Prom Dresses
Long Prom Dresses
2011 prom gowns
Plus size prom dresses
Designer Prom Dresses
prom Dresses
Prom Dresses 2011
Cheap Prom Dresses
Short Prom Dresses
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