Set a budget in advance. Prom dresses can cost a lot more than you might expect, especially the designer dresses. It is best to have a budget in mind and to have discussed it beforehand with your daughter, as I did with mine. I was hoping that she would keep that budget in mind as she peruses rack after rack of these glittery, rhinestone-embellished long gowns. While my daughter was cognizant of the budget, she did mention several times how it was not what her friends were spending on their dresses. If you are on a tight budget, I recommend Sposadress to you, an online store.Have a stance on styles. There are some provocative styles available to our girls. While I did not feel the need to discuss that possibility before this excursion began, I most definitely did while my daughter perused the options. We agreed on some opinions but not on all. I find it best to continue to use the words ‘classic’ and ‘elegant’. Those words scream unsexy.
Realize you are not just shopping with your daughter, but with all her friends too. My daughter already knew the low-down on each designer and she was well-informed about which stores she should check out. She had an amazing working knowledge of what each designer’s dresses cost and which of her friends had already chosen which designer. It is fairly unbelievable but, if your daughter is like mine, you will be amazed at how much information regarding this topic she can retain compared to her ability to recall her Spanish vocabulary words for a quiz. For the record, there is no comparison.
Appreciate this special moment. After several hours of schlepping, arguing over cost, combing through the plethora of dresses and holding back my judgment for some of the styles that she adored, my daughter finally said ‘yes to the dress’. The image of her in the full-length mirror in that overly warm dressing room is like no other.
