Prom Shopping with Friends: I Dare You!!!!

A month ago, I posted "Sister Says" regarding shopping for a prom dress with family. As a follow up, here follows my follow up on searching with a friend.

First piece of advice: Go for a little road trip with your mum. Check out the options. Find out what your budget is and what your parents expect. Remember: in addition to the dress (or tux), there's the actual tickets, boutonniere/corsage, shoes possibly, and accessories.

Second piece of advice: If you have huge feet like me (I'm an 11. I kid you not) or a piece of family jewelry you want to wear to Prom, you should find the dress to match those items - bring them with you or bring pictures of them to show the salesperson.

With those things in mind, I suggest you head to a mall to shop with your friends. Malls are full of a variety of stores. They usually have a Macy's, Lord & Taylor and/or JCPenney -- all of which ship in 'occasion' (prom) dresses. A tip about the department store dress: someone else will likely have that gown. Maybe even in that colour.

The last two days, my friend who is attending Prom for the first time this year and myself have had no school so we headed to a nearby mall with our mums. Since I have a dress, the focus was on her. On the way there, I asked her to describe what she's looking for. Every girl has some aspect of their dress picked out somehow. They've seen it in a magazine or on TV or they had a dream about it. One girl I knew wanted her party dress based on a Barbie she'd had 10+ years ago.

When we arrived, we explored a variety of colours to find out what palette best fitted her complexion. We also tested a variety of lengths to find out which was the most comfortable and appropriate. Our mums were a great help because they could do zippers. My friend's mum did her zippers for her which makes it less awkward if you're a very modest person. After a while, we were choosing dresses for each other to try on. That was a very lively, memorable experience. One of the great things about going to try out dresses with friends is that they will push you outside your comfort zone to try on something you wouldn't normally ever remotely consider. Plus, not every dress you try on has to actually be a viable consideration.

Each time my friend came out of the dressing room, my mum and I made her 'road test' the dress. You don't buy a car without driving it. It's the same thing: you don't buy a prom dress without dancing in it. If you can't dance in the dress at the store, it's going to be a nightmare Prom - which is a dance, some people forget. Another tip: Bring a camera or a cellphone camera with you. Don't buy a dress the first day. Sleep on it, consider the photos, talk it over with your parents. Personally, I do wish I'd had a camera when I went with my family. I remembered one when I went with my friend and we had a blast going through the pictures later.

"Sister Says..." ~ Shopping for a Prom Dress with Family

Shopping for a Prom dress with family is like coming full circle. When we were younger, we played Dress Up with our sisters (and forced our brothers into tutus... You know you did it). Pretending to be princesses, we'd swirl around and attend fantasy balls. My mum even saved her old prom dresses and would tell my sisters and I the stories behind them as we tried them on for tea parties with our stuffed animals. Now, I go with my mum (and this year, my little sister), to find the dress I will one day tell my daughter or niece about.

In a prior post, I mentioned that searching for and selecting a prom dress is an experience. As seniors, we're heading off to the next stage of our lives in the Fall. In my case, that's college - several hours away from home. I believe that in these last few months of high school, it's important to gather a few more family memories to remember in college. Besides, for me, it's been a fun mother-daughter thing.

The first time I had to find a prom dress, we were very last minute. I had looked through magazines for a while but we had not made an actual excursion. (My family is tragic with regards to online shopping, too. It's stores or bust with us). We headed out to a department store to try and tackle this one. I tried on a bunch of dresses while my mum helped me with zippers and sizes - like grown up dress up. Because it was so late in the prom dress season - last week of April/first week of May - we got it way on sale. We laughed as we pranced out the store with our steal. It was perfect until we got home and my mum realized I did not own a matching pair of shoes. I have size 11 feet. We hunted for DAYS. We were not successful in finding shoes until 2 days before prom - the night before my AP World History exam. That was stressful. The following year, I vowed I was going to take the pair of shoes I now had and find a dress to match.

Last year, I did indeed take my shoes with me. My mum and I decided to look more locally. In the next town over, we explored a variety of consignment shops. In one of them, I found the Cinderella dress every little girl dreams about. It was a pale blue ball gown that fell to just above the ground. It had a stunning, gorgeous, beaded bodice. It would have been perfect but it did not quite fit. Nevertheless, it's proof that consignment shops are worth the time and effort. They are perfect for finding a one-of-a-kind dress because often that gown has been discontinued or is vintage. Later that day, I made my first trip to my now-favourite dress boutique shop: Helen Ainson.

I've been to department stores and consignment shops. I have explored the online options. Nothing beats the boutique store. The ladies at Helen Ainson for example, truly care about you. They make you feel so special. Between my mum and Suzanne and Cynthia, it's the perfect place to feel like a million bucks. I remember my mum's face when I came out of the dressing room in my future Junior Prom dress. She had these tiny dew drop

s in her eyes. Pride emanated from her. It was priceless. We had such a good time.

This year, my mother and I returned to Helen Ainson - with my 10 year old sister in tow. We'd gotten a flyer that they were having a sale so we figured why not? Well, nothing quite tops your sister critiquing your dress fittings. My sister and I had been passing time going through fashion magazines and Seventeen Prom, playing imaginary dress up, critiquing the outfits. She turns up in Helen Ainson and, with Cynthia and Suzanne, picks out all three dresses I eventually actually considered. It was excellent! She was adorable! She had thoughts on everything! She helped me see reason, too. One ballroom style dress I tried on that fit me was absolutely stunning. I was sold. My sister, however, knows me well. I like to dance. She knew immediately that I could not be permitted to go home with that dress. Thank you little sister! The dress I actually did bring home, I wasn't going to try it on at all - my sister told me to: thanks to her, I have an amazing dress to wear in May.

I'm going to college. We're all moving into the next stage of our lives. Prom, like Graduation, celebrates a beginning and an end. Consider going out to look for a dress with your family. Whether you make a purchase or not, you will have one last Dress Up party to remember.

Thank you little sister,

the prom chair

Helen Ainson:

http://helenainson.squarespace.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Helen-Ainson/