Prom is only a month and a half away which means preparations for the senior class have already begun. One of the most important parts of the momentous occasion is, of course, the attire.
Prom dresses especially are a defining feature which cause much stress for students over finding “the perfect dress.” However, It seems that finding that elusive ideal is getting harder and harder as years go by. The rise of online shopping and fast fashion has caused high quality dress stores to struggle leading to many desperate teenagers praying for a miracle dress.
Prom dress shoppers have run into a great many difficulties looking for dresses ranging from sizing concerns, to confusion around store hours, to cheaply made items at ridiculous prices.
Since online shopping has taken over, it’s become increasingly difficult to simply walk into a store and find a dress as many previous generations of prom-goers would have done. While there are more options online, many students find it hard to trust digital retail for something as important as a prom dress.
Senior Addyson Walker mentioned a lack of positive reviews for online dresses while Lynn Barber warned, “It’s important to look at policies to see if you can return stuff.”
Plenty of online dress retailers have very questionable return policies such as Lucy in the Sky which only offers store credit for returns. Prom dresses are already expensive enough, but the risk that all the money spent on a flawed dress could be lost forever, is one many students and families don’t want to take.
Given that online shopping is a problematic option, students must brave the store to find their perfect prom dress. However, that’s turning out to be much more difficult than it sounds.
According to Kate Shepard, “they’re all too expensive or they’re all like closed at weird times.”
She was not exaggerating as some students have reported paying nearly $1000.00 on a dress. Not to mention these dresses likely won’t be worn more than one time. For many, these prices are simply too steep, especially when a lot of the dresses in stores are “really cheaply made,” according to Walker.
Many issues with quality relate to the rise of fast fashion. In the era of companies like Shein which sell low quality items for cheap, other retailers are forced to resort to cheaper materials to keep up. This has brought about the popularity of stores like Windsor which sell cheaper formal dresses; however, Barber pointed out the lack of a price tag also leads to the lack of quality in such stores.
Understandably, students want a dress they’ll be able to remember fondly, and many have a vision for what that perfect dress is for them.
As someone who falls into the more “picky” category, Barber stated, “I’m not gonna pay hundreds of dollars for a dress if it’s not exactly what I want.” She comes from a very understandable place of concern given that prom is an iconic, once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Though the cost is certainly an obstacle, some students have come up with clever ways to get around it. Shepard shared that she is likely to resell her dress around this time next year to make back as much of the money as possible. Methods like this give students some hope for the possibility of buying nicer dresses.
WB’s prom attendees report having had some success at local stores such as JohnnyMari and Camille La Vie which both have very well-made dresses. The latter has a more reasonable price selection closer to the $200s and $300s and many different styles of dress. While JohnnyMari is a bit pricier, their dresses are incredibly well taken care of.
Finding the perfect dress is a huge task for many prom-goers, but supporting local businesses will give money back to the community, allowing such stores to stay in business. The longer that happens the less the whole prom dress market will be taken over by online retailers and fast fashion brands which would be detrimental for one of the most important high school traditions.
