How to Get a Vintage Prom Dress

Forget exam results and SATs, this is the big day in every American student's life and choosing a dress for the occasion can fill a soul with misery. There's fashion and style to consider, along with the expense, the desire to stand out from a crowd and to look different. That's why finding a vintage prom dress may be the answer to all your problems.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. The very best place to start is to ask your mother if she still has her prom dress. She would certainly be delighted to see you wear it. Ask other family members as well.

2. Understand what you're looking for and study the styles of the period to see what you might like and look good in. You may want to go for a full-length dress with a shawl from the 50s, or go for a more unusual look with a bolero jacket and gaucho pants from the late 60s, when wearing pants to the prom became acceptable.

3. Decide on your budget. Getting a good vintage dress may not be as cheap as you think because they were well designed and well made. The price will ultimately depend on how rare the dress is and its condition.

4. Enlist a friend whose fashion sense you trust to help with your search and give a second opinion about whether the dresses you find suit you.

5. Check out all the vintage clothing stores in your area. If you don't find anything at first, talk to the sales people and explain what you're looking for. Clothes are always arriving at the stores and they may be willing to put a dress aside for you if they see one. They may also suggest other places to look.

6. Look up second-hand stores in the wealthy neighborhoods of town. Often they have designer gowns and dresses that have been worn once and donated immediately after.

7. Be prepared to haggle if you find what you're looking for in a second-hand store. There are some stores that will have a strict pricing policy, but if you make an offer below the listed price, you may save enough to buy the vintage purse or shoes to match your dress.

8. Your best friend in your search will probably be the Internet where there are scores of sites specializing in vintage prom dresses and hundreds of auctions where you can bid on them. Search for “vintage prom dresses” and check out specialist sites like Talk Prom Dresses, which has a page devoted to its vintage collections (a link can be found in the Resources box).

9. Be prepared to pay to have the dress altered. This is not difficult for a competent dressmaker or a member of your extended family who’s handy with a needle and thread. Get their advice on choosing the dress in the first place.

10. Make sure that when you've found your dress you also look out for the right accessories, like a purse, gloves and shoes from the same period.

11. Be sure to have fun searching for your dress. The story of how you found it will add to your memories of your special night.

Tips & Warnings

• A vintage prom dress represents the era it’s from, and to wear one properly you should do your hair and makeup to match what was contemporary when the dress was created.
• The really big advantage of choosing to wear a vintage prom dress is that there are a lot of different types of dresses and hundreds of different styles to choose from. Wearing one, you will certainly stand out in a sea of modern off-the-rack dresses.
• Party light. You don't want to carry a huge purse or handbag on prom night. Get one that's just big enough to hold your lipstick, money, a few other knick-knacks -- and the all-important camera.

[JoeyC]

on 6/21/2007 How do you know so much about prom dresses?