Buying Prom Dresses Cheap!

Prom is considered a rite-of-passage for most American teenagers. However, when you add up the cost of the dress, tickets, food, hair, makeup and other miscellaneous expenses, it can also be extremely expensive! Believe it or not you can still own a beautiful prom dress, or any type of evening dress for that matter, for relatively little money.

1. Buy used. This is probably the easiest way to find a cheap prom dress. Many girls will buy a dress, wear it once, and then sell it on eBay or give it to a thrift shop. You can buy an almost brand new dress for next to nothing! If you are buying from eBay however, make sure that the seller has some kind of return policy if the dress doesn't fit correctly.

2. Buy a dress you will wear again. Prom is all about glitz and glamour, so most girls feel like they have to go all out and buy an extravagant gown they'll never be able to wear again. That doesn't have to be the case though. If you buy a more simple dress you can wear to other functions, you'll feel less guilty spending a little extra on it. For prom I opted to buy a simple black dress for around $80 from Macy's. I dressed it up a little more with a pink shawl and some fancy (but cheap) costume jewelry. I was worried I'd look under-dressed, but I fit right in! In fact, I was complimented for looking sophisticated. Not only did I look good at prom, but I've worn that dress to countless other functions since I bought it 6 years ago, from weddings to parties. That was definitely money well spent!

3. Buy from "cheap" stores. Luckily for us, stores like Forever21 and Charlotte Russe, which are known for their cute yet affordable clothes, are coming out with dresses for more formal occasions. At the moment Forever21 is specifically marketing their prom dresses. The quality of these dresses isn't the best, but if you want something relatively flashy that you're only going to wear once, these dresses are a great option.