Review: Prom Dress Stores

Photo courtesy of https://www.fameandpartners.com/

“Have you tried Revolve?” Yes. “What about Rent the Runway? Urban Outfitters?” Yep. I’ve searched them all for prom dresses – every well-known, well-reviewed website out there, as well as several local stores. I’m not a huge fan of online shopping, and finding dresses in stores around KC is just as difficult.

I’ve spent hours scrolling through the dozens of pages full of maxi, midi and bodycon dresses without any luck. After much frustration, I decided to do some deep internet searching. I ended up discovering a few somewhat reasonably priced, cute sites.

The brand known as Jetset Diaries doesn’t have a huge selection, which I actually really appreciated. It’s easy to become overwhelmed with too many options like some of other highly suggested sites – Revolve being one example. Jetset has a variety of bohemian, colorful maxi and mini dresses. They use a lot of lace patterns in their designs, as well as ruffles and other textures. A couple of these boho dresses are even featured on the Urban Outfitters website.

The site only features two pages full of dresses with about 30 options on each page. One downside is the prices, ranging from $170 to around $300. These costs are a bit too much for the average, broke high schooler. However, the dresses are obviously well made. Many celebrities wear the brand, and the fabric is high quality. While I was searching for a dress, I also took a peek at the tops, skirts, shorts and jumpsuits the site offered. Jetset Diaries is the epitome of less quantity meaning more quality.

Mura Boutique is an Australian site I discovered during one of my late night shopping sprees. It’s bright, chic and very cheap. Buying clothing items from other countries is always a gamble, but ordering far enough beforehand will have the dress ready to go by the dance. Mura’s dresses are shorter and more form fitting, though they still have quite a few maxis that are perfect for prom.

The price range for Mura’s dresses is between $50 to $80 US dollars. The dollar amount was originally in Australian currency, but there’s an option in the top righthand corner of the site to convert it. The site’s boho-chic dresses and reasonable prices make it impossible to pass.

The final website I tore through was my diamond in the rough. It’s everything a dress website should be – classy, trendy and cool. Fame and Partners is a website strictly dedicated to “luxe dresses for every occasion.” Their motto is very accurate – from dresses under prom to cocktail to gowns to homecoming categories, the possibilities really are endless.

Dress options can be organized in several ways, from the style to color to occasion. Many of the dresses have fashionable cut-outs and deep neck lines. There are also around a dozen different two-piece sets perfect for prom. The most unique aspect to this website isn’t the beautiful dresses, but the customization of them.

For about $16 extra dollars, customers can customize their dress by choosing any one of the 20 colors offered. They can also choose the length of the skirt (petite, standard or tall) based on their height for no additional cost. There’s another option to tailor the dress to perfection by choosing a different neckline, removing the slits or changing it to a mini dress if a customer isn’t happy with the original design. The one downside to this site is the price range – mostly between $200 and $300, plus the customization fees.

All three of these designers are underrated, though they really shouldn’t be. It’s time to break away from the basic, boring stores and dig a little deeper into these unique brands. Happy prom season to all, and to all a good bye.