8 Tips for Making Your Prom Dress Shop Effortless*

For many, prom dress shopping can be an exciting experience. You will want to get your friends involved, maybe go visit some boutique prom dress stores with your mum or best friends. The bottom line is: you want to enjoy the time you spend searching for your homecoming dress.

For some however, the story is different. Prom dress shopping is a time of stress and frustration. It might include searching for dresses at the last minute and not finding the perfect one or being torn between choosing something mediocre and a dress that is way over your budget.

To avoid this from ever happening to you, we have compiled a short guide for improving your prom dress shopping experience. When you discover an online store like styleaisle, you will know it. This is because you will fall instantly in love with many of the styles and trends in the store. This helps make your experience easier but if you want to get the best out of your shopping then keep the following in mind:

• Save up in good time. So you don’t have to worry about buying a dress on a budget, starts a savings plan way before your actual prom date. This gives you plenty of time to gather a decent amount for your dress, hairstyle (if you’re going to a hairdresser), make-up, jewelry, and shoes!

• Start a mood board. When you are looking through magazines or searching online, don’t forget to print and cut out ideas that inspire you. You want to be collecting as many things as you can so you can gather a medley of styles. This way you can build a picture in your head of what will work best as a whole and start your search from there!

• Don’t buy your dress too early! Think about the scenario – you purchase your dream dress one year before prom. You are very happy because you got the perfect dress that no one else will have and you cannot wait to get it out a week before prom and try it on again. However this time you try it and it doesn’t fit! You have gained some weight over the past few months and hadn’t even thought about it. That’s your amazing prom dress down the drain. So make sure you shop close to your prom date so this can be avoided.

• Listen to those around you. Take in ideas from others whether it’s from stylists or friends and family. Keeping an open mind can help you get the most out of your prom dress shopping experience. You might find styles and colors that you would have never thought about before but would suit you wonderfully. Also if you go in store remember this; just because something looks average on the hanger, it doesn’t mean it will look average on you. If you like what you see never be afraid to try it out for size!

• Shop for your body type. Your body type will have an impact on the type of prom dress you buy. For example, if you are looking for a low cut dress but fail to consider your shape, height or build, you could end up choosing one that doesn’t fit as well as you had hoped. So think about whether you have a pear, apple, petite, tall, hourglass, or slim shape. For instance, if you are a pear shape you could opt for mermaid style gowns whereas apple shaped women want dresses with a high empire waist to keep attention away from their mid-section.

• Shop for your skin tone. Make sure you find out which skin tone you have way before you start trying things on so you know in advance which colors work well with you.

• Don’t forget your own opinion! It’s easy to get caught up in what other people think can be easily done. At the end of the day though, it’s your choice so always go with your gut feeling!

• Don’t always be concerned by the size – if it’s a small, large, medium, or even extra-large – it doesn’t matter! As long as it looks great on and you feel confident in it, you shouldn’t get caught up in what the label says.