OPED: Skip the expensive Winter Ball dresses

By Kacey Hsu,
Bluedevilhub.com Staff–

With Winter Ball just around the corner, many girls and guys are out shopping for their perfect outfit for the night.

Girls are taking the time to head to mall to find a dress. While some take an easy turn to Forever 21 to pick up a dress, a lot of girls, including myself, go to places like Macy’s and Nordstrom to find the prettiest dresses.

When walking through the aisles of dresses in Nordstrom, or even just browsing online, I feel that many people forget that Winter Ball (formerly known as Junior Prom) takes place in a dark high school gym. Although the $200 to $400 dresses seem like a good splurge for your only ever “Junior Prom” as a junior, please save your money and find something that costs less. Though it’ll be nice to look at, you’ll probably regret having such an expensive dress hanging in your closet waiting for another occasion after Winter Ball is over.

This doesn’t mean you should stop looking at places with high-end, quality dresses though. Nordstrom often has some amazing discounts on stunning dresses that would otherwise cost you more than $100 or $200. You can often find these deals in the junior’s section, and even if you think you won’t fit into any junior dresses, I’m sure you’ll be able to find something with their various dress sizes.

If you’re too lazy to take a trip to the mall, you can always shop online, which is extremely convenient. Nordstrom is especially helpful because not only do they have a wide variety of dresses (discounted!) online, they also offer free shipping and returns. This way you can order more than one dress and easily mail back the dresses that didn’t fit the way you wanted.

Now that dresses have been covered, let’s talk corsages and boutonnieres.

Corsages and boutonnieres look amazing in photos, but they’ll only stay that way for the first hour or so when you’re in that dark high school gym. Though flowers and baby’s breath, bound together with ribbon and worn on the wrist or pinned to a tux jacket are both beautiful and typical for prom, you could easily skip out on that aspect and save yourself $45. They are a nice keepsake to remember the fun night you had, but it’s a disappointing feeling when you watch them wither while they rub up against another girl’s or guy’s arm in the crowded Winter Ball.

Don’t get me wrong, Winter Ball nights in the past are ones I’m going to remember for a long time, but what I’m looking forward to even more is Senior Ball. Personally, I saved some money I could have spent on a $300 dress for Winter Ball so that I feel less bad when I want to splurge on a extravagant and reasonably priced Senior Ball dress, which I’m recommending to all of my junior friends as well.