Why Shop Early for a Prom Dress? - The Details

Why Buy a Prom Dresses in November/December/January?

It’s barely into fall and the winter holiday season is still in the distant future.  You are finally getting into the routine of back to school activities—homework, mid-terms, sports practices, football games.  Except for maybe college planning, next spring is not even on your radar.  So why would anyone need to be thinking about a prom dress for next spring?

The answer is that, unknown to most prom-goers, you get the very best selection before the new year starts.  Most prom dress manufacturers begin shipping dresses to stores in October for the following spring.   By the time prom magazines show up on your supermarket’s shelf in December, many people have already pre-ordered the most popular prom dress styles.  How do they find these new styles that are not even out in the magazines yet?  They go online.  Many internet prom dress retailers begin adding new spring styles to their websites in October, as soon as the manufacturers’ photos become available.

But, you say, my prom is not until May!  Isn’t March early enough?  The answer is yes, as long as you are open to many different styles and colors.  But if you want a specific style, especially the most popular ones, you will most likely be disappointed if you wait.   By the end of January to the middle of February, many of the most popular dress styles are either completely gone or on backorder until May or later.  This not just our website, but all stores and websites that sell these prom dresses because we all get them from the same place.

Why would they be completely gone?  The reason is because prom dresses are a very seasonal product.  The manufacturers cut a certain number of dresses in late summer for the following spring and start delivering to stores in October.  Based on early orders, they will re-cut the most popular styles—maybe even through February or March.  But by then the stores have already taken orders for these re-cut popular styles.  After this happens, the manufacturers stop making more prom dresses.  Who wants to have a bunch of unsold inventory in their warehouse when no one is buying prom dresses during the summer?  The only exception is where the style will be carried over for fall homecoming but, still, they are usually not available again until summer or later.

Another reason the most popular prom dresses may be sold out or on backorder as early as February is because many schools have winter formals in December, January, and February.  Since prom dresses are available already, a lot of them go for these events.   Also, the major U.S. prom dress manufacturers sell prom dresses not only to stores in the U.S., but all over the world.  In addition, many online prom dress retailers sell all over the world.  So there is a lot of competition out there for the most popular dresses. 

Early proms are another reason to shop early.  Depending on the part of the country, proms may be as early as February.  Just because your prom is not until April or May doesn’t mean everyone’s prom is that late.  We have seen prom dates as early as mid-December! 

Every prom season we have to cancel about 1/2 of the orders due to unavailability for the wear date given because people wait until too late in the season to order.

So, if you are open to any style and color, you can take your chances and wait until February or March to buy your prom dress.  But if you are very picky or want a very popular style, you will want to consider shopping in November/December or January.  If you are not sure what you want, you can begin looking online in October and start getting an idea of what style you want to go with.  And when you find your perfect style, don’t wait—go for it!