Is "recycling" formal dresses bad?
 

Girls, if you wear a formal dress more than once and you have a different date the second/third/fifteenth time, is that tacky? I don't think so (that's what I saved all those dresses for!), but maybe I'm wrong. :p

I think that it's perfectly ok to recycle dresses... Might as well get your money's worth... And besides, if you look really hot in a dress, why wear it only once? :)

I wore the same dress to two different formals. It was a nice dress at the time. A sister wore it to her boyfriend's fraternity formal. I thought that it was unfair that my dress went to a fraternity formal, and I never did.

If you feel uncomfortable recycling, maybe you and your sisters can borrow each other's dresses.

I always wear a dress at least twice. Once to my boyfriend's formal, once to mine. Then if it's been a few years I'll try to get away with it again. ;)

A lot of times me and my sisters just switch.

I never recycled my formal dresses, but looking back I should have. I've only worn them once and I currently have no functions that I could wear them to. The only dress I did recycle was a black strapless dress I had to buy for a fraternity formal, and I ended up wearing it the next weekend to a different fraternity formal. My sister also borrowed it for a fraternity formal the following year, so I'm glad it got some use!

Only in a land where you have endless supplies of money. Then you'd just be being lazy.

I don't think there's anything wrong with it AT ALL... I have this one dress that I have worn like 7 times... but being in sorority as well as involved with Rainbow girls and attending other masonic events I have quite a few opportunities to dress up and wear my formals... I'd go BROKE if I bought a new dress everytime I had to dress up... but I do like to buy new ones for like one or two events a year.... my newest addition to my dress wardrobe is this SUPER pretty silk emerald green BCBG dress LOVE IT !!! and I intend to wear it again :D

I only do that for weddings. Since none of my friends know each other so I can get away with it :) also I wear it when I travel overseas :) just dress up and go to a fancy restaurant. My fave place to wear them is Las Vegas...........

In HS, because I went to an all girls' school, most of us were asked to multiple proms. If I went to two proms, I often wore the same dress because chances are, no one saw me in it the first time.

In college, I never had a problem recycling my dress but I tried to avoid using it for consecutive semesters. But then I also had sisters who were the same size as me...so we'd often swap.

If you have lots of $$$ to go around and you can afford one more dress, go for it. But tons of girls go and recycle their dresses, so there's nothing wrong with that!

In my freshman year in college, the school that I went to had campus wide semi-formals towards the end of the semester. For the fall semi-formal, I wore the same dress that I wore to my high school graduation. For the spring semi-formal, I wore my prom dress with the matching shoes. Flash forward several years, I bought a dress and a two piece that I have worn to sorority formals, weddings and a dinner party. I don't think there is anything wrong with recycling formal dresses.

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Tons of girls in my house would just swap dresses around. I can't see spending $100+ dollars on a dress and only wearing it once.

One formal, my friend Bec and I went to the bathroom together and decided it would be hilarious to switch dresses. Of course, the boys didn't notice, but all the girls did!!

OMG that is just funny!

I've never worn the same dress to different events, but I have let friends borrow the dresses I have... I absolutely LIVE for formals, and no matter how many times I tell myself I'm just going to use a dress that I already have, I can't stop myself from shopping to buy more ;)

I was too broke in school not to wear the same dress more than once. And my sisters and I traded.

Now that I'm older and making money, I have all kinds of clothes I've worn only once.:rolleyes:

Definitely tacky to recycle, also to borrow is just odd.

I gues you could get away with it, but if I saw you in a formal dress you wore before I would know right away as well as any hair, make-up, jewelry, and physique changes. I just notice small things like that.

On tangential note: those of you that have no use for your formal dresses. Is it because you bought like prom gowns or you never go out to nice places that require you to dress up?

Get out more, live a little, its nice to get dressed up :)

You're a rare guy James if you notice those things. Most guys don't know, and could care less, they probably think the dress looks better on the floor anway :D

I have issues if its going to be the same guy.

I went to my formal in Dec (yeah, we have our formal in the winter, and semi in the spring, don't ask) and then my date wanted me to go to his semi, a week later. I cringed cause I knew I wasn't going to have time to go home and get another dress.

I got over it though.

I'm not too concered about buying new dresses because its kinda like a mission for me. I go to outlets, sample sales, and things like that. I usually never pay more than $50 for a dress. My last dress was the most expensive at $125(originally $350) but I justified that because its a simple black one that I can wear for other events looming on the horizon.

Why? Men don't care if you wear the same dress twice.

James, I don't know where you suggest I wear a floor-length hot pink ballgown besides a formal. :p

I've recycled dresses a few times - and for our spring banquet this year I'm probably just going to recycle one of my pref dresses, since I'm an alumna and most of the girls haven't even seen it. It depends on who I take as my date though - backup date is an old boyfriend of mine and I think it'd be funny to wear the dress I wore to Homecoming when he took me.

Oh, come on Kath. That would be the perfect outfit to wear on your next study date!

I only wear a suit once and then I throw it out.







;)

They do if they're James.


edited for spelling

BWAHAHA with 9" of slush on the bottom. Hot.

Me, back in high school: "What kind of prom dress should I get?"
My male friend: "One that's easy to take off."



Yeah, russell, I think you might be right.

Dude, are you working the other side of the hot dog stand now? ;) Actually I guess not or you would realize how frigging much formal dresses cost. What you wear for an office cocktail party is not necessarily what you would wear to a formal (unless you go to a really really low key school).

We always borrowed from each other, so even if I didn't wear the dress over & over it was put to good use. The only one I can think of that I didn't wear more than once (or that no one else borrowed) is my mermaid dress, and I'm planning on wearing that once I'm dead. (I won't have to breathe then.)

You have to take it off for butt sex anyway.

-Rudey

Not if it's short and you bend over just right.

Yet another reason I always wear long dresses. :D

I've worn pretty much all the dresses I had in college at least twice. However, what if it's not you but your date that has the issue? As in, he doesn't want you to wear a dress you bought to wear to a function with someone else?

I don't think anything is wrong with recycling...I just try to make sure that my date had never seen me in it before. :D

I wore all my old high school prom dresses to our sorority formals. Had I gone to a fraternity formal, I would have used the same one that I had used for our formal that year. I honestly don't think it's a big deal - others might disagree.

If someone is that totally insecure, he isn't worth your time! Like he's not wearing a suit that he's worn with someone else? What about jeans? You're supposed to get a whole new wardrobe every time you start dating someone new? I can see if your second husband doesn't want you to wear the same wedding dress the second time around, but in any other situation, I'd just have to tell him where to go with that idea!

Dee

I recycle formal dresses all the time! If I bought a new one every time I had to go to a formal here or a military ball with my boyfriend, I'd be... more broke than I already am. Plus, I have a pretty big supply of dresses (which comes from having too many senior guy friends who needed a prom date... and an uncanny ability to find $180 dresses on the clearance rack for $25), so I can usually find something that nobody at the formal I go to has seen before.

If he feels that way he can jolly well pay for a new formal dress then. :)

For my first formal last year, I wore my senior prom dress. Because 1) Nobody here had seen it. 2) It was bright pink, therefore, I loved it.

This year, I'm going WAAAY back and wearing the very first formal dress I bought in 10th grade. Except I had major alterations done- took it from having a scoop neck and wide straps to being strapless and had all the crenlin taken out. Its like I got a new dress for $40 instead of $140!

"A woman should enter a room before her dress."

James has a good point about "What kind of dresses are you buying?". If it's memorable like zebra or leopard print then be careful where you wear it. EVERYone will remember it. Plus, wearing it with the same guy-Maybe it was you IN that dress that caught his eye, so I can see how he might remember.

I recycle because if I didn't, I'd have thousands of dollars tied up in dresses! Honestly, the Mardi Gras season is all sequins and
beads. It's very difficult to distinguish one dress from another season to season. For the future, consider buying classic styles
that don't shout out for attention. They are the better investment and will serve you well. Plus, how cool is it to be able to go to the opera on a moments notice or a classy black tie event? Remember it's YOU they should remember, not the details of the dress.
Bottom line-recycle or you will waste money that could be better spent. Just do so judiciously.

I have to say our formal is pretty low key. We're a small chapter, so it's not a hug event. Everyone dresses up very nicely, but no one is super super formal.
My first Pi Phi formal I wore my formal dress from my last year in highschool. Last year I bought a nice red sparkly dress (not too sparkly) and this year I have decided to go low key. I have a very simple black cocktail dress, which I bought a while back but have one worn it once before. and to jazz it up a bit I bought a baby pink wrap to go over my shoulders and have decided to buy some fancy jewlery, just to make the dress a little more formal.
I guess it all depends on how formal you formal is.

If any guy ever gave me crap for recylcling a dress, I'd get annoyed - like he never wore the same shirt and tie to one of my banquets? My chapter banquets drive me nuts because all the girls wear prom-type dresses and most of the guys just wear a shirt and tie with khakis - so this year when I go back I'm rebelling and just wearing a cocktail dress. I'll be able to dance and I'll match my date. :p

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However, what if it's not you but your date that has the issue? As in, he doesn't want you to wear a dress you bought to wear to a function with someone else?

Run! Now!! This guy is insecure and a control freak. It may only be a casual date, but if this is a boyfriend, you need to get out now. You do not want to build a future with this man.