Claire's Winter Dance Ensemble: The Breakdown

We did it again! Pulled together a classy outfit for my girl to wear to her latest school dance. This one sure wasn't the cheapest, but still not bad. The total outfit came to $86.02. In my research, comparable dresses alone cost on average $129.

First of all, that dress.

Claire and her bestie, Kelli

This silver stunner was found on the clearance rack at Toujours, a consignment store in downtown Delaware. Only being $8 made it a must have, even though the bodice was HUGE......a little strange as the bottom half fit Claire perfectly. Thankfully, our go to gal Lucinda did a masterful job of making sense of a completely botched 'home alteration' from the former owner, and the result cost us $53. Still a bargain. The last step was a clean and press at Minarchek's in town. The pressing was especially necessary, as the back of the dress was an intricate frosting of pleats. That set us back $11.74. Total for the dress: $72.74.

Ssssnnnnnnnaaaakeskin!

Claire's cute shoes were a Goodwill purchase back in the Spring. I had no idea what they'd go with, but at $3.29 we couldn't pass them up. When we bought the dress, the choice of the shoes fell into place. I had thought Claire would go bare legged, but due to our snowy weather, the opaque black hose were a good choice.

Unique earrings

Jewelry choices for this dress stumped us. Should she go glam with pearls again? Maybe something vintage in silver or grey for a monochromatic look? How about something bold to match the shoes? We had NO idea what to do, and hadn't found anything at any store, until the day I was browsing in my trusty go to, the Meijer jewelry department, and found these lovely, unique steel and floral patterned drop earrings on the clearance rack (AGAIN!) for $4.00! They were PERFECT! No other jewelry was needed that night!

Remember this purse? It was the subject of a blog post several months ago. Brand new with tags that read $30, but I snapped it up at Goodwill for $4.99. It was the perfect complement to Claire's dance ensemble. She could either wear it as a clutch or on a thin strap.

Now......while this may not be the cheapest outfit we've ever put together, the fact that it took us 6 months to assemble it proves how valuable planning and buying ahead can be. When you find a good deal, but you have no idea what you'll wear it with (the shoes), buy it anyway! When it came right down to the wire, odds are I wasn't going to be able to duplicate the fabulous shoe buy. I have several very dressy clutches in my closet, awaiting just the right dress purchase. How nice it will be to find we already have that finishing touch!