How to Get a Beautiful, Modest Look for Your Prom

With special prom issues of teenagers' favorite magazines being put on the news stands, many girls have already begun planning what they will wear to this year's prom. Dresses with small straps, or no straps at all seem to be on the cover of all the issues. While many girls will opt to get a dress like this, there are many girls who may want a more modest look that does not show as much skin. The problem is where do they go to find dresses like this?

Department stores may have a large selection of prom dresses, but few if any have so much as a sleeve. The small or non-existent selection of modest dresses can be frustrating. Fortunately, though modest dresses may not be widely available in the stores, there are many options available to get a modest look for prom.

Online stores have made it easier to find a modest prom dress. Beautifully Modest (http://www.beautifullymodest.com/home.html) offers a large selection of beautiful and modest dresses. They have a 48 hour return policy in case your dress does not fit or is defective. Their dresses are also available in selected stores in Arizona, California, Colorado, Indiana, Idaho, Illinois and Utah.

Eternity Store (http://www.eternitystore.com/) is another site that offers a nice selection of dresses. A plus of this website is their larger selection of physical store locations (http://www.eternitystore.com/locator/locator.htm). This site also has a 48 hour return policy.

Both Eternity Store and Beautifully Modest offer sizing charts. Make sure you take a look at these and get accurate measurements of your body. This will save you the time and hassle of having to exchange your dress for a different size.

For those who want a modest dress on a more modest budget, Great Lengths is a good choice (http://www.greatlengths.com/shopping/category.ihtml?category=formal). Their selection of dresses is considerably lower in cost than other online sites. They offer a 7 day return policy.

For any online purchase make sure you order your dress well in advance to ensure that you get the dress in plenty of time and you have time to make exchanges if necessary.

The website Modest Prom also offers a list of physical stores that carry modest prom dresses (http://www.modestprom.com/buyagown/). This list is not all inclusive, but is a good starting place for some.

Another option to having a modest prom dress is to buy a regular dress at your local store that may be strapless or have smaller straps and then buy or make a shrug to wear over it. A local tailor could make a shrug to match your dress and would probably do it for a very reasonable price.

Besides making a shrug to wear over your dress, a tailor may also be able to alter the dress itself. When I bought my wedding dress it started out being low cut, with two small straps for the shoulders. I took the dress to a tailor who was able to remove the straps and build up the dress on top to make it higher cut and have sleeves. In the end the dress looked beautiful and no one knew it was altered.

A final suggestion I would give to get a modest prom look would be to look for a skirt and top combination. These are easy to mix and match. You can also look outside of the formal gown section which will give you a larger selection to choose from. Don't be afraid to wander outside of the juniors department. A lot of times there are some very flattering, fancy choices available in the women's section of stores.

Girls do not have to bare a large amount of skin to feel gorgeous for their prom. There are lots of options available to get a beautiful, timeless look while being modest in your appearance.