Designer Prom Dresses - CB's Limited

Designer prom dresses versus department, chain and discount stores. Designer dresses are fashion savvy, one of a kind garments that offer better quality and a uniqueness that is hard to find in a regular store.

Department stores do not carry designer prom dresses. Typically they carry a few styles with limited color choices. However, they tend to have lots of stock on each style. But who wants to see a mirror image of themselves at prom? The prom dresses carried at these places do not have the quality of designer prom dresses. There is a difference in fabrics, stone work, and the actual process used to make the dress. Chain stores manufacture their own styles so they won't compare to the uniqueness of your specialty designer shop. These stores have a limited color selection and dresses are only available in a few colors. Also the colors do not vary within shades of the color family. For example, there may be just one pink instead of an array of pinks like light pink, hot pink, fuchsia, lipstick, bubblegum, watermelon, etc.

The bead work on designer prom dresses is highly contrasted from the beading on gowns in department or chain stores. The bead work is limited on these gowns and there is very little detail among their dresses. Most of the dresses are solids with few prints. These stores have different styles like cocktails, ball gowns, straight gowns, strapless, halter, etc. but each style resembles the next. All the dresses are similar with the make and little details. Sometimes the gowns look to be geared toward older women instead of the designer prom dresses that are hip and up-to-date with fashions geared toward teens and often taken straight from the runway.

Discount stores carry designer prom dresses, but buyer beware... be careful when purchasing a prom dress from these stores. Discount stores carry old styles that manufacturers have discontinued. These discontinued dresses may have be on clearance because there was not a high demand for this particular style. Also, discount retailers may sell gowns that have been damaged either in-store or by the manufacturer. Some damages can include: runs in fabrics, incorrect sewing, bad zippers, missing beads, missing hook and eyes, broken straps, etc. Some of these problems can be fixed, but you need to be careful when purchasing these gowns. Discount stores also are not as fashion forward whereas designer prom dresses are typically high fashion designs. Discounters will not receive their dresses at the beginning of the fashion season but afterward, so they will not be updated to the current line since styles change so swiftly between seasons. If you want to stand out and make a statement at your prom, stay away from these places so you are not last year's news.

Here at CB's Limited, we carry over thirty lines of designer prom dresses! Some of our designers are more costly than others but this is due to the delicate fabrics used and bead work. Two of our higher end designers are Jovani and Sherri Hill. These two labels use delicate fabrics such as silk, and silk charmeuse. Silk is naturally produced in the Midwest region of the world in places like China, South Asia, and Europe. Silk can be dyed which also makes the fabric costly and delicate. Silk charmeuse is made from silk with a satin finish. Silk charmeuse is lightweight and drapes well which is why it is commonly used when designing prom dresses. Both silk and silk charmeuse need to be handled with care due to their fragility. Taffeta which is also a popular and delicate fabric. It is also woven from silk and the particular type of taffeta use is made from yarn-dyed taffeta.

Jovani and Sherri Hill also use more expensive beading and hand-sewn bead work. These designer prom dresses typically use Swarovski crystals in their bead work. Swarovski crystals are found in Austria and are crystals that are precision-cut lead crystal glass. These Swarovski crystals range is color and size. These crystals really show their colors in the sunlight. These designers also use over-sized gem stones, a trend that was popular in the 80's and is steadily making it's way back. We are seeing over-sized gem stones not only on dresses but also on jewelry and shoes! Over sized gem stones make the dress seem more glamorous. Designer prom dresses feature beading that is hand-sewn. This feature is another reason why they tend to be more costly, due to the time and effort put into manufacturing. Not only do Jovani and Sherri Hill have the their beads and stones sewn on individually but also most all of the designer prom dresses are sewn that way. Having the beads sewn on by hand makes the beads more sturdy and less likely to fall off. Hand beading also prevents the entire strand of beads to fall off if one bead goes missing.

Designers make dresses seen on runways and the red carpet in Hollywood, which are then moved from the runway to prom days! The designer alters the styles slightly to fit the demands of teens for prom dresses! Commonly know as knock-offs, designers make prom dresses from famous dresses used on the red carpet or in movies. Perhaps the most popular knock off is from 2003 when Kate Hudson wore a simple yellow charmeuse gown in How To Lose a Guy In 10 Days! This gown is still featured in designer prom dress lines to this day. There are other famous knock offs such as Kiera Knightley's gown in Atonement that was emerald green with thin spaghetti straps and a v-neckline. Also Faviana, another designer, designs gowns for the game show Deal or No Deal for the ladies with the briefcases. Mischa Barton also had a knock off gown designed after the she wore a champagne and black charmeuse gown on the red carpet! Carrie Underwood also inspired a gown for Prom Season 2009 that was a multi-colored artistic print that was very popular.

Designer prom dresses are high in quality and uniqueness! They can be knock offs from famous people, and remakes from runways!