Formal night dress for 12yo who loves to dress up

[emmad1973]

hi,

I am looking for dresses for my daughter for teh Formal Nights on Our upcoming RCI cruise on the Mariner. She is a very girly girl and loves to dress up. So I have found a fab dress for her but I think it may be a bit over the top - I would really appreciate to know what you guys think :o before I buy it and carry it several thousand miles!

 

Thanks

 

Emma

Somerset UK

 

[brenderlou]

I say get the dress and let her enjoy formal night. It may be over the top but she will love every second of it!!!!!

Our daughter is 5 and also loves to dress up. Pants never touch her. It's dresses and skirts only. She is over the moon when she is all dressed up.

[sharpie13]

I say if the dress is afforable, let her wear it ;) We regularly go cruising with a group of teens, (well now half of them are in thier early twenties), who love to dress up. There is no way we could pervent them from going all out on formal night. So let her enjoy the fun an romance of formal attire.

[eandj]

She WILL be over the top on RCI.

But ...if she wants to be super formal, if the cost doesn't matter and the packing no problem :eek: ....then do whatever you both want to. She'll look gorgeous and remember the night.

 

My thought would be.. when will she ever wear the dress again? But I'm a practical minded lady. And I'd be steering my daughter to a cocktail length dress that she could wear maybe to a wedding, school dress up dance, etc. But again....it's ME.

 

 

We've done 2 multigenerational cruises on Royal C. and each time, by the time dinner and photos were over, all the young teens changed into more comfortable nice clothes for the evening with their newfound friends. So they had their "formal" clothes on for maybe 3 hours.

[Warm Breezes]

My DD is 12 too. I just took her shopping for a cruise dress last weekend. While what you are showing is very cute - I don't think my daughter would go for it anymore. She wore that style on formal nights on our previous cruises but this time she was looking at shorter prom type dresses. We found a great deal at Sears in the Juniors section- $118 dress for $15 dollars. Similar to the below only blue. Good luck in whatever you decide.

 

[crusinmama06]

I am going to share my secret place for getting formal dresses. And it's VERY inexpensive...which is good because on a 7 day cruise, yes we do take 7 dresses. :eek:

 

They have sizes 2 - 12 US (so your daughter might be out of this size range by now)

 

The kids have them on for 3-4 hours for one night....so I have no problems trying to save money somewhere. I have ordered at least 15 dresses off this company on ebay and have always received some beautiful dresses.

 

Now, they aren't something that the kids can wear over and over again. So if you are looking for high end quality...don't buy them. But if you are looking for a dress for her to wear one night and that "looks" high end...then you might wanna try them

http://stores.ebay.com.sg/Butterflyxc

[emmad1973]

Hi

thanks for the advice (and the ebay link) the dress looks like it should cost more than it does (it is also Ebay). I know she will love the dress but I also know that if everyone else is not as dressed up she will not be happy so I think I may just give her the choice to decide whether she wants to go for that kind of dress or a shorter more cocktail type dress.

 

Thanks again

 

Emma

[Onessa]

At 12YO, she should be able to fit the smaller Junior girls sizes. Our DD (now 13YO) loves to go shopping for formal night -- for our last three she has vetoed "kids clothes" in favor of the Junior's department. She haunts the clearance sections after prom season and brags about getting a $7.00 formal night dress. Like someone else said, she does the shorter ("cocktail" dress) formal stuff. Since she has long, gorgeous legs the shorter ones look great on her.

 

On our last cruise she had a sparkly red one and a black crepe halter dress that had a pleated skirt. Both dresses were age appropriate (while still making her feel VERY sophisicated). (but let me tell you finding a black backless bra in a 32A was a bit of an adventure! -- although the clerk at Victoria's Secret was really great, talked to HER -- rather than me and had some really good, and affordable, options)

 

She and her cruise friends got permission from their parents to all dress/get ready in one of the girls cabins -- both times they spent several hours doing each others hair, nails and makeup. So much fun!

[WineDown17]

Emma-

 

I think if you love it, and she loves it. GO FOR IT.

 

IMHO you can NEVER be over dressed on formal night. My children (boys) wear tuxes... and they are 2 and 12. (Although I also think it is fine for kids NOT to get that dressed up too- not judging, to be clear. This is what works for us.)

 

On RCCL they were in the minority, but they loved it, and it was just one more thing to make the experience special. No regrets.

[readytolose]

I think the dress is beautiful. It does look a little "young" for a 12 year old however if your daughter loves it then by all means get it!

 

We just got off the Liberty and I was actually pleasantly surprised at how much everyone was dressed up. My 12 and 14 year old sons were in tuxes. I figured since we were going during spring break that the dress would be a little less but it wasn't.

 

Formal nights were still formal. I do have to say though that the other nights there were lots of people in the dining room with shorts on.

[vavasmom]

I say go for what you daughter wants. All three of the dresses below were bought on sale at Marshalls/Ross etc.

 

Two years ago DD was 11.5 and wore this for formal night on the Freedom:

 

Last week (at 13.5) she wore these two dresses on the formal nights:

[6rugrats]

My stepdaughter when she was 12 would have thought this dress too "babyish". They all want to look older! I agree with the cocktail type dress suggestion. Much easier to pack, too.