Of course, you could always just visit on-line pageant consignment stores. Browsing through these types of resale sites usually yields great finds. I’ve seen beautiful gowns as low as $30, although sometimes it is hard to find both a dress you like that’s in your size. Despite this minor speed bump, you can still get your pageant dresses altered for much lower cost than buying it in your size at a retail price.
If you want to find a higher quality dresses but don’t want to pay the full marked up price, then pageant consignment stores are for you.
My daughter and I recently bought a matching cocktail dresses from a consignment shop. We knew we couldn’t afford much, and it was quickly apparent that even though these were “used gowns” they were also of very high quality. Another point is that most of these great dresses have only been worn for a matter of minutes or hours.
Even if you’re looking to find a particular dress, pageant resale shops can have amazing deals on the unexpected. We had more fun looking at pageant dresses on our smart phone than we would have ever had in a boutique, which would only have a limited overpriced supply of dresses.
You may hear some pageant moms saying that they will only support the local boutiques that they are familiar with, and my question for them is how do you like making these local businesses rich by paying so much more than you have to? My in-laws had a terrible time understanding why I would buy used pageant dresses for my daughter when she did her last pageant, until they took a good look at the quality I was finding and the relative prices. My mother-in-law has gone dress shopping with me now, and she was one of the most vocal opponents to her grandchild having just about anything that had been used by another child. I enjoy telling people about my better pageant dress resale finds, the new gowns with tags from the store still attached, the pageant shoes in perfect condition – even those who have plenty of money will be amazed at what you can find at pageant consignment websites.
