Dresses

Floor-length gowns, cocktail lengths and everyday dresses:

the three sell to different buyers at different times. A gala gown reaches the floor and usually has a boned bodice, beading or a slit, mostly bought for a graduation ball, a formal wedding or a quince party. Cocktail dresses stop around the knee, in satin, crepe or sequins and get more wear because they suit dinners too. Day dresses, from the button-front shirt dress to the strappy maxi, are chosen for fabric and cut rather than an occasion. Bridal gowns have their own page under wedding dresses, and dresses cut to make room for a bump sit in maternity wear.

Fit on a long dress, and why the size on the tag misleads:

gowns made for the US prom market use numeric sizes such as 4, 8 or 12, high-street dresses use S to XL, and the two do not line up. Buy on bust, waist and hip measured flat, plus length from shoulder to hem. Length is the one that cannot be fixed. A seamstress can always shorten a hem, at a higher price if it is beaded, since the stones come off and go back on by hand. A gown cut for someone shorter than you has nothing to let down. A lace-up corset back forgives a few centimetres either way. A zip forgives nothing. On a day dress, read the care label: viscose shrinks in a hot wash and linen creases.

Graduation gowns bought new, rented or second-hand:

new ones start around ₡25,000 at outlet boutiques and climb past ₡250,000 for authorised designer labels such as Jovani or La Femme. The other route is renting one for the night from a bridal boutique. A gown worn once has to beat both, so price yours below what renting a similar dress would cost and it will move. A used day dress competes with high-street rails where new is already cheap, so it sells only on a better label or a clearly lower price.

A worn gown and the marks one night leaves:

turn it inside out first. Deodorant and sweat at the underarms and the waist seam set into satin and rarely come out, and a hem that dragged on the dance floor frays or carries a grey line. Count the missing stones on the bodice, run the zip all the way up and down, and look at the side seams: if they were already taken in, there may be nothing left to let out. Designer prom gowns are copied heavily, often advertised with photos lifted from the brand. A genuine Jovani or Sherri Hill carries the brand label and a style number you can search on the designer’s site and match against the dress in front of you. A “designer” gown at an outlet price with no inner label is a copy and should be priced as one.

Listing a dress you wore to a ball or a wedding:

timing counts for more than the description. Graduation balls run from November into December, so a gala gown listed in September or October meets buyers who are still looking, while one listed in January waits most of a year. Give the label size, the measurements, the wearer’s height in heels, and whether it was altered or dry-cleaned. Photograph it on a hanger in daylight, then close up on the label, the beadwork and any mark, so that someone coming from Alajuela or Pérez Zeledón knows what she is travelling for. The shoes and clutch worn with it can go in women’s shoes. Most buyers want to try a long gown on before paying, so say in the listing whether that is possible where you meet.