Advertiser survey: How much are your kids spending on their school formal this year?

Hair. Makeup. Clothes. It all adds up. How much are your kids spending on their school formal in 2021? Take our quick survey.

Students from St Mary's College at the their school formal at Adelaide Entertainment Centre in February, 2020. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

Some thirty years ago I slipped into my royal blue shot taffeta off-the-shoulder gown.

My hair teased and sprayed into a Victoria roll and gypsophila flowers tucked in just so and headed to my Year 12 formal.

My mum sewed my dress - $20 all up for metres of material, netting and boning and probably a few dollars for the Simplicity pattern. A family friend did my makeup - blue eyeshadow to complement the dress. Another did my hair. My date picked me up in his parents’ car.

I wore sheer stockings, but not with open toe shoes - look, it might have been the ’90s but we still knew that was a fashion faux pas.

Spray tan and acrylic nails were possibly not even invented - but certainly not a thing.

Lisa Woolford and her best friends at her 1991 Year 12 formal. Picture: Supplied

These days it’s a whole different ball game, my eldest daughter hired a magnificent gown, booked her hair and make-up with in-demand artists months in advance. Carefully planned spray tans and nails around part-time work and school commitments.

She made sure she posted a picture of her expensive gown on her school’s Facebook event to ensure she wouldn’t arrive at the Hilton and discover - to her absolute shock and horror - that there was someone else in the same very expensive outfit.

And let me tell you, this all added up to way more than the $20+ my parents forked out for me.

We’re trying to find out just how much formals are costing these days. Take our quick survey and let us know how much your kids are spending on their formals in 2021.