Just Another Prom Dilemma!

I am starting to stress out and there are still two more months before Victoria's prom. She found a prom dress already, or should I say, she fell in love with a prom dress already. You're thinking I should be thrilled, right? Wrong. Well, I would normally be thrilled, as it was in the first shop we stopped in. Did I mention, to get to our "first" shop, we drove through three other towns on a cold, rainy night only to find three dark store fronts - ending up at a bridal shop 5 mins from our house. Oh. Sorry. I digress.

Well, she found this very pretty dress rather quickly. "Done, already?" I thought. "Wow! The first night?" I should have been thrilled, right? After all, it was a record breaking decision for a kid that can't decide on Crunch Berries or Peanut Butter Captain Crunch in the morning. The only problem was, that they didn't have her size, so it would have to be ordered and the dress was checking out at a whapping $269 before alterations and taxes! Gulp!

Having just survived a very difficult financial two year stint, I was not about to go back into hock for a prom dress. So we, well I, decided that would could find the same dress online, cheaper. I mean no disrespect towards our teen's big day. As I said in an earlier post, it's a rite of passage, a ritual that prefigures the selection of the wedding dress, but my own wedding dress didn't cost this much! Granted that was a "few" years ago.

Anyway, my dilemma. We found the dress online, but the ONLY place we were able to find it was on a foreign wholesale website. I am not even really sure what country it is from. Anyway, on the site, the dress sells at wholesale for $136. The catch is that they make the dress after you order it and guarantee that it will be at least a 90% look-a-like.

The site appears to be a lot like our Amazon site here in the US. It has the same look, sells similar items, but at wholesale prices. It has many positive reviews and comments. I am however, concerned about the risk. Mainly the risk that the dress will not be a 90% look-a-like and she will not wear it.

Has anyone ever heard of or shopped on DHGate.com? If so, please let me know your thoughts, and fast. The dress takes 20-days to make and 7-10 days to ship, so we really need to get going.

Would you take the risk or spend the money at the local shop? At this point, there are no other options. Well, there are options for me, but not for you. You only get to vote on the risk or the local shop.

I'd post the picture of the dress, but Victoria would kill me, so you'll have to wait.