Having a ball - on a slim budget

Sister Olivia Barclay helps Georgia 15, prepare for her school ball. Photo / Richard Richardson

Ball season - it's the main social event on a teenage girl's calendar, and can be a financial hurdle for parents.

But it seems that after years of mounting costs - tickets, dress, hair, makeup, jewellery and spray tan - the recession has forced the belles of the ball to reassess their spending.

A dressmaker in Manukau said her business had all but dried up, and a mobile hair and makeup artist said she had not yet had any bookings for ball-goers, whereas this time last year she had at least four clients confirmed.

Newmarket dress retailers Modes and Second to None said girls were still buying dresses with price tags of $300 to $1000, but they were taking longer to make decisions and mothers were making it clear their daughters must wear them to any other balls they were invited to.

Mothers and daughters bargained more than usual at Rangitoto College's second-hand ball-dress sale last month, but fewer dresses than usual were sold.

Rangitoto College mother Amanda Ziegler, who ran the sale, said she would spend less on her daughters this year. Last year, just one daughter went to the ball and the bill amounted to about $1000.

This year, two daughters are going. They are getting dresses made by a friend's mother and Mrs Ziegler is on the hunt for some well-priced material.

She hoped the girls would do their hair and makeup themselves, and while they might still get the $30 spray tan, she hoped they would not spend huge amounts on shoes and jewellery.

Mrs Ziegler said girls were under pressure from other girls to tick all the boxes but other mothers she had spoken to were definitely looking for cheaper options.

St Cuthbert's School principal Lynda Reid said she had asked girls to acknowledge that this year families were in "more straitened circumstances" than in the past.

"We are also saying to the girls: think of all the things you customarily do for a ball - what's something that you could do without this year?

"My personal suggestion is shoes, because my observation is that they think a lot about shoes, they buy lovely shoes and they wear them for about an hour and a quarter before they get sore feet."

Mrs Reid said some girls had swapped gowns and enterprising students had offered manicures.

"I think there would be an assumption that at a school like this everyone goes out and spends a lot of money but that isn't the case. Girls do all sorts of things. Vintage is very popular," she said.

Diocesan School principal Heather McRae said it was entirely up to girls to decide what to spend. "We hope the girls have a wonderful experience as it is often one of their first formal occasions. There aren't many occasions in today's world where great company, goodwill and great music can be shared in a formal setting."

Kristin head Peter Clague said girls would typically spend $300 to $600 on a ball and boys would spend $200 unless they bought a suit.

Liz Fox, principal of Kelston Girls' College, said she had observed that girls could look beautiful without going overboard on expenditure.

LOOKING BEAUTIFUL, WITHOUT THE EXPENSE

Georgia Barclay's friends are spending hundreds of dollars getting dolled up for the ball but she's not spending a cent.

She will be wearing her sister's old ball dress, shoes she already owns and will do her hair and makeup at home before she goes to the St Kentigern College ball on June 13. "Nothing too fancy," she said.

Her mother, Juliet Barclay, said balls could be very expensive but she had proved over the years that they do not need to be - and she had noticed that other families were starting to be more realistic this year.

While it was special to have at least one nice dress for their first ball, they could lend between sisters and friends for others.

Georgia, 15, said she might buy a dress next year but for now she is happy to borrow one.

"A lot of my friends have bought dresses and I love the dresses but I like mine as well."

New ball dresses usually cost about $300-$400, shoes about $150 and hair and makeup could cost up to $200.

Georgia's older sisters did their own makeup and hair, and she said she did not see the point in paying someone else to do it when she knew what she wanted.

NIGHT OUT

What one parent spent on the ball last year:

*Dress $580 long gown, brand new.
*Shoes $15 from the Number One Shoe Warehouse.
*Hair $130 for an "up" do.
*Makeup $85.
*Jewellery $25.
*Spray tan $30.
*Ticket $75.
*After-ball ticket $25.
*After-ball dress $45.
*Glass hire, wine and food to host the pre-pre-ball (a gathering before the pre-ball) $150.
Total: $1160.

What she's spending this year:

*Dress $180 - sample dress, cocktail length.
*Hair $20 by a friend.
*Makeup - contemplating whether they will pay or do it themselves.
*No after-ball dress.
*Maybe a spray tan.
*Cheap shoes and jewellery.
*Tickets
Total: At least half last year's budget.