Party dresses for teens

With spring dances and proms on the horizon, teens are on the hunt for perfect party dresses.

The hottest trends are bold jewel tones in fuchsia, blue, green, orange and purple, according to teen fashion Web site teens.lovetoknow.com. "Two of the hottest styles in teen prom dresses are Cinderella-style ball gowns and empire dresses."

April Morrison, set execution manager at the Hamilton Place J.C. Penney, said the retailer has ball gowns, long slim dresses and short flirty dresses among its styles this season. "The latest trends include embellishment, prints and vivid colors," she said.

For a recent dance at Chattanooga Christian School, sisters Alexandra Durham, 12, and Sandi Ferris, 15, both students at Signal Mountain Middle/High School, selected dresses from sales racks.

Alexandra's came from J.C. Penney, reduced from $100 to $20. Sandi's came from Ross Dress for Less, reduced from $85 to $30.

Alexandra, a seventh-grader, said she gets ideas from magazines and television, although "lots of the designs that stars wear are just ridiculous."

Sandi Ferris, a freshman, said she likes to show her personality in the way she dresses. "I also choose stuff that I am comfortable wearing."

The girls' mother, Ann Durham Ferris, of Walden, said cost is a major factor in the dresses she purchases for her daughters.

"Our budget is tight, and we would rather spend money on family outings than designer clothes," Mrs. Ferris said. "So what we see in the department stores is really what we go with."

Alexandra said she understands that price is a factor when shopping for clothes.

"The price was a big thing but also the way the dress makes you look and feel," she said. "One of my favorite places to shop is J.C. Penny, because you can look adorable without breaking the bank."

Mrs. Ferris said she's had to relax her rules for what is appropriate formal attire.

"The dresses have changed so much from when I was in school," she said. "Formals meant dresses were long. Now it seems to be just the opposite. My rules are the dress needs to be (no shorter than) fingertip length, flattering without being overly sexual and have some form of strap over the shoulders."

Sufficient shoulder fabric is also a rule at their school for formalwear, the girls said.

"We have to have shoulders, as in no strapless (styles) or spaghetti straps," Alexandra said. "Not many dresses have shoulders, so it can be hard."

Choosing fashions that flatter

* For a thick waist or large bottom, wear a longer dress.

* An empire dress is good for girls who are petite and want to look taller.

* Show off long, thin legs in a high/low-hem dress or miniskirt dress.

* Dresses gathered at the bustline are great for small-busted girls while off-the-shoulder dresses are good for big-busted girls.

* In addition to black, other slimming colors are deep blues, greens and purples.

* Empire-waist dresses slim the tummy, while horizontal stripes make the tummy appear bigger.

* Sophisticated wraps camouflage the arms.

Source: teens.lovetoknow.com