The end of the school year for parents in Bosnia and Herzegovina does not only bring pride at the end of a chapter, but often also serious financial headaches.
While the graduates are preparing for their most important night, their parents add up the costs that often exceed the figure of 1,000 KM, and in extreme cases even reach the price of a used car, writes N1.
Graduation, by the way, apart from a beautiful new chapter in life, both for parents and primarily for their children, has always required considerable resources from their home life.
What is offered in BiH?
However, as the years go by and the prices increase daily, that amount also increases and thus puts the parents first of all in trouble because, as is usually the case, they want to please their child for that special night.
Accordingly, N1 searched the current offers offered in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and considering that prom night is getting closer, those related to formal dresses and suits are more and more noticeable.
Whether you visit them in person or “scroll” the offers online in boutiques all over Bosnia and Herzegovina, you will first notice that it is diverse, and then the prices, which clearly show that “skipping” a high school senior has become a luxury.
There are currently numerous promotions for young men, so in well-known shopping centers, for example, in Banja Luka or Sarajevo, you can find packages that include a suit, shirt and tie at prices from 420 KM to 450 KM, while individual pieces such as jackets and pants in branded stores cost around 420 KM.
Also, there are boutiques that offer such items of clothing at lower prices, from about 100 KM to 300 KM per piece, however, when you add it all up and add fashion accessories and hairstyles, the price still becomes extremely high in the end.
Girls, on the other hand, face an even wider range of prices. Although in some stores you can find dresses from 100 to 300 KM, those with a more formal and modern cut rarely cost less than 200 KM, while in popular BH. at fashion houses, the prices go up to 360 KM and beyond.
However, it does not end there. There are also those girls who want to make a special cut or even buy a designer dress that prom night.
If she decides on the option of having a special dress sewn for her graduation, then that service can vary according to the desire, but also the wishes of the graduating woman. Thus, a dress can be sewn for 100 to 200 KM, but there are also those that exceed that amount and cost even more than 2,000 KM.
Proms as a challenge
And the price, when sewing the dress, is dictated by the accessories that the client wants to have.
One of the most successful BH. fashion designer Adnan Hajrulahović Haad, whose creations are otherwise very inspiring and unique for N1, explained that these are usually more expensive materials that ultimately significantly increase the price of the final product.
“When it comes to designer dresses, specifically, in my atelier — we have requests from clients, so they want lace or some expensive material that costs, I don’t know, a couple of hundred marks per meter. Of course, for a dress, it reaches a huge price that is unrealistic and I think you should never go to that extent and look at it that way. In life, I am practical and grateful to matter, among other things, and I always try to convince my clients that resources are something that we must not abuse, even for an occasion in which we will spend something only once and spend a large amount of money”, said Haad.
He followed up on demand and supply, adding that graduation parties are certainly a challenge for designers in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“With the fact that I think that maybe 5-10% of those prom dresses are made by designers. We all work more or less. I may have worked more in the years behind me than I do today, but it’s not a matter of demand, it’s maybe a matter of my attitude towards things. Today I think, because I have big children, who are like that — here’s my son, he’s a high school graduate — that it’s excessive for children to go for designer dresses for proms, and in the end I think we’ve lost our attitude towards aesthetics in relation to proms,” he then stated and counseled the youth.
“Prom is a celebration of the end of school and should be youthful, cheerful, wear that age. I think that ladies at that age today want to look like mature women of 30, and then when they get married at 30, they want to look like those of 18. So we have a slightly disturbed system. And I also think that it doesn’t matter what we are in, but how we feel. It can be much simpler and that doesn’t matter — the atmosphere is important. I can say that probably the dress he can find somewhere in the city for about 50 marks that can serve the purpose,” he said.
Online offers
You can find dresses in this price range in most stores, especially in shopping centers, which can really complete a youthful look. On the other hand, there are also online stores/boutiques that offer decent offers, however, as most users point out, there is another problem, which is inadequate sizes and questionable materials because it is not the same to see the goods live and online.
On the other hand, if a dress online costs from 100 KM to 200 KM, including postage or customs, that price will in most cases reach that of a boutique where you can “feel”, try on and buy the desired piece of clothing – whether it’s a dress for girls or a suit for boys.
Instagram and Facebook are flooded with online boutiques that offer formal dresses at prices from about 100 KM and up to 300 KM and more. Although this is significantly more affordable than designer salons, it is still a significant amount for an item of clothing that is worn, in most cases, only once.
For young men, online options offer significant savings on “pieces”. While shirts in stores reach up to 300 KM, modern cuts can be found online for up to 100 KM and lower, and the situation is similar with jackets, ties and belts.
In addition to the online space, the markets have significantly sophisticated their offers, as well as their prices. Even though you can no longer find formal clothes at extremely favorable prices, there is still the possibility that you will buy them there for a much better price than in boutiques.
Market as an alternative
In the markets, dresses can be found for 80 to 150 KM, while men’s pants and shirts can be combined for less than 100 KM or a little more. Although there is no “branded” experience, these pieces are often visually comparable to those from average boutiques.
Haad goes on to note that young people today are most susceptible to the influence of the Internet, adding that it is still up to parents to react and make them aware.
“The influence of Instagram and other social networks is much stronger than the influence of parents and everything that surrounds them in reality. So I know that it won’t be easy to go through it here, but I would like the children to learn that there are some more important things than how expensive the dress is. And that is how we are as friends, what we are like as people, how much fun we will have that evening at that graduation party. And all those kind of noble human things may be more important than the dress itself, but unfortunately we live in such a time as it is. And I would like to mention that as a parent I know under what kind of influence children are today and basically everything is clear to me, and as a designer I try to apply my knowledge”, said Haad.
However, there is also the other side of the coin – commercial. We are talking about sellers, tailors, but also designers who are mostly driven by profit. However, Haad adds, that was never even a thought for him, not a guiding principle in his business.
“I don’t want to allow myself, seriously, I don’t want to “persuade” children to go to graduation and basically involve them in such a thing. Well, of course, the inflation we live with and the price increases we live with every day make everything around us more expensive and inevitably some things have to become more expensive. But I’m saying that I don’t think that the graduation party should have been part of the luxury, nor that it should have been something special. I think that it is much more important how they will have fun there, but I think that in the time we live in, the meaning of that graduation has been lost,” added Haad.
Graduation celebration as an influence
He also recalled his graduation in 1997 and compared it to the thoughts of young people today.
“Then I put on a suit and some interesting tie, and that I was very happy to have that suit and to have the opportunity to celebrate the end of school. And today that celebration is more or less forgetting what it is celebrated for, and is used as an influence, as something that should be. It is the dictation of social networks, and where, of course, is the role of parents to put things in their place, but also the school. And here we see that schools do not work and do not fulfill their function, they do not teach children what they should learn, but and schools become susceptible to those influences,” Haad believes.
In addition to the mentioned ways, there is also the possibility of renting, first of all, formal dresses. Haad is not a supporter of this, and apart from being unhygienic, he believes that it is also not profitable.
“To be honest, I’ve never been a fan of renting clothes because I think that clothes carry our energy and we shouldn’t share that energy. And for practical reasons — here, it’s not hygienic — so I’ve never rented out my dresses. I believe that renting can be done. I don’t have experience with prom dresses, I don’t have anyone’s story that I can use at this point, but I know from renting wedding dresses that it’s more or less cheaper to do than to rent a dress. But again, the trend is that renting a dress is very expensive,” Haad advised.
Fashion accessories and cosmetic treatments
However, we must not forget that for the prom evening, along with formal clothes, there are accompanying details. In the case of young men, there are accessories such as belts, ties, silk bows on jackets, etc. up to men’s haircuts and, in the case of a big prom, beard grooming.
All of this can cost around 100 to 200 KM and upwards if you take into account that these fashion accessories are much more expensive in boutiques, so you have on offer belts from 40 KM and more expensive (sometimes even for 20 KM, but rarely), ties are also in that price range, and silk handkerchiefs from 20 to 30 KM. Haircuts and beard trimming have become more expensive, and now this service, depending on the hairdressing salon, ranges from 15 to 40 KM.
When it comes to girls, their preparations are somewhat more complex and “demanding”. They require a visit, in addition to hairdressers, to beauty salons, and there are also accessories such as jewelry and handbags.
Accordingly, professional make-up in Bosnia and Herzegovina today ranges from 60 to 120 KM (depending on whether false eyelashes are included), while for a manicure they will allocate from 30 to 60 KM, and in frequent cases also a pedicure (if they wear sandals), which costs from 30 to 80 KM, depending on the reputation of the salon and the materials used, but also on the client’s request. There is also an unavoidable hairstyle, the price of which will also be dictated by the effort invested, the material and also the wishes of the graduating student. Accordingly, those prices can range from 40 to 100 KM, and in some cases even more.
The whole story should be rounded off with shoes. When it comes to the offer for men in boutiques, offers of elegant leather shoes can be found at a price of 100 KM to 150 KM and onwards, while it can vary depending on the material, but also on the way you buy the product (boutique, market, online).
When it comes to girls, the offers are more varied. They vary from sandals, more elegant ballet flats, lounges and many other designs that, depending on the material, appearance and also the way of purchase, dictate the price. Thus, the offer includes products from approx. 50 KM to over 100 KM to 200 KM and more.
According to all of the above, when you add up numerous statistical data, you get numerous variants. Thus, depending on the wishes of the graduating student, parents will set aside an average of 1,000 KM to 1,500 KM from their household budget. However, if their child wants a specially tailored dress with more expensive details or decides to go for a designer dress, then the price will be significantly higher and will even go up to 3,000 KM or 4,000 KM.
In essence, one comes to the conclusion that, in the race for the most beautiful photo, it is the parents who ultimately pass the “endurance test” of their household budget.
