Prom Season With Mac Duggal

It’s March 1 which means that prom season is officially underway. Prom is such a special day for teens all over the country and this year I’m hoping to ease your experience by sharing gorgeous options from various designers, telling you which styles to avoid, and aiding in the getting ready process.

Today I’m teaming up with Mac Duggal to share a few styles with you. Not only have I chosen a beautiful red gown from their current collection, but they sent over a sequined gown and the counterfeit version off of eBay as well. I’m going to be comparing the two styles and sharing how to avoid being scammed when purchasing a gown online.

Cassandra Stone Collection, Style 50484A

The Cassandra Collection just hit Mac Duggal’s site and the styles are absolutely stunning. I’m not typically a red girl but when I saw this beauty on their site I knew it would be a favorite of mine! This style comes in only one color option.

This jersey gown has a fully beaded v-neck bodice that catches the light beautifully! It’s got a full jersey skirt with a high slit to show off your left leg. The open back has a low back strap and godet inserts that give you the amazing, full train.

Seriously can we just take a moment for this beauty?! The train itself is super heavy because of how much fabric it is. I’m ony 5’2″ so this dress is clearly rather long on me. It can easily be hemmed when taken to a seamstress so shortening the train would not be a problem if you’re one who isn’t a fan of such a dramatic train.

Here’s a closer look at the beaded bodice. They did include a small bag of beads in case any come loose and you need to sew a few back on. Because this gown is so extravagant I kept my accessories slim with a simple Kendra Scott and my go-to gold statement earrings.

Omg, I seriously will never get over that train! Have you ever seen something more beautiful? I’m wearing a size 2 in this gown and I fill it out perfectly. Of course it is longer, but, like I said, hemming is always an option! Overall, this dress gets a 10/10 from me. Fit, style, and color were all perfect and I loved this even more on than I did in the picture which is always a plus!

Comparing The Two

The next dress I’m sharing is from the Cassandra Stone Collection and is Style 3434A in ‘Gold’. This Mac Duggal gown has the most gorgeous sequins, a key hole cut out, and a backless cowl detail. There are tons of Mac Duggal gowns being knocked off and sold by Chinese retailers on sites such as eBay. Before we get into how to know when you’re being scammed and how to avoid these gowns, let’s compare the designer against the knock-off.

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Here are a few side by sides of the designer gown (on the left) next to the counterfeit gown (on the right). These are unedited so you can fully see color, sequins, and beading detail in their true light! Not only do the two gowns look nothing alike, but they are made so differently from one another. Let’s take a closer look at the two.

Cassandra Stone Collection, Style 3434A in ‘Gold’

I’ll be the first to admit that the style of this dress isn’t one I’d usually gravitate towards but it looks beautiful on! It’s got a high neck, key hole cut out, and a cowl detail that leaves the back almost entirely exposed.

This gown comes in three colors, ‘Black’, ‘Green’, and ‘Gold’ which is what I’m wearing here. I’ll be honest in saying that although this dress is called gold, when the sequins hit the light they have a rather rose-gold reflection. However, the pictures that are posted on Mac Duggal’s website of the coloring match exactly what came in the mail!

One thing that’s tricky about ordering dresses online is receiving what you’re looking at. Often times dresses come in the mail looking completely different from the pictures provided on the website. We clearly saw that was the case with the counterfeit dress as it looks nothing like the real Mac Duggal gown. However, this dress looks exactly as it did on the website. In fact, I like it even more on than in the pictures or hanging up on a hanger.

I’m a sequins lover at heart so this dress clearly did not disappoint. The gown came with a bag of extra sequins if you were to have any problems and needed extras to sew back on. I have found a few of the sequins around my bedroom floor but that is to be expected with any sequins dress!

I’m wearing a size zero in this gown. It is a bit big in the bust but it fits the rest of my body like a glove so I would recommend wearing a sticky bra to better fill out the cups if you are in the same sort of situation. I know many people worry about length. I personally love a good train as you can tell. The train on this one is obviously much shorter than on the red but there is still a good six inches of fabric on the floor. You can easily get this hemmed but just know that if you’re 5’2″ like me, it is going to be on the longer side!

The Counterfeit

The biggest difference in this dress from the real Mac Duggal dress is… well, everything. This knock-off dress was purchased off of a counterfeit eBay site. There are tons of these sellers across the internet and its importnat to do your research before wasting your time and money on something as tragic as this gown.

This dress looks nothing like the Mac Duggal one. The gold is much warmer and rather than hand stitched sequins like the Mac Duggal gown, this is a sequins fabric that is poorly stitched together. The key hole on this gown is much shorter, hitting above the actual boobs and the back of it is not a cowl as it’s supposed to be. In fact it’s an awkward piece of fabric that is just hanging from the neckline. The material of this dress was both stiff and uncomfortable – not to mention extremely unflattering.

Another noticeable difference was in the train. Where as the Mac Duggal dress had a gorgeous rounded train, this one was unevenly stitched and does not fan out the way the other gown did. Overall, I am very unimpressed with this dress. It does not even remotley compare to the designer gown!

How To Avoid Getting Scammed

Unfortunately counterfeit dresses are a real problem in today’s age and there are sellers everywhere trying to scam teenagers. Here are a few ways to spot fake dresses and avoid wasting your money on an unreliable site.

• Tons of color options – Most designer gowns have just a few color options if more than one at all. Tons of color options are almost always a dead giveaway that the dress is a no-go. Not to mention, often times the color you choose is going to be completely different from what you receive!
• Investigate the website – Make sure you do your research on the site you’re looking to buy from before placing your order. Read the FAQ’s, reviews, and everything else before ordering a dress online. There are tons of pretty dresses that pop up on Pinterest when you search ‘prom dress’ but they often times lead to scammy sites – beware of this!
• Website location – Keep in mind that Mac Duggal has no retailers located in China so this is a clear red flag.
• The knock off list – If you’re still unsure as to whether or not the site you’re looking at is reliable, check out Mac Duggal’s knock off list. They have complied a giant list of websites that are knocking off their dresses and scamming people. There are hundreds of sites on this list so be sure to give it a glance before hitting ‘order’.

Mac Duggal has a page on their site with a list of reliable prom websites that you can purchase one of their gowns from. You can find it here if you’re interested in the two gowns I showed today or in seeing some of their other beautiful styles.

Well, that’s a wrap for my first prom post of the season! I hope you all enjoyed these beautiful styles from Mac Duggal. I’m so excited to have officially kicked off my prom series. I’ll be adding installments to this series every Friday so keep your eyes out for my next prom post!

With love, McKenz

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*This is a sponsored post. Mac Duggal kindly gifted the gowns featured in today’s blog post and YouTube video for reviewing and styling purposes.You can read my full disclosure page here.