Hoco + Homecoming Dresses

A short dress, almost always. Homecoming is not prom and it is not black tie: the room is a school gym or a hotel function room, you are on your feet for most of it, and a floor length gown reads overdressed. The shapes that work are a fitted mini, a halter or a corset cut, or something with sequin or satin doing the work so the outfit needs nothing else. Pick shoes you can stand in for four hours, because you will be. Sizes vary by label, so check the options on each product page.

Color is the first decision, ahead of length or shape, and the searches bear that out: red, blue, black, pink and green lead every year. Red and blue carry the most interest and both photograph well under gym lighting, which is worse than you think. Black is the safe answer and the one that gets reworn afterwards. Pink and green are where you stand out in a group photo. If your date or your group has agreed on a color, that decides it for you and everything else is easy.

Short. Homecoming is a semi formal dance and the room dresses accordingly, so a mini or a short fitted dress is the norm and a full length gown is the exception. If you want the length without the formality, a satin midi reads dressed up and still moves. The practical test: you will be dancing, sitting on a gym floor for photos, and outside at some point. A dress you have to hold reads uncomfortable in every picture.

Prom is formal and floor length, once, at the end of the year. Hoco is semi formal, short, and it comes round every autumn. That changes what the dress is worth: a prom dress is bought for one night, and a hoco dress should be one you would wear again to a birthday or a night out. Budget follows the same logic. Spend on the piece that gets a second life, not on the one that sits in a wardrobe. If prom is the one you are shopping for, prom outfit ideas covers long versus short and how far ahead to buy.

Order earlier than feels necessary. Sizes on the popular colors go first and small independent shops like ours buy in short runs, so a restock is not guaranteed. Fitted and sequin styles run tighter than the same size in a relaxed cut, so read the fit notes on each product page rather than assuming. Sizes vary by label, so check the options on each product page. If you are between sizes, message us and we will pull it off the rack and tell you what we see.

Hoco sits next to Dresses, Going Out + Night Out, Corset Tops and Shoes. For the winter version of the same dance, see Winter Formal Dresses. Shop by Occasion has the rest of the edits. The Miss Behavin' Label is our own line and the one nobody else carries.