Recently discussing paradigms in my RCL class, it got me to think of one thing in particular.
Prom dresses.
Prom is something almost every high school girl thinks and dreams about. The month before my senior prom, and prom itself, is honestly a time I’ll never forget. My friends and I spent hours talking about it and fantasizing what it would be like. Other cultures are fascinated by it. In France, my host sisters asked me endless questions about prom and it made me truly think of its significance in our culture.
In my high school, girls start searching for prom dresses around January. As for me, I didn’t start until probably March (I work better under pressure). Preparing for prom is one of the most stressful things. My prom nightmare occurred when I just so happened to buy the same dress as one of my friends in a different color. I had been away for spring break, which was when she bought hers, so I never saw it until I realized we had the same one. Needless to say, a new search began. You not only have to find the perfect dress, but you have to get it fitted with multiple appointments, and this is not to mention the unbelievable cost of these gowns.
I’m veering a little off topic so let me explain where I see a major paradigm in prom dresses. I am the youngest of six children: Matt, Theresa, Jeanine, Rob, Elise, me! My two older sisters are close in age, but much older than my sister Elise and I. I remember being in second grade when my sister, Theresa, was going to her senior prom. The shift in dress styles is almost astonishing. Now that I think of the dresses I remember seeing, and looking at photographs I can’t believe that those dresses were in style. They were more plain back then, and they had a lot more rigid cuts. The popular colors were not such a sight either. When I was prom dress shopping my older sisters could not stop commenting on how much dresses have changed for the better.
I think the shift is mostly caused by simply new trends. In 5 years, the prom dresses I wore will be out of style, which is pretty bizarre to think about. A difference I also discovered was that prom dresses today tend to be more revealing than the ones my older sisters wore. There are bigger slits, more cutouts, lower cuts, etc. I think this is pretty sad because dresses start to lose their class, and prom for me is about looking classy and beautiful. This mainly has to do with society’s tendency to start sexualizing young girls.
Prom dresses as a paradigm is definitely something worth more exploration and here are plenty of pictures so you get an idea of where I am coming from!
My brother’s senior prom (early 2000s)
A dance my brother, Rob, attended
another dance Rob attended
my sister, Elise’s, junior prom (white dress)
Elise’s senior prom (far left)
My junior prom
My senior prom
My junior prom
Senior prom
In my hometown, we only have Junior Prom. And the year I went, I took my friend Natalie because my boyfriend was unable to go. Because of this, I decided cheap was better for my prom dress. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the style of the dress, but the strap on the right side snapped after pictures and I had to safety pin it back in place. This year, though, my boyfriend is a junior (No judging!) so I’ll be going back in April for the prom. You’ve given me some awesome things to think about when buying my dress!
This is so interesting! I love this! Wow I never would have thought about this topic. It’s brilliant! Boy, were those dresses back in the early 2000s ugly! I wonder what in-style prom dresses a few years down the road will look like!
Prom dresses! That’s an idea I had NEVER thought of before, but it’s really a great one! I always looked at my cousins’ prom dresses and couldn’t believe how much they’ve changed in style. As you already saw my dress…I think keeping in mind the amount of money that people spend on prom dresses is also shifting. My cousins didn’t spend crazy amounts on their dresses and neither did I (clearly, it was my mom’s dress) but a majority of the girls from my school spent $300+ on a dress they will wear once to a night they really don’t even enjoy that much. So this is also something to keep in mind, especially because this probably seemed absolutely insane to spend this much before.
I never would have thought to look into how much prom dress styles have changed, but your investigation so far is so fascinating! I love how you included the different pictures as examples because it truly put it all into perspective for me!