<p>Yankee Belle, I was one of the chaperones for my D’s large senior prom. The event was held in a swanky skyscraper venue with great views – I had never been there before! Gowns ranged from mini- to floor-length, glitzy to more subdued; hair from “everyday” to up-dos. This may be a regional thing, but I’d say that about half the dresses were short – not casual, but short. As for the shoes, by the end of the evening there were dozens of high heels in rows on the floor next to the coat-check area, abandoned during the evening as the pain became intolerable. One of the chaperones suggested that we make sure that only barefoot girls were picking up of shoes at the end, since she had heard of someone’s shoes being swiped in a similar setting. Tickets were heavily subsidized by four years of fundraising by the class (and parents) aimed at making the senior events affordable for every student who wanted to attend. I’d say that most students arrived in limos. This is an urban public high school.</p>
<p>S2 will be joining college music program in the fall. He contacted music dir and asked if tuxedo’s were required concert attire. If so, will buy now, save $$ on prom rental. Prof emailed back tux req’d, so now I just have to find a nice “cheap” tux before prom. Saves him the tux rental, costs me the price of a tux. S2 is keeping his cost of prom down…</p>
<p>Our HS required the kids to wear tuxes for their highest level band & negotiated a deal on them. What I love about those tuxes is that the slacks are washable and also adjustable for waistband (great since my S is so slim & couldn’t fit it otherwise).</p>
<p>If you want inexpensive, you may ask some of the tux rental places to see if they’ll sell you an inexpensive used tux, if your S doesn’t insist in brand new. Sometimes the “old” styles go on sale for great prices but are perfectly servicable classics. My dad & brothers all bought tuxes for about $100 apiece in this manner & have worn them for weddings and other similar occasions over the years. S got his with his band classmates & hasn’t worn his much since then, but does have one in case he ever needs it.</p>
<p>The tanning thing would be the deal breaker for me - very unsafe. I wouldn’t care if the entire class had come straight from the tanning salon! Fortunately this is not a big thing in our area. Most girls did professional hair, makeup, manicures and pedicures. It’s an affluent area, so not a hardship on most families (at least this was the case LAST year!). The girls for whom cost was an issue worked and saved for it during the year, but knew they’d be doing so ahead of time. I do see the value of the hair and makeup - if well done they can make for better photographs. The big indulgence in our area is the after prom shenanigans, the beach rentals and all that. We drew the line there, as well. </p>
<p>On the other hand in our area junior prom and homecoming are not big deals. Many girls did their own hair and makeup for these, wore short dresses and no one rented limos. They were really just school dances - very low key.</p>
<p>I think my mother felt guilty. I hadn’t gone to my junior prom which was the one my friends went “all out for” - ie, rent the limo, find dates, long dresses - because I couldn’t afford it. She saw how bummed out I was about the whole thing (I’m not much of an independent, I guess, and it sucked to see all my friends the Monday after with their still manicured nails looking at pictures from their camera and talking about nothing else). She offered to pay for my senior prom and we went to Macy’s, I found a dress on super sale for ~$30. My shoes cost more than the dress, and were a stupid purchase in retrospect - they’re really cute but totally impractical since my feet fall out of heels with no straps, either ankle or back, so I’ve never worn them since. I got my eyebrows done (~$13) and my hair (~$30, I didn’t want an updo) and my nails ($8) – and this is in a pretty expensive area. I had a good time, it was way more low key than the year before, and I know it was important to my mom that I go senior year - ironically, the year a bunch of my friends decided they weren’t into it and didn’t!</p>