Prom Night: The American teenager's version of the Oscars.Readers of this blog are well aware it's my daughter's senior year in high school. Beginning in April Annie and the other kids in her class have a whirlwind schedule of parties and events equivalent to an Oscar nominee on the awards circuit. I was fearful Annie was going to add an order for a custom prom dress onto my already full list of sewing projects for her, but fortunately she found a dress she fell in love with at Century 21. I fell in love with the price: only $149, marked down from $498. (For those of you who have not had the pleasure of shopping for a prom dress, dresses typically run between $300 and $800. Don't gasp, there are parents who think nothing of spending this kind of money on a dress their darling daughters will wear once.)
Annie's chosen dress is by Sue Wong, who specializes in floaty and feathery cocktail dresses and evening wear.
A closeup of the beading. I'm not crazy about this champagne color but it's been popular on the red carpet lately and I think Annie can pull it off with tan skin and some peachy cheeks and lips. Notice the bodice is the same shape as that Butterick muslin I've been wrestling with.
This dress is typical of what's on the market today for prom dresses. Hideous, isn't it? There are actually prom dresses for sale that make this look one like downright virginal.
When I think of prom I think of images from movies set in the 1950s, like "Back to the Future" and "Peggy Sue Got Married." Girls wore dresses like this one here. I love this dress! I want Annie and all her friends to wear dresses with big full skirts and the boys to wear white dinner jackets.
For my prom, I wore a dress similar in style to this pattern. It was made out of pale pink organza and I lurved it so much. When I slipped on a puddle of beer on the dance floor I looked like a big piece of cotton candy sliding across the room.What did you wear to your prom? Are any of you sewing prom dresses this spring? Check out Kristine's progress; she's making a prom dress for one of her students. For my international readers, here's a history of the prom in the US.
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One of these days I'll have a finished project to post…. Just doing a lot of boring muslining and hand sewing these days. Have a great week everyone!
51 comments:
I know I was shocked when I took my daughter shopping for prom dresses. Luckily she said she didn't like what she called the "hooch" dresses. Not that I would have let her have one. She wanted an old fashioned prom dress like my mom had worn in the fifties, and it was quite a search to find one. (she didn't want a homemade dress even though I offered.) Your daughter's dress is very pretty.
Annie made a sophisticated and elegant choice. A choice that won't embarrass her in years to come. Well done her!
Prom dresses back in the late eighties, when I went to high school, we still pretty demure. Perhaps unsophisticated and tacky, but not slutty for the most part.
My "prom", actually Engineer's Ball, gown was very similar to this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Vogue-EDITH-HEAD-Pattern-RUNWAY-Dress-GOWN_W0QQitemZ260552847975QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3caa28f267, omitting the belt and pockets, in midnight blue crushed velour. Almost view C, but no shoulder seams, everything was gathered to a very narrow neckband. Yes, front & back slits from waist to neck, and NO bra - those were the days! Had the time of my life that evening, at Montreal's one and only Ritz.
I like the ombre at the bottom of the dress! (And your sweet pooch camouflaged against it, too.) Not a big fan of some of the current skankier choices for teens to wear to prom. It's like the designers design stripper apparel by day and prom dresses by night, and blur the lines between the two.
Did you feather your hair for prom? Trying to get the visual... maybe you can post a photo sometime! I just realized while thinking about my own prom dress that I remade it into a cocktail dress a few months ago... and all this time I'd thought I was refashioning my Homecoming dress.
It's pretty and what a good buy. I like the sequins. I wore a red and white ginham halter dress with a big ruffle at the hem like the one your wore. I'm guessing you went to the prom in the seventies too.
Good for you! Great dress at a really good price. I made a simple black matte jersey Michael Kors dress for Alex when she was a Junior dating a senior. For her senior prom, though her school called it something different, I was all set to make a dress when she found a Cynthia Rowley dress at a sample sale for $10. I had to take it in about 4 sizes (easier than it sounds), but it was gorgeous on her and really save me a ton of money. We even found shoes on sale.
Oh my gosh! The Vogue Oscar De La Renta pattern is the pattern I used for my high school graduation (1982)! I was so proud of that dress. We all had to wear long white dresses and I made my in white eyelet exactly like the pattern envelope! Way too funny. Thank you for bringing back the memories :)!
I made my own prom dress! It was very mid-90s with a sweetheart neckline and a dropped waist. It was out of a two-tone dupioni style polyester in dark green/black. I am still sad that long dresses were OUT OUT OUT when I went to prom and we all wore knee length. It is still the only time I've had my hair professionally styled for an event!
And here it is! I forgot I'd uploaded it to flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7573004@N06/3524883817/
When I was a kid, I borrowed my sister's dress. My daughter is just as thrifty. She either gets me to make it or her Grandma to buy it. I usually make her a Christmas and spring formal for her concerts. She's a pianist for a local youth choir and performs at the downtown theater. We have gotten more bold as she has progressed. She then uses the dress for other concerts or prom. (Her Grandma actually found two formals - each about $15 - that she kept and said she'd wear one for prom because it's tradition that I made her concert dresses...) We haven't settled on a pattern yet for this year. I love the retro styles and one of my favorites is a Butterick 1950s pattern. I'm amazed at the styles of today. I've seen enough busty girls falling out of their tops as well as girls of all sizes constantly playing with their strapless gowns to drive me crazy. I think Annie's dress will be wonderful.
BConky is my Mom and made all of my prom and Homecoming dresses custom. I love them all! She also made all my little sisters dresses for prom and Homecoming- usually working up until the boys were at the door.
She is awesome!
I love the one your daughter picked out... and agree that so many of the prom dresses now days are very ... slutty... for lack of a better word. I hope that is VERY out of school when my little girls go to the prom.
We'll be doing the prom dress over spring break. Amber has gotten a lot of those prom dress catalogs in the mail. They look as if they should be accessorized with a poll and loose dollar bills. Great dress (and even greater price) that Annie picked.
I wore a strapless, full skirt dress to my prom in 1988.
I wore vintage dresses to both of the proms I went to. In 1986, I wore a salmon pink lace number that reminded me of my mom's wedding dress with dyed to match shoes. My senior year, my mom bought me this amazing beaded gown for $100 (which was a fortune and thus was my birthday present for the year.) To economize, my corsage was from Safeway (they do a nice job!) and my shoes were thriftstore pumps spray painted gold. Another woman tried on the beaded dress at the same time I did. She was so nasty to me telling me the dress didn't fit. Sure my mom had to let out the sides a bit, but the nasty woman was way to short for it anyway (hemming the fully beaded dress would have been a nightmare!)
I love the dress Annie picked out. My mom made both of my prom dresses. They were very different, and I loved them both so much I still have them. The first was a long tank style in cream and gold brocade with a small attached gold train (although it didn't drag more than an inch or so on the floor), and the second was a Vogue long, bias-cut we did in purple silk and had an interesting diamond cut-out in the back that we trimmed in rhinestone trim with a cool brooch. It was the mid-90s.
As an exchange student in the US back in 1987, I must say prom brought out all of the cultural differences and then some! Teenagers dating in pairs instead of hanging out as a group... Girls going totally boy crazy and not even being embarrassed about it... Having to be "asked" to go to the ball (big 16 yo German eye roll here...) That said, I borrowed a Scarlett O'Hara-Style dress, curled all 2 feet of my hair, and went with my beloved American boyfriend (and had the time of my life!). Good times!
Just had to add: DS, 6 yo, is sitting next to me and said about Annie's dress "That is so pretty, mom!" (He's right.) "Why don't you sew something like that for yourself?" - "Because I don't have a ball to attend" -"Oh, you could just wear it around here!"
Did you see the hoochie prom dress that McCall's put out with their early summer collection? Yikes! One Saturday several years ago, my friend and I went to Macy's and tried on prom dresses for fun. The goal was to find the most hideous dress possible. I won with a beaded lavendar number. I made my junior and senior prom dresses in high school. My favorite dress was the one I made for my sister's senior prom. She wanted to look like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. I even found her the long white gloves and sewed some "boobies" into the dress for her.
My first semi formal was the 7th and 8th grade Prom in middle school, circa 1989. As a seventh grader, age 12, I was girls size 7/8. That meant one thing - mom made my dress. The pattern was a Jessica McClintock little girls formal dress, sweet heart neckline, basque waist, puff short sleeves and a knee length skirt with tulle netting underneath, done in teal. It was meticulously made, but compared to my pubescent friends I looked like a flower girl.
After that I always either borrowed a dress or got one from the second hand shop for $20. For my senior prom my parents offered to buy me a brand new dress, it was 1994 and after trying on what seemed like hundreds at Jordan Marsh and Filenes and bridal shops I finally found one at a 5-7-9 shop for $39. It was more of a party dress - beaded bodice with spaghetti straps and tulle skirt that basically looked like a black ballerina dress. I found shoes to match at TJ Maxx for about $18, as well as a matching hair clip that was a big puffy tulle bow. My parents were so thrilled that I found a dress for cheap that they offered to buy me jewelry to wear with it.
I still have everything but the shoes (Sad, the one item I would still wear). I might offer to make my niece's dress when she goes to prom, but she is only 13 and in seventh grade this year (and she's 5'6" and probably a junior size 5, so she certainly doesn't need a handmade dress)
Annie's dress is totally red carpet worthy. Your darling has lovely taste.
Mine was Jessica McLintock. I saved up for that puppy swinging a lot of hamburgers and fries. At that point I made all of my clothes and splurging on this gown was a dream come true. It was pink voile, long full voile sleeves, gathered skirt, ruffled hem, ribbon braid allover the place. You could see it was Haight Ashbury trying to go formal, very appropo to 1968. I did make my gown for my boyfriends Senior Prom, an off the shoulder white lace Southern Belle type affair. I wore a huge red silk flower in my long black hair. What great fun memories. I have to post these pics one day.
March 9, 2010 3:59 PM
Well you're seriously making me happy I only have one daughter with those prices - ack! My daughter just started middle school so I have a bit of time, but seriously, that is a ton of cash to drop for a dress that gets worn once. I had my dress made by a tailor shop for my senior prom. I don't recall what the price was, but I had to pay for it myself. It was a straight cut floor length red velvet dress that had some shoulder detailing in white satin and a big white bow on the tush (so early 90's! ROFL). I remember adoring it tho and being very happy with the work the lady did. I actually just donated it a few years ago to a local charity that does only formal dresses for low income families.
BTW, I ment to comment on the dress Annie picked out - that is very beautiful!
You KNOW that I made mine, too! It was 1992, so the dress was a short sweetheart halter with a gathered lace skirt. It was my dressform's uniform until I got stupid and tossed it in a Goodwill bag. What I wouldn't give to have it back :(
And now... I've got 3 formals. The prom, a formal for my best friend's cruise, and a major RTW prom alteration. I need to learn how to say NO!!!
My daughter very wisely choose a beautiful (on sale) Betsy Johnson dress. (As she did for her quinceanera.) I made all her other semi/formals and was quite happy to have all the pressure taken off me. Because she is so small, she got short dresses and is still wearing them.
My senior prom dress (1986) is shown here: http://craftprettysweet.blogspot.com/2009/05/high-school-sewing.html
It's a vogue pattern made with some cheapo polyester brocade. No one I went to school with had anything even vaguely like this. Too cool for school.
My senior prom was just back in 2001- and the whole "cut out" thing was just starting. I wore a fabuloud black dress with ombred sequins that shimmied when I danced. LOVED it. Still in my closet. http://www.flickr.com/photos/costumedivasdirtylaundry/3776966160/in/set-72157621784475991/
Oh, that dress is beautiful! I'm glad to hear that your daughter has good taste :) I hate the prom/stripper look! I'm loving all of these posts about prom- it's making me reminiscent of my own. I went to prom in the early-mid 90s- right when girls stopped wearing mountains of Gunne Sax and Jessica McClintock taffeta ruffles and everyone wanted to wear a black, white, or red column dress. I fell in love with my dress when I saw it at the goodwill- a 1950s dream in green and white back before it was cool to wear vintage, which meant that it was also still cheap to buy vintage! I think I'm going to have to put it on tonight and dance around the house to something off of Like a Prayer.
No prom where I am from, Sydney AUS. But I made my debut with all the other girls at my girls only school, and we wore white formal debutante gowns. Extremely proper.....
My D1 (now 21) has had some lovely prom gowns, one I even made, all on sale, and have now been consigned ! My D2 (14) is a different shape,and would have never fitted into them...
Annie's dress is very classy. Great choice.
Love Annie's dress! I'm going to live in the fantasy that fashion will get sick of so much flesh by the time it's my daughter's turn. I'm with you - lots of pouf to keep some things a secret!
My dress was similar to the vogue pattern except I designed it myself (first time I ever tried that). Very little fitting involved. I shirred the bodice, put a 6" ruffle at the top - off the shoulder, an a-line skirt with a ruffle. All in white cotton with a narrow pale blue ribbon at the waist and as a choker. I LOVED it. I also remember standing next to the sewing machine with my dress on while my mom took up the hem an inch or two. Yes, my dress was on because I was waiting for my date to arrive ;) Stitch a little turn, stitch, turn... This last minute method of sewing was learned at an early age!
I love that dress! Hopefully you'll post some pictures of prom night?
I made my own prom dress as well. It was burgundy satin- sleeveless with a dropwaist. I still have the pattern and the dress. I thought it was a look that would never go out of style. lol My daughter has another 10 years before her prom- maybe that will be back in style again? At least it would be better than the "hoochie" look!
I made both of my prom gowns and several other girls in my class too. My jr prom gown was a mint green crepe de chine Grechen style off the shoulder gown. I had baby's breath in my hair. For sr prom I worm a creme crepe gown. It was a Vogue pattern with one shoulder strap and a split up the front. I saw it lately on a vintage pattern site. If I can find it I'll see if I can copy the page and post it her. I wore alligator skin shoes that killed my feet. I remember taking them off and walking barefoot when we went to the Howard Johnson's for breakfast. LOL What a great time!
oops, my proms were in 78 & 79. forgot to mention that.
Gunne Sax was huge at my prom
(1976) but I wore a vintage velvet gown from the 1930's.
Ugh, my prom pics are embarrassing! It was '95 I think... My mother let me buy the sluttiest purple, skintight minidress from Frederick's of Hollywood! No kidding! It was 40 bucks, so it was fiscally cheap too. I was the least dressed at my prom! Yuck. My daughter will have better taste, I hope.
The dress is gorgeous, I hope it gets worn mre than once (Annie's not that that tacky blue thing). Back when I was at school in England the nearest we got to prom was the odd disco in the school hall and frankly it was traumatic enough deciding what to wear to those so I am not too sad I missed out!
Hello Lindsay , Well I wore that Oscar DelaRenta dress. !!! It was made out of white Broidery Anglais and had sprigs of blue roses on it . I later wore it at university for the ball season similar to your prom but with a ball every week for about 4 weeks ) and then pulled it appart and turned it into a nighty ( night gown in Australia) I had forgotten all about that dress until I saw your pattern cover.Thanks for bringing back the memories.
I love the dress your DD chose - very classy! I'm as old as the hills and wore a prom dress my mother made for me. I loved it because it was white with black polka dots, and all the other girls were in blah pastels. I felt so sophisticated! Carried a red posy to set it off.
Annie's dress is gorgeous! And the price is even more gorgeous!
I went to a Christian school, so we had to keep the dresses non-skanky, lol! Our prom was actually called the "junior-senior banquet", and we'd go have a nice meal and some usually kind of lame entertainment, and then everyone would go to the afterparty that some of the parents would sponsor for the dancing--to avoid offending some of the more conservative families, the school couldn't really host that part themselves. Anyway, I made both of my dresses-- junior year was an empire waist, spaghetti-strapped, 2-layer skirt in this royal blue crepe that was apparently too heavy a fabric--I tore the strap as soon as I got out of my car, and the dress didn't want to stay up! Fortunately, one of my friends had a safety pin on her, so I didn't have to stay away due to wardrobe malfunction. For senior year, I made Butterick 5542 (which is apparently still available)--the long version, in a teal satin that had a bit of a metallic sparkle to it. It was the first time I'd ever special-ordered fabric through the mail, too, because I couldn't find anything I liked at Joann's. And my dresses were both under $100!
I am loving Annie's dress and for such a great price. I am making my DD's prom dress and blogging about it. http://jacquimsimplestyle.blogspot.com
June 1986 my prom I wore a strapless white dress with a lace pink overlay. Looking very 80's. I could not find a picture.
My high school class voted not to have a prom. We were too cool for that (we really were). The administrators were a bit surprised.
Problem solved; major relief.
BTW, Lindsay, I'm "bemusedsewer," who sent you the email today asking you to forward my comment on Liberty of London to "Miss Celie's Pants" and to alert her that I have been unable to leave comments.
Uta,
What about the New Year's Eve ball in Vienna, or events like that?
I've always wanted to go. Finally, I'd have to learn how to waltz.
I wore a peach taffeta full skirt dress that I made from one of my very first Vogue pattern purchases. It had big rosets on the shoulders. I pulled it out last year and it fit-so I took a picture and posted it on facebook. Daring...I know. I also have a son who is a senior. Where did the time go?
I went away to school, so I have no pictures of my prom. No proud parents around to snap pix. My mother did buy me a lovely dress. It was made of white heavy weight Quiana knit (remember when Quiana was all the rage? Just another Dupont product!) and had a halter neckline with a teardrop cut-out at the bust. The skirt flared with a full sweep. If you can believe it several girls had outfits from LL Bean! Plaid patchwork skirts with blouses sent by their mothers. PREP. At that time I made a lot of my clothes, when I was home from school. In college I made all my gowns, unless I wore vintage, which I did alot.
I sewed all my older daughter's gowns. I copied a red silk satin Oscar dress which had a deep U neckline with the straps having a simple twist -this shaped the bust. I used a nice quality heavy poly satin and lined it in organza. I also made her a copy of a Kors dress for her Sr Prom in 2000. I suppose the dress was a bit risque, but more resort then sleazoid. I have searched for a picture, but I see she removed the one from the frame in her room!..It had a kind of a bra top with halter straps coming up from the center, with the draped black matte jersey fabric pulling up from the waist at the center front. I mostly drafted it myself. It had tons of hidden elastic in it and was very secure. Since then that dress has been loaned out countless times- it fits and suits just about everyone and is perfect for travel. I gave her a big lecture about pulling and tugging. Most young girls are terrible when they wear strapless or bare dresses. I pointed out that actresses know well enough not to do this. J-Lo, especially, who's trained as a dancer, knows how to move in anything.
I also did 2 prom dresses for our Hungarian exchange student in '97. One was a vintage 60s lurex halter dress we thrifted and the other a really romantic dress refashioned from parts of a worn for the worse turn of the century lace dress. I also made her a matching hair ornament and bag.
4 years later we had a Czech male exchange student. This was the same year I drafted the Kors dress. I found an awesome rockabilly tux at the Salvation army for Robert. Two kids going to prom is expensive and you can't expect Exchange students to foot the bill. Along with another lady, I laid in a store of Prom-wear for exchange students of the future. I donated 4 Tuxedos which I was lucky to find at the Salvation Army when I found the one for Robert.
I worked busily to alter the grey and pinstripe Tux for Robert. He looked gorgeous in it! The day of the prom I realized he needed more than just the Tux! So I made a cummerbund and matching bow tie out of some heavy plum Thai silk my MIL had given me:it was aging nicely in my stash for just this moment. Not only that, but it coordinated with his date's dress perfectly! He put the outfit on and I realized you can't just use any dress shirt. Only a few hours to go, so I called around and managed to find a Tux shirt to borrow..phew.
I have other adventures in Prom and dance sewing, but I need to stop now! hehhe
I think Annie chose a lovely dress. I really like the ombre effect at the bottom. Very pretty.
I went to prom in the late 90's when the stripper dresses were just becoming popular. My mom and I were mortified then and we still are now. For senior prom, my mom let me splurge and I bought a black Nicole Miller gown - sleeveless, scoop neck, empire seam and a full a-line skirt. I wish I had kept it past college as it was really lovely and pretty timeless, in my opinion. I may not have been as flashy as a lot of girls, but I felt like a princess that night. And a classy one at that. ;)
Beautiful dress and yes, I did the prom dress thing last year and I was estatic when it was over, it was like my wedding all over again. Thanks for your post. I still think you would look hot in a jumpsuit!
My Senior Prom was in 1976 and we had the ugliest dresses ever! I hated my dress, which was yellow poly crepe with maribou feather trim on the bolaro.
What I wanted was a full-skirted, 50's style to the floor dress. Apparently, I probably could have found this in a bridal shop, but in the 70's we had no idea where to go beyond the mall. ;o)
Thankfully, today we have the internet.
That is a beautiful dress! I love the beading. Yes, DD#1's dress was $350 last year. I plunked down $50, she was responsible for the remaining $300. I lent her my wedding jewelry and made her the stole and clutch purse. She was very pleased with accessories, and I think I saved her another $150. Now she wants to put last year's dress on Ebay. We'll see... It is beautiful so maybe she can get a little something for it.
What did I wear? I was a bold little thing. While everyone was wearing pastels and ruffles, I wanted sexy. I wanted black. I wanted strapless. I got what I wanted LOL because I was will to pay for it :) . And it had to have a slit up the side. Nothing too sleazy, but the dressmaker altered the dress for me exactly to my liking. Of all the things I made in high school, I had no desire to make my prom dress.
That's great on the school!!! We're still deciding between Seton Hall and Temple. Seton Hall upped the ante with $100,000 scholarship, but we may be able to get another $20,000 for Temple over what we currently have. Keeping our fingers crossed...I think she is partial to Temple but you never know what will happen.
I think that you should post a picture of the prom dress you made me in 1979.
Your sister, Anne.
Your daughter's dress is very pretty.
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At my middle daughter's prom there was a girl who had a gauzy strip of fabric around her bust and then another gauzy strip around her bottom that ended with a long tail...that ship called modesty has long sailed from these shores!
OMG what I wore to the prom was so antiquated that I would look beyond virginal...I'd look frigid!!!! And here I thought I was so cool in my gentle bateau neckline, and semi-empire waist - in pink taffeta no less!
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