Promtacular!

Enchantment Under The Hoop

Posted on March 21, 2011 by promtacular! in 1970s prom, Aquanet!, Feathering As A Lifestyle Choice, Group Prom Pictures, Homemade Goodness, On The Plantation | 7 Comments

Year: 1974

Just the other day I was thinking, “I wish I had more prom photos from the 70s.” And then I discovered I had this picture, which is like 40 photos from the 70s all rolled into one, glorious group shot in a gym with no magical backdrop whatsoever. But WHO NEEDS IT? There is so much 70s farm-girl/checkered blazer action going on, a “backdrop” would only spoil the majesty.

Lan writes: “Here is my mom’s grad class. She is the flaming redhead in the bottom corner. Love her prairie brown dress.”

Which is awesome because she totally stands out. Her tablecloth is only rivaled by the one standing behind her, and there is no equal for her amazing hair. (Although props to the SUNHAT girl for trying.)

It’s hard, but if I had to pick three of the most amazing parts of this photo, they’d be as follows (barring the basketball hoop, of course):
5. Cinderella dress and hair, which seems totally unlike everyone else – first row, 4th from left
4. The girl who looks like a teacher – first row, 2nd from left
3. Dueling tablecloth dresses, as noted – bottom right
2. Sunhat, in the gym, as noted – middle
1. AMAZEBALLS SIDEBURNS DUDE OMFG! – 2nd from top row, 4th from left

What’s yours?

Here Is A Picture Of Our Picture. And Also 6 People.

Posted on March 09, 2011 by promtacular! in 2000s Prom, Blame the Photographer, Group Prom Pictures, Homemade Goodness, Oh Bows | 2 Comments

Year: 2002

Gillian has a lot to say — fascinating Texas traditions! — about this photo. But before I give you her words, I just want to point out how much I love the angle of this picture. The parent (it had to be a parent) was standing in such a way as to make the pastel flower print (purchased in the 80s?) the focal point. Somehow, the six students in the photo holding what look like horse-race-winning-ribbon bouquets are secondary. And also maybe 4 feet all. YAY, PARENT!

But Gillian writes: “After looking through your wonderfully entertaining site, I noticed a dearth of the spectacular tackiness that is Homecoming in Texas. Instead of normal corsages, dates exchange “mums” and “garters” they make (or often in the guy’s case buy) from fake flowers, ribbons in school colors, cowbells, and just as much crap that you can hang on there with Christmas ribbons to make it as ostentatious as possible.

My only regret looking back at this is that my dress (borrowed from Vanessa) is obviously too long for me, as she is about 3 inches taller than me and I was probably only wearing 1-inch heels.”

Twofer Week: Monday With Meryl. And Big Pimpin’.

Posted on January 17, 2011 by promtacular! in 1990s Prom, Homemade Goodness, Who died? | 2 Comments

We kick off this week’s “theme” of two pictures per person with my (in real life) friend, Meryl.

Meryl writes: “My first boyfriend was the redhead, a senior [Meryl is a junior here]. His light grey tux was vintage, it may actually have been his father’s wedding tux. In any case, that thing had a vest and full tails and matching grey shoes. Everything matched so well that from far enough away he probably looked like he was wearing grey footie pajamas. It was a cross between Gene Kelly and Big Pimpin.”

BIG PIMPIN’! EXACTLY What I was thinking!

“The backstory to this is that Eli and I only started dating about 3 weeks prior to the Prom, and he had already asked another junior (a friend of mine, Mia) to go with him to the Prom. Since he didn’t want to un-invite Mia, he managed to get another ticket for me. Essentially, we went together and Mia went with us in a large group and had no problem whatsoever with the whole thing. She was just happy to be at the Prom. Be that as it may, it was the BIG scandal of the prom season and Eli was a legend for 15 minutes.”

High school drama. At its peak for prom!

“As for my dress, it was a very heavy jersey fabric that sparkled just a tiny bit. I think I got it for about $30 at Filene’s after 15 minutes of shopping, which was about as much shopping as I could handle at that point in my life. Which might explain how I ended up wearing shoes that my younger sister had purchased three years earlier. I cringe at those black tights, too!”

If it weren’t for the smile on your face, Meryl, and the fact that Eli’s sporting tails, the gray-black combo looks kinda funeralish. Pretty! But funeralish.

SENIOR YEAR: Wherein Meryl is a dead ringer for Winnie Cooper from Wonder Years

Meryl writes: “For my senior year, I went with my second real boyfriend, (also a redhead, hmmmm) Ethan, whom I had known since 5th grade. We had been dating for about six months at that point. My mother, who is an amazing seamstress, made my dress, a flowy grecian type number with iridescent overlay and beading at the empire waist. We designed it together and I loved it – the most important thing being that it was super comfortable! I had my hair done-up at the salon, and when my boyfriend saw me, the first thing he said was “Why is your hair up? I don’t like your hair up.” Talk about a mood killer! I thought my mother was going to kill him. Like literally choke him right then with his own bow tie. I was young and in love and we dated for another year and a half. Whoops! He’s now a professional fiddler who lives on a commune in Vermont.”

You don’t hear the words “professional fiddler” often enough.

My only question here is: Did your parents ask you to stand IN the bushes? You look lovely and so does the background, but why not stand on the grass? Standing in the mulch just seems a little…unnecessary.