Promtacular!

Lonnie & Ronnie

Posted on July 19, 2010 by promtacular! in 1980s Prom, Feathering As A Lifestyle Choice, Mullets, perms | 2 Comments

Year: 1985

Those aren’t their real names, but let’s pretend that they are and you can figure out which is which.

I love this photo. The female half of this couple is the opposite of the tanned, salon-haired, manicured, pair-with-pearls kind of girl we’ve seen a lot of, although she is certainly no stranger to hair product. Perhaps that is why she fits so well with her date — who also hasn’t seen the sun in a few months because his band’s been too busy practicing in his uncle’s garage — who shares her haircare regime.

These kids? They love their metal. I love that both her delicate lace wrap is black, as is his boutonniere. Oh, they will consent to going formal, but they won’t give up their stick-it-to-the-man blackness!

They are to be taken seriously as rockers.

You know. Braces and all.

And The Snozzberries Taste Like Snozzberries!

Posted on May 24, 2010 by promtacular! in 1980s Prom, Backdrop FAIL, Blame the Photographer, Feathering As A Lifestyle Choice, Say No To Canes | 1 Comment

Year: 1980

The dapper fella featured here writes: “I had just moved [to Seattle] from Huntignton Beach…yeah. I was a sophomore and my date shocked the school by asking me. But I was hot, and this WAS Seattle, and women up there are REALLY desperate. I’m not really sure what inspired the white gloves and cane…could be that folks said I looked like Gene Wilder at the time and I was going with a Willie Wonka/Young Frankenstein look…”

You know, while I am enthralled by the Willy Wonka look — white gloves, white cane, chocolate-colored tuxedo — the magic of this photo really lies in its composition.

Someone thought it would make sense to set this lovely woman down in a small wicker chair-throne thing, which, okay, 1980, whatever. But then? Rather than put the chair-throne somewhere completely visible, the photographer decided to situate the woman behind and to the side of a sofa.

And then take a picture of half the livingroom.

Hey, so, that is a sofa, right? It’s hard to tell, but I’m pretty sure that’s a black sofa that’s been bedazzled.

Meanwhile…Did you notice this couple is sporting the exact same bangs? I mean, practically the exact same haircut, too, but the parting of the bangs is especially notable. I mean, “notable” if you get beyond the bedazzled couch.

Total Eclipse

Posted on May 10, 2010 by promtacular! in 1980s Prom, Backdrop FAIL, Blame the Photographer, Feathering As A Lifestyle Choice | 3 Comments

Year: 1985

Cathy writes: “I quite plainly remember going out to the mall to buy every rhinestone bracelet I could because that was soooo Madonna. I would also note that my parents had beautiful landscaping at their house but why my dad chose to pose us in front of the ugly juniper bushes around the carport, I will never know. Finally, I know that my mom had given me a “shawl” to wear but I swear that what I’m holding must be the filling you use for pillows. I still have this dress by the way. I wore it to an ’80′s party. I’m thinking of using it for a Loretta Lynn costume next Halloween.”

I think it’s important – especially for our younger readers – to point out the differences in 80s prom attire. Some prom attire was simply bolder than others. So what, you might be wondering, would someone wear to prom who was fashionable but not ready to wear hot pink and black lace?

This is the answer.

Hair in a semi-wedge cut but also feathered. A dress that only has one strap. Lots of gauzy lace – do you see hints of the 1970s tablecloth dresses coming through here? Except now we’re using more interesting fabrics and patterns. Plus adding rhinestone accessories a la Madonna.

Cathy’s date has also embraced the feathery, big hair, and has chosen to add a splash of color by matching the black-and-white polka dot dress with (of course) a RED bow tie and cummerbund.

I’m not sure why they’re posed in the shade next to the juniper bushes on the side of the house. I’m not sure why Cathy’s date appears to be making a fist, either. He doesn’t seem the violent type but maybe he was sick of having his photo taken? Who’s to say.

Mostly I love that this photo has been cut at such odd angles. I’m CERTAIN that was Cathy’s doing, either to fit the photo into a very special frame, or to fit it into some sort of high-school scrap book. Either of which gets the Promtacular! stamp of approval.

Weekend Special: Business Casual Prom At The Ski Village Bible Study? PLEASE TO EXPLAIN

Posted on May 07, 2010 by promtacular! in 1980s Prom, Backdrop FAIL, Bizarre Backdrops, Feathering As A Lifestyle Choice, perms | 8 Comments

Year: unknown, but Imma guess 1982

Oh, on the surface of it, you’ve got your average Promtacular! elements. Shared hairstyles, two people who take feathering VERY seriously. A giant shoulder-corsage so large it looks as though it’s physically weighing her left side down.

An inexplicable backdrop.

But um? I am gravely serious and concerned when I ask, What is happening here? This sad photo with its cellar floor and stark blue backdrop makes me yearn for the days of Mardi Gras masks or lighted brown cardboard rainbows. And what on EARTH are they wearing?

I am going to call the folks in this picture Todd and Margaret.

And I sort of wonder if Todd and Margaret’s prom was held in Margaret’s parents’ basement at 2 o’clock in the afternoon as part of their regular Bible Study. Where they served Hi-C and Oreos.

OR? Maybe Todd and Margaret decided to go to prom in costume instead of prom attire, and that — for some reason? — the costumes they chose were those of Working Stiffs. That gray suit and tie is just…so middle manager at IBM 25 years ago. And Margaret’s dress has an air of Steno Pool about it, no?

In which case all that’s missing from the background is Todd’s square, brown faux-leather briefcase and Margaret’s giant white Reebok sneakers for wearing during her commute.

And yet, instead of briefcase and sneakers we get a fence and skis. Because…

…because I have no idea.

SERIOUSLY. WTF IS GOING ON HERE?

Ponder it over the weekend and get back to me.

Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On…The Carpet?

Posted on April 30, 2010 by promtacular! in 1970s prom, Bizarre Backdrops, Feathering As A Lifestyle Choice | 4 Comments

Year: 1978

I do what I can to give you all something special on Fridays, something you can savor over the weekend. And if this photo doesn’t qualify as something special, I don’t know what does.

I just…and then…with the blue and the…floral…so much orange…with…and then also the…are those pillars painted into the foreground? what on earth…and…but…

brown carpet. I can’t even find words to begin to express all the amazingness that’s going on here, but it’s the brown carpet that knocks this one out of the park.

Enjoy!