Promtacular!

Dears In Headlights

Posted on May 11, 2010 by promtacular! in 1990s Prom, Homemade Goodness | 5 Comments

Year: 1997

Velvet writes: “My sister Elisabeth donned this magnificent home sewn creation, which was fitting since she was home-schooled as well. That strikingly awkward fellow’s name is Rusty, and I’m not really sure whether there was a no touching besides the elbows policy laid down by my parents or if he came up with that one all by himself.”

Awww.

Having experienced life as a teenaged girl, I understand first-hand how impossible it can be to balance wanting to look attractive at prom while not actually wanting to reveal, you know, anything. I can’t say for sure how this dress creation happened, but I wish I could have been privy to the conversation between Velvet’s sister and mother, that resulted in the first(?) dress being created — that’s the one we see beneath the surface — and then being covered up by something that looks like a sheer button-down shirt.

I have no doubt that the resulting two-layer dress satisfied everyone. It’s revealing without being revealing! they probably thought. And correctly.

But from the way Velvet’s sister is standing, I wonder if revealing without being revealing was still a little too much for her, at least when standing next to a boy and having a camera in her face. From her pose alone, I wonder if she wouldn’t have felt better with a dress about 3″ longer. And possibly made of wool.

As for Rusty, well. I believe he managed the only physical contact he could, under the seemingly terrifying circumstances: the ever-popular and romantic “elbow bump.”

P.S. I realize this is mostly unrelated to the photo, but I will never understand the once- (albeit briefly) popular home-decor fad of using ceiling tile intended for office buildings and schools. I almost expect to see a pencil that some kid threw during study hall sticking out of it.

The Punch Was Actually Kool-Aid

Posted on February 19, 2010 by promtacular! in 1970s prom, Going to the Chapel(?), Homemade Goodness | No Comments

Year: 1975

Jennifer writes: OH MY GOD, check out my date’s HAIR. And he was in a brown tux with a ruffly shirt! Ahhh, memories. My dress is a homemade number, nothing sequiny, just *puffy.*

Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like Jennifer comes across as a sweet young thing, and her date looks like a deviant in velvet and ruffles. I mean, if that’s not redundant.

In fact, the more I look at this image, the more I start to worry that Jennifer is an unassuming teenaged bride about to be one of 16 girls married off to this swarthy cult leader. You know?

I hope wherever Mr. Cult Leader is now, he’s got a photo of him from this era on display.

You’re Turning Violet, Violet!

Posted on February 19, 2010 by promtacular! in 1990s Prom, Homemade Goodness, Tacky Backdrops | 1 Comment

Year: 1996

Paloma writes: In my quest to find the “perfect” dress for my Senior Prom I came up empty-handed. So I chose to have my Mom make my dress. I picked out the pattern, the material, and told her what parts to alter to my taste. Fourteen years later I can see that I looked like a giant blueberry.

Only a little.

Loooooooove the backdrop here. First you have the shimmery, mirrored floor (um, good thing you weren’t wearing a short dress?). Then there’s the inexplicable bunched-up gauze with fake flowers strewn about to resemble…a wedding cake? A snow bank? WHO’S TO SAY? But once you have mirrors and non-snow, I think it’s only fitting that you add a pillar(?) and a giant starchy piece of fabric with glued-on stars, and then have it glow. Red.