Promtacular!

All That Shimmers

Posted on June 29, 2010 by promtacular! in 1980s Prom, Pairing With White, Say No To Canes, Shine On! | 2 Comments

Year: 1988

We’ve actually seen Anita on Promtacular! before, when she was pictured with a dog in pink satin. And I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.

But here is Anita in all her prom-going glory, unhindered by a dog in formalwear.

Her dress is soooooo shiny. And green. And dark. And paired with black (velvet?) gloves. As though going to a Christmas Ball. Except she’s not going to a Christmas Ball, she’s going to prom. Which we can verify by the iridescent silver and pink balloon trellis. That’s the sort of thing only found at proms, made even prom-ier by the silver curtain behind the trellis.

So. Definitely prom. Anita is perhaps simply partial to winter colors. And fabrics. And accessories.

You know, though? If this WERE a Christmas Ball, I think Anita’s date would’ve fit right in. I mean, all that white! It’s so…white! Like um, snow! Yes. Very Jack Frost-esque. (Jack Frost would use a cane, right? For all his holiday tap-dancing routines?) (I don’t know, work with me here.)

I’m not sure where the pink in his boutonniere comes from. It matches the balloons, at least.

Not the most cohesive-looking couple. And yet they both do a heckuva job at reflecting light.

Like She Belongs In The Painting Over Her Head

Posted on June 01, 2010 by promtacular! in 1980s Prom, Prom or Costume?, Say No To Canes | 4 Comments

Year: 1982

Amy writes: “My cousin always brought his prom dates to my house. This is my cousin, Wayne and his prom date. I like how they have coordinated their pink ruffles. It may not come through very clear but his shirt is, in fact, pink with ruffles.”

Typically I’m opposed to canes as part of a prom ensemble, but in this case, I’m quite disappointed that there appears to be none. Wayne’s date has clearly chosen to attend prom as Little Bo Peep and I am wondering where her sheep staff* is.

No, seriously. I do not think I’m making a giant leap here. Her huge pouffy pink dress is huge and pouffy and pink. And no, okay that alone may not be cause for me to make Bo Peep claims, but have you seen her hair? That hairdo is straight out of a Mother Goose picture book.

As for Wayne and his ruffles, I kind of love them. I mean, way to commit! To pink ruffles!

Aww, at least they look happy. I just wonder if her shoes are pink…or white.

*I don’t know what a sheep staff thing is actually called. Probably not a sheep staff. Or a cane. But you get my meaning.

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.

Top Hat Goes Boom?

Posted on February 14, 2010 by promtacular! in Bizarre Backdrops, Say No To Canes | 7 Comments

Year: 1973

A top hat and cane is one way to make an over-the-top impression at your prom. A top hat with a cane AND A RED JACKET? Plus with all that hair? I don’t know what this look is achieving, other than Circus Ringleader.

Mr. Ringling Brothers’ date is looking pretty good considering the horrendousness that is her guy’s ensemble and the fact that it’s 1973. Still, is that flowered growth protruding from her left shoulder a corsage? Or a…decorative strap?  Or, um, I can’t think of a third option.

Lastly, why is the prom photo backdrop of an explosion?  Nothing says “graduating high school” like a photo of a Circus Man, a White-Gloved Flower Child, and The Big Bang.