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Prom Time

April 14th, 2015 at 01:21 pm


My older daughter asked me for a check for $100 this morning for her prom ticket. I was a bit surprised because she had mentioned in passing she was going to go with a group of girl friends, it is at a local banquet hall and then they take a party bus to a boat ride on the Chicago River.

Before I could say anything, she added, "I left two $50s by your keys. It is probably easier just to pay by check. Thanks."

She is a good kid. She then let me know she'd like to look at the resale shop for a dress or see if there are coupons for Penney's because a friend got a dress there for a reasonable price.

DH and I agreed we'd cover the dress. All I remember about my prom, when I was a junior at the same high school eons ago, my dress cost $40.

Anyone remember incidentals from their prom?

8 Responses to “Prom Time”

  1. CB in the City Says:
    1429017852

    I didn't get to go to my prom, but I still remember the dress I tried on in hopes that I would go! It was white lace with a big red sash! Just trying it on was almost enough to satisfy me! It might have been about $40, but that was in the dark ages.

  2. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    1429019173

    I can't even remember what was the general style for prom at the time. I think maybe long, slightly formal with a hint of hippie still lingering, although certainly there would have been some disco influence--what a combination. I do remember the young men wore colored tuxes with wide lapels, platform shoes, ruffles on the shirts. Yow. No idea of the costs, but I'm sure it was not outrageous.

  3. ceejay74 Says:
    1429023603

    I remember the prom dress being the cheapest thing; I found a blue acetate nightmare that I thought was the most gorgeous thing ever on clearance for about $25 (down from about $150 if I remember).

    Shoes (custom dyed to match the dress), getting dress adjusted (it was a bit long), boutineer for my boyfriend, manicure, steak dinner out, and hotel room (ooh la la) were the most expensive. Boyfriend probably bought my prom ticket and my corsage. But I don't remember how much it all cost. I think I paid for most of it myself; believe it or not, I didn't spend much money in high school and usually had a couple hundred in the bank from allowance and/or summer jobs.

  4. MonkeyMama Says:
    1429025975

    I don't remember the cost of my dress. My parents probably paid for it. (Which would be unlike them, overall, but is what I recall). I don't remember much anything financially about it. I presume my date paid for the rest? Or we may have gone 50/50 because that is how I tend to be. I don't know. Never did the beauty salon/limo thing or anything like that (none of my friends did either). I remember we went out to a super fancy dinner in a very romantic setting. Dinner was better than the prom. I had a job and was used to paying for my own stuff and so why the costs probably didn't leave any impression on me. (It's not like I had any real expenses at that age. So plenty of money to spare).

  5. laura/deacon's wife Says:
    1429026272


    Oh, ceejay - you made me laugh. My $40 dress was a vision of mauve taffeta with puffed sleeves! How awful! And to make matters worse - my prom date from then is currently the Econ teacher at the same school we attended. My daughter has him for Honors Econ next year!

  6. Ima saver Says:
    1429044823

    I went to my senior prom with a boy from Florida Military college. We borrowed my mother's Oldsmobile. I still have the picture. I wore a white dress that I bought on sale for $10. I was thrifty even then. We did NOT have to pay to go to the prom, everything was free.

  7. Kiki Says:
    1429072495

    I remember my prom because my best friend just pulled out a couple of pics a few weeks ago.

    I wore a slightly off the shoulder peach colored (!!) dress that hit my knees. My mom made it and it was beautiful but why I choose peach I don't remember.

    It was held at a hotel about an hour away. Horrible dinner, bad music, the theme was "oh L'amour". We split the cost of the tickets and he paid for gas for my mom's car. We also split the cost of snacks for the after party at my house.

    My mother went to visit my sister in Amsterdam for the month of May and so I had permission to have a few friends over after, about 15 came. It was a giant slumber party and we made a brunch in the AM and had a good weekend. Nothing untoward happened at the after party because the chief of police for my tiny town lived three houses up and my brother in law was an officer on the force. He kept driving by to make sure all was quiet.

    I did my own hair and make up. My date was an old friend and his mom convinced him to buy a corsage that was actually a comb with beautiful flowers. I had hair to my waist so it was perfect.

    I went to proms my freshman-sophomore-junior year but always with a boy who was a friend and who didn't want the stress of "the prom date". My freshman year I couldn't even date officially but he came and asked my mothers permission so she agreed. I remember borrowing a dress for the first two and finding a steal of a dress for junior prom, something like $60 for a $200 dress?

    What a hoot, thanks for the memories.

  8. LuckyRobin Says:
    1429212662

    I wore my older sister's prom dress to my prom. I loved it so much. It was an off the shoulder, floor-length lavender dress, with lace over satin, with a thin satin ribbon at the waist. I wore my hair up and did it myself. It really reminded me of a sort of southern belle bridesmaid dress, but without being super frou frou or huge. I remember buying ballet shoes for $15 because I hated dancing in heels and I already had a black lace shawl to wear over it since it was very cold at that time of year. Tickets were $100 and we had the dance in a big ballroom at a very old hotel downtown. Photos were $100. He paid for tickets and I paid for photos.

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