slo’s FRIDAY 5/2 poll - High School Prom

[barkley]

I did not go to any proms.

The money that is spent now for a HS dance is just absurd

it was absurd back in the day as well-at least where I lived. i clearly remember the cost of prom tickets my senior year in 1979 b/c I won a pair (sold them). $70 per person NO MEAL, NO TRANSPORTATION-just punch and a dance at some overpriced venue (where you had to pay for parking). thinking back on it-minimum wage (all that any of us in high school kids could earn) was only $2.90 per hour so that equated to over 50 hours of employment after you figure in payroll deductions. since it was generally the given back then that the guy paid for the tickets they also had the added costs of the corsage, transportation/parking, tux rental and more often than not-a pre prom dinner meal at a 'nice place'. if someone did'nt have their parents (or their date's parents) helping out financially they could be looking at multiple months of their part-time job earnings spent on that one date.

I always thought the girls had it much less expensive-i never knew a single one whose parents did'nt pay for their dress, shoes and such.

 

[JLTraveling]

Nope. I was a community theater kid. Junior year I was performing in a show, senior year I was running tech for a show. The theater was my life, school was where I had to be 7:45am-3:15pm. Not a tinge of regret.

 

[Dug720]

I never went. To be fair, my friends group was going to go Senior year, but the Junior class was too lazy to raise enough money to cover all seniors, which was the tradition, so they declared that if you didn't go as a Junior you had to pay as a Senior. A few of my friends group paid, but most of us skipped it.

 

[HopperFan]

it was absurd back in the day as well-at least where I lived. i clearly remember the cost of prom tickets my senior year in 1979 b/c I won a pair (sold them). $70 per person NO MEAL, NO TRANSPORTATION-just punch and a dance at some overpriced venue (where you had to pay for parking). thinking back on it-minimum wage (all that any of us in high school kids could earn) was only $2.90 per hour so that equated to over 50 hours of employment after you figure in payroll deductions. since it was generally the given back then that the guy paid for the tickets they also had the added costs of the corsage, transportation/parking, tux rental and more often than not-a pre prom dinner meal at a 'nice place'. if someone did'nt have their parents (or their date's parents) helping out financially they could be looking at multiple months of their part-time job earnings spent on that one date.

I always thought the girls had it much less expensive-i never knew a single one whose parents did'nt pay for their dress, shoes and such.

That does seem pricey. We went in 1975 and 1976 and our costs were no where near yours. Both were at nice hotels, one included dinner. We both worked and paid our own way. My Mom did make my dresses - she bought the fabric. His parents contributed nothing. Looking back, I wouldn't have gone.

 

[NC Belle]

No prom for me. My sister went to 2 proms in her senior year---her high school boyfriend went to the rival high school. She had a nice red long dress with white opera length gloves...so 2 uses out of it.

 

[mamamary]

Loved my prom. Went in 1984. It was the senior prom and my now husband was my date. I wore an off the shoulder pink gown and DH wore a black tux. I have a picture somewhere around here. We rented a limo with a bunch of friends. The prom was in Manhattan at the Waldorf Astoria. We then went to a bunch of clubs. The clubs were letting in prom people cause we were all underage at the time. At dawn the limo brought us back to school for a breakfast. Then we all went home and changed clothes and spent the day at Great Adventure in NJ. Oh to have that energy now!!

 

[Grand Koalafornian]

I went in 11th grade, my dress cost $20 in 2003 (about $35 in 2025 money) because I bought it in August on clearance. All of my friends' dresses were over $100, and most were over $200 (one was $500!). I just wanted to wear my inexpensive dress.

I asked an acquaintance who had previously been rejected for prom 3 times if he wanted to go as friends. I was very clear about the friends thing (said "as friends" twice and "as a friend" once), but he heard "I'm your girlfriend now!" which was apparently something I could decide unilaterally? Because I'm autistic and I was sure I communicated clearly, it didn't occur to me that he thought we were dating until after prom when he was still trying to hold my hand and kiss me and stuff. By that point, it had been more than a month and I had to actually break up with him. It was the worst.

I didn't bother going in 12th grade.

 

[Babs Johnson]

I went to my Senior Prom in 1976. It had a Bicentennial theme.

Boyfriend and I went to different schools so I went to his and my senior proms. His was late April, mine later May. Same dress each time - hot pink number. 1996. Married him 4 years later - hitting 25 years this year

DD went to two proms also. She and her then boyfriend went to different schools. I suggested she wear the same dress to both but she and DW looked at me like I was crazy.

Nobody except DD and her date would have known she wore the same dress but I was told that I “just don’t understand.”

 

[MamaMermaid]

I went to my senior prom and my now husband's senior prom. Early/mid 2000s. I'm a high school teacher that runs SGA so I typically have to go yearly as a chaperone.

 

[Praying Colonel]

I wasn't going to go because I wasn't dating anyone at the time, but my Dad strongly encouraged me to go. A friend of mine broke up with her boyfriend about 3 weeks before prom, so I asked her and we went as friends. We had a great time.

Back then it was customary in our area for the guy to get a tux that matched his date's dress color. So somewhere in the family archives is a pic of me with big hair in a powder blue tux with dark blue lapels and a white shirt with dark blue ruffles.

 

[Boardwalk Family of 4]

I wasn't going to go because I wasn't dating anyone at the time, but my Dad strongly encouraged me to go. A friend of mine broke up with her boyfriend about 3 weeks before prom, so I asked her and we went as friends. We had a great time.

Back then it was customary in our area for the guy to get a tux that matched his date's dress color. So somewhere in the family archives is a pic of me with big hair in a powder blue tux with dark blue lapels and a white shirt with dark blue ruffles.

This totally resonates with me. But in my case it was poofy hair and a white tux with aquamarine accessories.

I never had a girlfriend or much money in high school so I skipped prom jr year(1987), instead just meeting up with the friend group for all of the after prom festivities. I was never very comfortable around the ladies so this was perfect for me. We had a great time, so when senior year(1988) rolls around, I'm thinking I'll just follow the same script.

Little did I know that the best friend of my best friends girlfriend broke up with her boyfriend a couple of weeks prior to the prom. So being the problem solver that he was, he volunteered me to go with her. Two weeks before prom she gives me a swatch of material from her dress to use to match my tux to her dress. This is how I found out I was going to the prom. We had a nice time but then lost contact after graduation.

Ironically, years later, after we had both married our soul mates and started families, we reconnected on social media and continue to communicate occasionally.

 

[Diznygrl]

I went to an all girls Catholic school and for proms/homecomings we were required to have a date in order to attend. I didn't really socialize outside of school so I didn't know any boys, and going with a girlfriend as a 'date' just to be able to go was obviously not allowed. So I never went to any.