Want to buy or sell something? Check the classifieds
  • The Fedora Lounge is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

Are You Brave Enough to Share Your Prom Photos?

Dragon Soldier

One of the Regulars
Messages
288
Location
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Yes, I remember "the formal" - Didn't do them until post school edumacation, very largely because I detested school and I certainly didn't want to socialise with people from school (other than a few select chums).

They were mostly hideous anyway, with any entertainment value or any lasting memories being confined to the post event parties as I recall.
 

fgradowski

One of the Regulars
Messages
117
Location
Indiana, United States
My proms weren't really that long ago, but I will share anyways.
My junior prom was in 2011. I asked for a Rita Hayworth hairstyle. I gave the stylist a reference photo and everything. I was unhappy with the outcome.
junior prom.jpg
So my senior prom I decided to do my own hair and I had a vintage dress. I gave myself a beehive and my date is my now fiance.
prom 2.jpg
prom.jpg
 

ChiTownScion

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,241
Location
The Great Pacific Northwest
I didn't attend my own prom but a year later I took my then-girlfriend to hers. Had a great time: rather than a rock band, that band played Big Band tunes and we loved dancing to them.

"I'm still friends with my date of that night, almost 50 years later. If any photos of the two of us are "out there" I hope that they never see the light of day as I committed a sartorial faux pas that I'd rather forget. I'll plead ignorance: I wore a tailcoat as part of a black-tie ensemble. Now, remember that this was 1973 and most of the other lads wore those putrid pastel tuxes that were popular back then. My date dressed as a 1920's flapper: wore her grandmother's prom dress.

I suppose, in retrospect, it was a learning experience. In my next life, if I get a mulligan, I'll go with the standard black dinner jacket w/ vest and perhaps a wing collar shirt.
 
Messages
10,411
Location
vancouver, canada
I never thought to have any pics taken. My high school sweetheart made her own prom dress while I splurged on my first bespoke suit. It was a dark blue Italian silk & wool. 1967 and if I remember correctly it cost me $150 which would have taken me about 3 weeks of full time work to earn.
 

Doctor Strange

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,228
Location
Hudson Valley, NY
We had no prom at Yonkers High School in 1973, for two reasons: The city/school district was in dire financial shape and there were no funds for one. More significantly, 1973 was when "the sixities" had made its way out to everywhere, including high schools: "prom" was viewed as hopelessly unhip and redolent of the un-cool past by most students.

And anyway, I didn't yet have a girlfriend at that point. But I was a working magician, so I actually had some formal wear:

Magicguy.jpg

Addendum: I just went back and looked at page one of this thread and discovered I said pretty much the same thing back in 2007!
 
Last edited:
Messages
11,914
Location
Southern California
Ah, prom. What a joke.

I didn't attend my junior prom because I had to work and my supervisor wouldn't give me the time off. Not that it mattered, because the girl I was dating at the time didn't want to go...not with me, anyway. Of course, I didn't learn of this until the following Monday when everyone at school asked my why I didn't take her and why she went with "other guy". By the end of that day, she was no longer my girlfriend.

Senior prom wasn't much better. First, the people organizing it apparently couldn't find a local venue, as the facility they chose was 40 miles away from the school. The table at which my new girlfriend and I were seated was populated by a) a group of guys who all attended "stag" because none of the girls at school were stupid enough to date them, and b) since they had no dates they chose to get drunk and remain that way the entire night. Something in the salad dressing they used made everyone cough, and the dinner (I don't even remember what it was) was served cold. Nearly an hour after dinner, as we were all still seated wondering when we might be allowed to move to what they referred to as the "dance hall" we were informed that the band had not arrived yet. At that point it was clear the evening was a disaster, so my girlfriend and I left and went to her sister's apartment, where we hung out, watched TV, and had a far better time than those who chose to stay at the failed senior prom despite it being a complete let down.

Oh, the band? When we returned to school on Monday we were informed that the parents of two of the band members had nearly been killed in an auto accident, and that the band had flown from southern California to a hospital in New York to be with them, never once thinking that maybe they should take a moment to call someone to tell us they wouldn't be performing that evening. :rolleyes:

Needless to say, no prom photos here.
 
Messages
10,411
Location
vancouver, canada
Ah, prom. What a joke.

I didn't attend my junior prom because I had to work and my supervisor wouldn't give me the time off. Not that it mattered, because the girl I was dating at the time didn't want to go...not with me, anyway. Of course, I didn't learn of this until the following Monday when everyone at school asked my why I didn't take her and why she went with "other guy". By the end of that day, she was no longer my girlfriend.

Senior prom wasn't much better. First, the people organizing it apparently couldn't find a local venue, as the facility they chose was 40 miles away from the school. The table at which my new girlfriend and I were seated was populated by a) a group of guys who all attended "stag" because none of the girls at school were stupid enough to date them, and b) since they had no dates they chose to get drunk and remain that way the entire night. Something in the salad dressing they used made everyone cough, and the dinner (I don't even remember what it was) was served cold. Nearly an hour after dinner, as we were all still seated wondering when we might be allowed to move to what they referred to as the "dance hall" we were informed that the band had not arrived yet. At that point it was clear the evening was a disaster, so my girlfriend and I left and went to her sister's apartment, where we hung out, watched TV, and had a far better time than those who chose to stay at the failed senior prom despite it being a complete let down.

Oh, the band? When we returned to school on Monday we were informed that the parents of two of the band members had nearly been killed in an auto accident, and that the band had flown from southern California to a hospital in New York to be with them, never once thinking that maybe they should take a moment to call someone to tell us they wouldn't be performing that evening. :rolleyes:

Needless to say, no prom photos here.
Our prom was held in the school gymnasium. You did not get to take a date of your choice. The pairings were all done by a draw. You took whomever you drew. Not a bad system as it meant everybody had a date for the prom. We had dance cards that you busily filled out at the beginning of the night. I think you had a mandatory number of dances with your assigned date and once that obligation filled you became a free agent. We held our own AfterGrad party at a club downtown that we rented, hired the house band and partied from midnight til 5;00am or so. They could stay open as they didn't sell booze given that we were all well under drinking age. A week or so later there was the actual graduation ceremony, again held in the gym. I didn't bother attending that as it meant taking another night off work. I can't ever remember actually getting my diploma. At that point I didn't care as I was just so glad to be done with high school.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
107,346
Messages
3,034,705
Members
52,782
Latest member
aronhoustongy
Top