Prom is a pretty big deal everywhere, and at Darien High School, students are making it their life’s mission to have a perfect night in mid-May.
The tradition of prom dates back to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, originating from high-society debutante balls designed for parents to arrange suitable marriages between young men and women. Now, however, prom has transitioned from a high-class premarital operation to the pinnacle event for all high school students. To read more about the history behind from, read here.
If you can believe it, the craze has already started. Roughly 35% of both the senior and junior girls have already found their dresses and staked their claim on the student-started Instagram accounts. Murmurs can be heard around the building as upperclassmen try to select their prom dates and figure out how they will do so. People are already planning where to hold “pre-prom” pictures before the night. The week leading up to the big night is even more hectic–around town, you can spot girls heading to their spray tan, nail, and hair appointments, and boys dressed in costumes or on firetrucks ready to ask their date to the dance with posters that say “Prom?”
After hearing all of the commotion around prom starting in January, DHS senior Elizabeth Veeder said, “I think it’s honestly absurd that we plan five months in advance. I feel like it can be done one month before.”
With all this dedicated, nearly neurotic planning, one might ask: how much does a prom night cost for the average Darien student? After gauging the senior girls’ prom Instagram page, the average people spend on prom dresses is $310. DHS senior, Caitlin Cronin, said, “It’s insane how much people spend on their prom dresses.” In 2013, ABC News cited that the national average people spend on prom is $1,139, and though this may seem outrageous, I believe this approximation is correct. For starters, prom tickets are priced at a mild $120, followed by $20 corsages, $310 for prom dresses, $200 for a tuxedo rental, $120 for heels, $45 for gel manicures, $60 for spray tans, $75 for girls to get their hair done, all of which add up to a considerable $950. When factoring in transportation, makeup, jewelry, and other various costs, this is well within the range of ABC News’ hypothesis. To learn more from ABC News, read here. Nowadays, there is a heightened pressure for students to go the extra mile to be picture-perfect, with students’ expectations being inflated by social media. On TikTok and Instagram, there is an endless amount of content surrounding prom. Whether people see inspiration for nails or hairdos, an elaborate promposal, or the classic shot of girls posing in a line, rainbow order according to their dresses, these videos add to the magic (or dramatization) of the epitome of this high school event.
Though students may be obsessing over this one night for longer than they should, can people really blame them? DHS student body president, Neev Sahgal, said, “Prom has always been advertised as a ‘capstone event’ of high school that’s been around for generations, and that causes people to set sky-high expectations for what will actually happen that night.” Often, students tend to make remarks that the night of prom itself is unenjoyable, which is quite a surprise, considering all of the planning and excitement leading up to the big night. Sahgal is disappointed when getting this response from the student body, considering the year of planning that goes into the night: reserving venues, food tastings, and selecting a theme. Responding to this idea, he said, “While I’d hope people enjoy prom given the effort we put into planning it, I’m not surprised when people inevitably complain how it doesn’t reach their seemingly unattainable standards. The definition of ‘fun’ is always changing with the times, which is why we have a committee of current students that helps with the senior class representatives to input on what they think are must-haves to maximize the enjoyment.”
In the end, are people putting an unreasonable amount of time, money, and effort into keeping up with this ritual? Maybe so, but to keep up with the magic that American society has held, Darien students feel a need to join in and put up the front of having a magical night. Stay tuned for more prom information.
