With prom season in full force, it seems you can't leave the house on a Saturday night without encountering a clique of sequined, sparkled, glittered teens en route to the "best night of their lives."
Last weekend, one girl's prom night was cut short when she was turned away after showing up in a jaw-droppingly revealing prom dress. Weeks before prom, the school published dress guidelines clearly stating what was -- and was not -- appropriate and students who refused to sign the guidelines prior to prom were not allowed to enter. Although the student in question signed the form, willfully agreeing to abide by the dress codes, she showed up in a "dress" that looked to be little more than a column skirt paired with a sheer scarf fashioned into a strappy top.
When the student refused to leave, police arrested her and -- picture this -- escorted her away in handcuffs. There are many ways to accessorize a prom dress, but handcuffs just don't make an stylish bracelet.
The girl isn't solely at fault. A quick glance at a prom magazine or a step inside a formal dress boutique will give anyone -- especially a teen girl who looks to pop culture icons like Rihanna for style guidance -- the idea that less is more when it comes to prom dresses. And, it should be pointed out, not "less" as far as embellishments and sequins go; we're talking less fabric and more skin.
When it comes to dress codes, teens regularly hover the fine line between risque and just plain risky. Pushing the limit is showing two inches of the midriff when the rules only allow one; wearing a chiffon scarf in lieu of a top is flat-out breaking rules. It's understandable that teens buy what stores sell, but nothing even remotely similar to the dress could not be found online. I searched and searched, curious about the designer and price tag. No leads made me question whether she had a provocative image in mind and designed it herself.
What do you think? Should she have been allowed despite her dress or did her appearance justify an arrest? A Salon writer (day pass or subscription required) made light of the situation, saying "That dress is a crime against fashion, but it shouldn't be a crime."
Posted by casey
Fashion
Comments
Prom fashion should be a student decision, not a school administration decision.
They should let them in with any oufit which is legal to wear on the sidewalk.
If a dress looks bad, the consequence should be that other people at the prom think the dress looks bad.
Posted by: Eric Jaffa | May 14, 2008 2:44 PM
I love it when my town gets (inter)national coverage! Makes me proud.
From the article that I read "She was told her custom-made dress violated the school dress code." So yeah, not available in stores.
Local Coverage
Posted by: James | May 14, 2008 3:07 PM
I've been reading ypulse for some time now. I'm shocked that you would defend this floozy. I thought you were all for finding the "good" in teens and tweens, not defending someone like this!
Posted by: Dave Lucas | May 14, 2008 4:31 PM
Hi Dave. This is Anastasia. Casey was covering this story and offering her own perspective on the dress. You have every right to disagree with her opinion and post that in the comments, but for future reference, we don't refer to teenage women as "floozies" no matter what they are wearing or aren't wearing on this site.
Posted by: anastasia | May 14, 2008 9:10 PM
I think that girl's dress is too much, and I'm glad to hear of a school standing firm with their guidelines, especially after going through the process of having the signed agreements.
I'm a mother of an 8th grader who is going to a "Grad Night Dance" in a few of weeks. Her school requires dress code rules for this event. I did want to comment how frustrating it is to try to find ANY junior dress in the stores that matches the school dress code. The store buyers and clothes designers sure aren't helping kids/parents/schools to find a way to have any basically modest cute clothes.
Posted by: Chris | May 14, 2008 9:18 PM
This is an opinion article, and I feel that this site does a great job of supporting EVERYONE...not just a particular type. Yes this dress leaves little to the imagination and is very inappropriate for anyone let alone a highschooler. And I agree the school should have turned her down since she signed an agreement to follow the rules. I do think handcuffs over a dress seems a bit much. I wasn't there, so I don't know how rowdy she was.
Posted by: Jess | May 15, 2008 8:38 AM
The way the school handled this resulted in a girl expecting to have fun at her prom instead being arrested.
My question for people who support the school: what do you think would have happened if the school had no dress code for the dance?
The worse I imagine would have happened is that some people inside would have glanced at the girl and thought she was wearing a bad dress.
Posted by: Eric Jaffa | May 15, 2008 10:14 AM
I have to favor with the school on this one. The young lady agreed to the dress code by signing the form - in a sense she gave her word that she would abide by what she signed. In today's world, have little else than our word and if we can't stand behind that what have we left.
It's like the athletes who sign a contract for an outrageous sum of money and then try to renegotiate the contract a year later because they had a good year and think they deserve more.
Posted by: Greg Sweeney | May 15, 2008 11:00 AM
This was all planned. She knew she would get into trouble. Now she has had her 15 minutes of fame, and it has all turned in her favor.
Posted by: The Ida Express | May 16, 2008 4:32 PM