Wearing a prom dress with a high, front slit used to be shocking. Now, it barely causes a stir.
In the past 10 to 15 years, looks for the big night have quickly evolved into new, bolder styles that are a far cry from the bridesmaid-style dresses of the past. Instead of poofy and plain, nowadays gowns have tighter fits, shorter hemlines or show more skin. It's less about feeling like a princess and more about transforming into a star.
Gainesville resident Lynda Pasteur, a 2002 graduate of St. Lutheran School in Ocala, has noticed the fast transition, too. In her day, prom dresses were always long and usually embellished with beading or sequins. For her senior prom, she wore a v-neck, watermelon pink dress with spaghetti-straps and "lots of beading" that formed a swirl pattern from the top to the bottom of the dress. Instead of a ballgown or A-line shape, the silhouette was a straight, column-style. The 26-year-old said, from what she's seen, moden prom looks are more simple and less formal. Prom season kicks off this weekend and goes throughout May.
"Today, the dresses show a lot more cleavage," said Pasteur, who handles group sales and rentals at the Hippodrome State Theatre. "We didn't do that when I was in school. In general, our dresses were less revealing." Plunging necklines was one of the first examples of the more exposed looks for prom.
Then the dress styles progressed to baring midriffs and bellybuttons. Now, criss-cross designs create side cutouts, revealing your sides and a whole lot of back.
"It's all about the back and having interesting designs that show off the back," said Mary Katherine Miller, owner of Mary-Katherine's Fine Ladies Apparel and Bridal in Ocala. "They expose a lot more of their body than they used to."
For 23 years, Miller has fitted ladies for weddings and proms in her store in the Jasmine Plaza shopping center on State Road 200. Miller, 63, grew up in a time when prom was characterized by sleeveless tank-style, A-line dresses, dyed-to-match shoes, elbow gloves and simple jewels. But there's been "tremendous" change to prom fashion in the past decade, she said.
"It used to be a little beading and full skirts and then the big thing was a front slit," she said. "Now they've gotten into prints and years ago, it was more sequins, but now it's a different look with beading and crystals. ... You don't see much satin anymore other. There are all kinds of other fabrications like jersey, silks and charmeuse."
Miller said she stays updated on all the schools' prom dress codes, which, overall has tightened up in recent years due to theses new crop of prom looks. She often tells customers the dress they like isn't suitable for their school's prom. Just earlier this month, a senior in Oxford, Ala., was kicked out of her prom and suspended for three days.
School officials said Erica DeRamus' sparkling mint green, tutu-style cocktail dress was too low-cut and too short.
In general, shorter dresses have become a common sight on prom night. It started with the "bubble" and tulle dresses and has now shifted to streamlined cocktail dresses. Retailers said it's not an overwhelming trend for high school girls in this area. At Forever 21, known for its youthful, trendy and affordable fashions, their fairly-new prom collection only includes above the knee and mini dresses — mostly with accents such as bubble hemlines, origami pleating, ruffles and tiers.
Nicki Myers, a sophomore at Oak Hall School, said many of the girls at her school are going for shorter dresses — a look mostly worn to homecoming dances. Standing inside Dillard's holding a few print dresses, Myers was focused on getting a long, body-skimming dress with an open back.
"Big dresses are not in at all," said the 16-year-old. "I want to look elegant."
Paul Rhodenizer, owner of Jay's Bridal & Special Occasions in Gainesville, said nearly 100 percent of its customers flock to longer styles for prom and mostly want the sleek, sexier styles.
Since the early 1990s, Jay's has been in the prom dress business, selling to students locally and all across North Central Florida. For the past four years, the business has had a separate prom store across from its bridal store.
"Each year, we see traditional and trendy customers. Each year, girls choose between poofy ballgowns and sexy, fitted silhouettes with open backs," he said. "For the past five years, the sexier slimmer-fitting dresses have become more important each year. This year, it's about 65-35 with skinny dresses in the lead." Rhodenizer added dresses splashed with prints are "really hot" this year, from abstract florals to animal prints. Vibrant colors, especially purple, are also selling very well, he said.
Katie Baumes, a 17-year-old Trilogy School student, said teens today want a prom look that is "glamorous" and will stand out.
"Girls are more fashion-savvy today than they were 20 years ago," Miller said. "They want to look more red carpet than Cinderalla."
