Keep It Classy

In honor of the current Prom season, I thought that it would be appropriate to have a little throwback to my enchanting night, for any teenage readers out there. The theme of my Prom was Masquerade, but that doesn't mean that you have to be just another masked face on the dance floor.  There are many ways in which you can stick out while remaining classy and elegant.

Heres a little anecdote from my Prom night: It was a couple of hours before my friends were to arrive at my house to take group pictures, and my date, driving to Connecticut from Boston, had yet to arrive. As I stood panicking in my room, he calls to tell me that he was run off the road by an eighteen-wheeler truck and that his Mercedes has a flat tire. However, he promised to arrive in time for pictures. As my friends began to pull into my driveway, I grew hysterical. What if he doesn't make it in time? What if I have to take pictures alone and go without him? But then I see his car pull into the driveway, and he emerges from the driver's seat, already clad in his tux and bow tie. I was ecstatic. I ran to him in my gown and heels and jumped into his arms, screaming and laughing the whole way. 

As we walked back down my driveway towards my house, my $50 heel broke. It was bronze, with a clear heel that had rhinestones on it. Broken. I was immediately overcome with a new fit of hysteria and ran to my mother for guidance. Her solution? A hot glue gun. We soon repaired the shoe, only for me to walk back outside and have the other heel break off. Back inside I went. There I was, sitting on a bench in the entryway, as my date kneeled over my broken shoe and hot glued it back together for me. He truly was Prince Charming. When the job was done, we went back outside, ready to take pictures at last. However, after a while, I grew antsy and complained that the next 50 pictures that would be snapped would look just the same as the 50 before, and that I grew tired of posing (I think it was just the frustrations of the day making me irritable, because I am usually a picture-holic). All in all, I felt like a Promzilla. Luckily, those were the only flaws of my experience, and the rest of the night progressed beautifully. In the end, it is a story that I can look back on and laugh at, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Needless to say, I didn't include a picture of the faulty shoes. That's what they get.

But here are the necessities:

The Dress

I bought this dress in Hollywood, when I first went to visit my current College, from a store called Mint Collection. They had a gorgeous array of formal dresses. They are also available online at http://www.themintcollection.com/. It was love at first sight. My eye immediately attracts anything that shines, and this glamorous sequined dress stood out at once. To me, it captured the essence of Hollywood, of glamor, of everything I wanted in a Prom dress. I was sold.

Tip: I know that this is the one time that you're allowed to wear whatever you want at a school function (believe me, I had my fair share of talks with the principal of my High School because of my wardrobe), but that doesn't mean you need to take the opportunity to look sleazy. My dress covered what it needed to cover, while still being strapless and having a sexy slit to show off my legs. In the case of Prom, stay classy, not trashy.

The Date

Don't feel bad if you don't have a boyfriend during Prom season. I didn't. Believe it or not, my date above is one of my best friends. It's perfectly okay to take a friend as a Prom date. My night was just as sparkly and magical as I had hoped it would be. In my opinion, even though I was single, I had the perfect date and night. 

The Hair& Jewelry

I wanted a loose, curly up-do that would give an almost messy look to my perfect gown. My inspiration came from a picture of Lauren Conrad. My hairdresser captured the vision flawlessly. My hair artfully wove into a curly bun, while some loose curls framed my face. I thought the look was laid-back, yet polished at the same time.

As for the jewelry, my gown honestly was loud enough to go without, but I wasn't going to miss out on the sparkling necklace and earring set that I found, at a VERY decent price. I wish that I remembered the website where I found it, but this set was literally under $20. That's the beauty of Google Search during Prom season, ladies. 

The Nails

I am usually not the one for fake nails, but I figure that the occasion only arises for events like Prom, and maybe my wedding someday in the very distant future, so why not go all out? I was Googling ideas for nail designs (a common resource for inspiration), when I came across the gem of a website, http://www.blingup.net/. I instantly fell in love with a pair of bejeweled nails that I found, which were adorned with real Swarovzki crystals. And they were only a little over $50, which I didn't think was bad compared to getting brand new acrylics. 

To order them, you measure your nails on each individual finger, and they then make a custom pair for you. They send them with a small bottle of nail glue, but I didn't trust putting them on by myself, so I took them to a nail salon. The first place I tried said that they couldn't put them on for me, but the second place offered to do it for only $10. I graciously accepted and stared with pride at my new set of claws. They weren't the most convenient things to have on your fingers for two weeks, but they were well worth it. Sometimes I still get little nostalgic pains for them, and feel a bit of separation anxiety; that's how fabulous they were.

As you can see, they looked the same when they were applied as they did in the picture! (However, my picture was taken on an iPhone, so it isn't as vibrant).

Other Options

Of course, some people would rather look like a princess instead of the Red Carpet look that I wanted for my Prom. In that case, I would suggest a pretty, pastel-colored dress, like this one that I wore to a friend's Prom in a neighboring town. It is long, flowy, and laces up in the back to give a fairytale-worthy look on your special night. For this Prom, I chose to leave most of my hair down. I added big jewels (which came from the same website as the other jewelry set for about $11), and a silver purse. Even though it wasn't my Prom, I still felt like a princess!