Prom Princess

 

The store that sold prom dresses was next to the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune where I worked as a cub reporter in the 1960s.

Dances and proms were a big part of my high school life. The Freshmen and Sophomore Hop were less formal but by the time we reached the Junior, Senior proms and the Junior Senior Reception, never mind the balls put on by Rainbow, Demolay and the graduates of Mr. Curry's dancing school, there were several during the year.

I attended most, many with the boy that would be my future ex-husband. Some were with other boys who asked me or I asked them, I do remember getting into trouble with my mother when I told her I'd been asked by a Demolay boy without mentioning he wasn't white. She was happy the boy was protestant so she didn't ask anything else. Politeness reigned over racism when he picked me up, but her unhappiness was made clear when I came home.

I would buy my dresses from the shop next to work. They cost between 25$ and 35$, more than I made in a week of writing, but they were worth it. I sometimes would wear the same dress more than once because I loved it.

With the dresses, I would wear full length white gloves, my glass (read hard lastic) heels. I had special earring, feathers, and they covered my ears. Unlike many girls, I never had my short hair done  by a hairdresser especially for the dance.

My date would bring me a wrist corsage made my Weston's Greenhouse in matching colors. Sometimes parents would drive us, but eventually my dates would have their own cars or borrow their parents'.

The school cafeteria was always transformed into some kind of magic place. 

Parents would peek in the caf's windows to watch their kids.

Mostly we had bands, sometimes a DJ. The Twist was especially popular. Snowball dances meant one or two couples started out. When the music stopped, each dancer would seek a new partner until everyone was dancing. One time, a senior I had a crush on, asked me to dance. I was in heaven for a week, although he never spoke to me again.

That last song was usually Good Night Irene. 

As a writer I now spend most of my times in jeans or sweats. I have a few dress up clothes for things like a business meeting or a funeral, but nothing like those prom dresses that made me feel like a princess at least for that one night.