ANALYSIS/OPINION:
Diane stood out like Cinderella. Her dress had a modest strapless bodice bathed in silver sequins and an off-white, floor-length rayon skirt kissed by crinoline of the same color.
Her accessories were 5-inch, T-strap rhinestone shoes and a rhinestone necklace than perfectly graced her decolletage. In succession, her fairy godmothers said, “no earrings,” “maybe a simple bracelet,” and, “hmm, the corsage.”
Presto! Diane is set for her ball, the rite of passage simply called the high school prom. And she did all her “shopping” in a perhaps 20x25-foot conference room inside Ballou High School.
Welcome to prom season 2016, when parents and fairy godmothers open their wallets and hearts for seniors to attend their coming-out parties.
Beware, though.
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At Ballou on Wednesday, Diane was one of dozens of girls and boys perusing suitable attire for their prom, affairs that can cost parents hundreds and hundreds of dollars for a one-night event that now includes something called a “promposal.”
The word itself doesn’t need further explanation, but believe me, today’s affairs are not your grandparents’ affairs.
Event planners hit parents for upwards of $2,500 to plan promposals, which attach a foreign-travel price tag, the cost for the question to be popped on a sports field or expensive tickets to a concert.
Bear with me for the dollars and sense from Bloomberg.com’s Polly Mosendz: “American parents are accustomed to being treated like human cash machines during prom season, spending close to $1,000 to guarantee that a high school dance doesn’t become an emotional catastrophe. A hundred bucks for tickets, and hundreds more for fancy clothes — even the corsage costs $20. Visa Inc., which tracks prom-related expenses in an annual nationwide survey, added promposal costs to the total prom bill for the first time last year. The company found the average American household with teenagers spent $324 on promposing. Promposal spending varies around the country: New England families with teenagers come in at $431 per promposal, compared with $342 in the West, $305 in the South and $218 in the Midwest. Promposals are so prolific that they’re becoming the most expensive part of the event. Total spending on the prom, which includes the cost of clothing, transportation, tickets, food, photographs and the after party, is down since 2013, when it was $1,139, according to Visa. In 2014, it fell to $978 and again last year by 6 percent, to $919.”
And get this: Ms. Mosendz also reported that low-income families earning $25,000 were likely to spend more money on proms, $1,393, “compared with families that earn more than $50,000 spending just $799.”
Good thing, then, that low-income families often are encouraged to turn to charity to help foot the bill.
It’s all a far cry from the beginnings of America’s promenade season, a Northeastern rite that began with college seniors and their female dates who hustled to put on their bustles, bustiers and crinolines to look their best. (There was that sex thing, too, but let’s not get into haughty details.)
Instead, enter the conference room-turned-boutique at Ballou in Southeast D.C., where, courtesy of Iconiq (owned by image consultant Angelique Michelle), Johann’s Hairtique and stylists from Phenix Salon pooled their resources and inventories to treat the girls and gents. The businesswomen who attended their proms said they wanted not only to help the girls look their best for their once-in-a-lifetime event but also to make it an affair they will never forget.
“We had more than 80 excess dresses from another event and wanted to give back to the community. Dresses can cost hundreds, thousands of dollars alone and hair styles can cost $250 or more,” said Archalenna Knight of Johann’s.
Asked if she remembers her own prom, she answered with a hearty “Yes” and displayed an ear-to-ear grin.
That’s exactly what the look on Diane’s face amid the oohs and ahhs from her classmates and other onlookers as she showed off her stylish head-to-toe attire. Ballou seniors get to step out June 4 at the Embassy Suites.
Diane is certainly a catch, but not just because of the way she looks in her prom attire. She’s got a wonderful singing voice, and she wants to attend Paul Quinn College, a historically black school in Texas, and attend law school.
Her matte ruby-red lips might have been too tawdry-looking for grandmas and grandpas back in the day. These days, however, it’s the prom price tags that’ll leave them shaking their heads.
• Deborah Simmons can be reached at dsimmons@washingtontimes.com.
• Deborah Simmons can be reached at dsimmons@washingtontimes.com.
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