Comments on: What the Kids Are Paying for Prom

By: boyofdestiny

boyofdestiny — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 03:11:01 +0000

@jfruh I came in here 12 hours late to make this comment.

By: Victoria Ngo@facebook

Victoria Ngo@facebook — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 02:43:35 +0000

I went almost a decade ago and hung out with a frugal crowd who all had minimum wage jobs. Drove all my girlfriends to the Jessica McClintock outlet to buy $10-50 dresses, friend drove his mom’s van to transport 4 couples, and ate at some teppenyaki place showing up to prom smelling like bbq. Awesome time on the cheap.

Kids have higher standards these days. Have you checked out a hs yearbook recently? Fewer awkward photos, more fashionable kids who can pass as 20-something.

By: hero worship

hero worship — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:52:53 +0000

I worked for a photography studio in the O.C. (yes, that O.C.) for many years and prom was one of the few times of year that we made serious money. Those teenagers would pay up to a hundred bucks for a couple of 5×7′s and some wallets that cost less than 3 dollars to produce.

By: Megan Patterson@facebook

Megan Patterson@facebook — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:27:23 +0000

I went in…2004? I think? And maybe spent $150 all told. No wait, maybe 200, I had to get new shoes. And my parents did not pay for it. Maybe my Dad bought me the shoes, but I remember they were on sale.
Of course your kid will have a savings account Mike Dang. Of course.

By: Jobeans

Jobeans — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:44:00 +0000

Ok, I went to Prom in 2007. I had just turned 18 and thus was finally able to dip into some money in my name that I wasn’t able to (legally) before becoming an adult. I got a $400 dress for $250 and a pair of awesome marc jacobs wedges for $150, my father did design work for a department store at the time so that was after a discount. While I’m sure my parents wouldn’t have funded such extravagant purchases, newly money-holding Jobeans would! So $400 for my outfit, $70 for my prom ticket, $30 for hair and my friends and I all took the subway there. All in all I spent $500 but I still love the dress and the shoes I bought and wear them often enough, so no regrets. Prom was pretty lame though.

By: alpacasloth

alpacasloth — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:55:47 +0000

@jfruh That’s exactly what I read it as too. And I thought, “Kids know how to use the internet! They don’t need to pay for it.”

By: jfruh

jfruh — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:44:55 +0000

I read this headline as “what the kids are paying for porn” and was about to get outraged. “Paying for porn? Nobody should pay for porn! I thought you people were ‘digital natives’!”

By: cherrispryte

cherrispryte — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:06:57 +0000

I went to prom about a decade ago, and, um, it was super-expensive? Dress, manicure, ticket, limo, hotel, amusement park ticket for the day after prom …..
Oh, wait. I grew up on Long Island, where nothing makes sense.

Also, The Great Ankle Injury occurred a week before prom, so I was on crutches/in a wheelchair the entire time.

17 year-old me was an idiot. Not much has changed.

By: Sarah H.

Sarah H. — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:39:44 +0000

@Trilby Same! I went to an amusement park with my lesbian friend (the school wouldn’t let her bring her girlfriend – ah, the suburbs) and had a BLAST. Also, cost a shitload less than the dress/limo/whatever would have.

By: Trilby

Trilby — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:30:10 +0000

I remember skipping my prom because I was a hippie and nobody cool was going to it.