Prom-issory Notes

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Mar 29, 2005 by CAROL McGRAW THE GAZETTE

One of the more popular senior prom themes these days is "Unforgettable."

A better one might be "I Need Some Money, Honey."

More than ever, the enchanted evening for young partiers is equally enchanting for the cash register. About 16.6 million U.S. teens will attend prom this year, according to Your Prom magazine, and they'll spend, spend, spend -- about $2.7 billion this year.

Long gone are the days when prom memories were created with a homemade dress, a white sportcoat, a crepe paper-festooned school gymnasium and a record player.

For these modern times, no extravagance is too much for the sake of providing a glamorous, final high school hurrah. Jessica McClintock ballgowns for $400 and stretch Hummer limos that feature a light show and rent for $300 an hour are the least of it.

"Prom gets bigger and bigger every year," said Daniel Brunk, marketing director for the regional Mister Neat's Formalwear. "It's a big chunk of our business."

So big that last month, the company sponsored Prom Fest 2005 Teen Expo at Invesco Field in Denver, where 50 vendors presented prom wares to thousands of teens, parents and school officials.

The vendors were hawking prom accoutrements galore, right down to teeth whitening and a $75 oxygen treatment to cure last-minute blemishes.

But the biggest expenditures for students -- especially girls -- are still the standard prom fare: dresses, accessories, hair and makeup.

There are "5.7 million affluent teenage girls craving to perfect their prom experience," according to the 334-page Your Prom magazine.

Girls typically begin shopping for their dress about 11 weeks before the gala event, and they try on an average of 33 dresses before they find the perfect look, says Kara Corridan, Your Prom executive editor.

Department and specialty stores devote huge amounts of retail space to prom dresses. At Camille La Vie at The Shops at Briargate, the entire store features ballgowns ranging from $29 on sale to $179. The boutique also keeps customers happy by maintaining logs of what dresses are purchased for which prom so girls won't show up in duplicate gowns.

It's not all about the girls, however. Boys will spring for a tuxedo, which can rent for more than $100, and they tend to pick up the cost of the meal for the date.

PLANNING TAKES A YEAR

Adding to the prom economy is the expense schools incur to put on the prom and after-prom events. There are hotels or resorts to rent, DJs to hire, decorations, food and memorabilia to buy. Ticket sales, parental contributions, fund-raisers and donations foot the bill, which can easily run in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Some schools add to the cost by hiring prom organizers to create the fantasy evening. In Colorado Springs, however, student and parent committees usually do the work, spending up to a year planning. They pore through prom catalogs to take care of every detail, down to the little tassels on the memory books ($168 for 400, in case you need to know.)

At the recent Prom Fest in Denver, parents Faye Finkelstein and Sonia Safron of the Highlands Ranch area looked a little prom-price shocked. Their kids attend the new Rock Canyon High School, which will hold its first prom in 2006.

"We're finding that it's nothing for a school to spend $25,000," Safron said.

Why has the prom jumped from being a special night at the gym to an evening that rivals weddings in cost and popularity?

Consider it a sign of the times -- a combination of pop culture, raging consumerism and a "we deserve it" attitude.

Corridan says that everything about high school is more intense these days, especially academics, and the prom is sort of the carrot at the end of the stick.

"It's a way to blow off steam and have fun before the stress of college takes over," she says.

And she notes, kids want to mimic the over-the-top glamour of TV awards shows. Teens who rarely get a chance to dress up like that want to go for the glam and appear grown up.

TEENS BEING PRACTICAL

Whatever the reason for the over-the-top prom, there's no turning back to those days of the crepe-papered gym. For most teens, it will probably be the most expensive night of their lives so far. (At least it won't all fall on the parents; many kids -- 55 percent, according to Your Prom -- will pay for at least part of the cost from part-time jobs and savings.)

But kids and adults alike agree that these small fortunes are well spent, because the prom creates memories to last a lifetime.

It's why Steve Schield urged his son Ryan, a junior at Pine Creek High School, to attend.

"I didn't go to my prom in the 1970s. A friend and I cruised around St. Paul (Minn.) that evening," said Schield, whose classmates were still talking about that prom at their 20-year reunion. "I still regret it."

Judging from interviews with several local teens, they're heading into prom season with some cost-conscious plans in mind and part- time jobs to defray the cost.