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What was your prom like?

03:02 / 24.01.07

I guess this is mostly for American lithers. I'm the MC for a benefit this weekend where the theme is 'queer prom' and I'm trying to figure out what, exactly, goes on at proms. Plus, for an Aussie like myself, the prom holds a weird sort of TV-movie glamour. I am endlessly fascinated by prom-based teen movies and special episodes. How do the real things measure up?

Is it just like a formal, except they crown monarchs? How do they pick who to crown? Do the royals have any responibilities, or is it more of an honorary position?

I am fascinated by everything to do with proms. Feel free to extend this out to include deb balls, formals, mixers, and whatever other school-based dances you may have attended.

09:34 / 24.01.07

My boyfriend at the time couldn't go because he was staff and the idea of pretending we weren't an item on my prom night upset him. Sooooo, instead, I got drunk, walked up to the wood work teacher and said "I don't know you're name, but I wouldn't throw you out of bed for a packet of crisps."

The next morning, in the staff room, my boyfriend heard about it. He said he knew it was me instantly.

Whisky Priestess

09:46 / 24.01.07

Swash, I thought you were English!

Or do English schools have proms now? What is the world coming to?!

Also, I am trying to write a musical based around a faded former prom queen and would love any insight into this most fabled of positions. Any ex-Prom Queens on Barbelith, do we reckon?

All Acting Regiment

09:46 / 24.01.07

I killed a boy.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

09:47 / 24.01.07

Well, I got covered in pig's blood and destroyed the whole shebang in an orgy of psychokinetic violence.

I don't like to talk about it.

All Acting Regiment

09:49 / 24.01.07

No, seriously.

Well, no, not really. In England but we had a sort of prom anyway. None of the girls wanted to go along with me, even as a pretend girlfriend.

ONLY NICE THINGS

09:53 / 24.01.07

Hit it.

Phex: Dorset Doom

09:55 / 24.01.07

My girlfriend turned up with her girlfriend. I drank so much I stole from the refreshments table so I wouldn't have to stop drinking. I almost made it home before collapsing, covered in red wine vomit, which looked like blood and attracted the attention of a cab driver, who I repaid for his kindness by falling on his car and putting a nice big ding on the rear passenger side door with my head.

10:41 / 24.01.07

I am English. It was more of a "Sicth Form Leaver's Party" than a prom really.

11:07 / 24.01.07

Quite a lot of English schools have prom type events these days.

F oh WHY I

13:24 / 24.01.07

If you want to recreate an American prom, you'll need:

An auditorium (ideally a gym) covered in balloons and streamers.

A bad band playing covers of 80s songs (can replace with a DJ if necessary)

Punch bowl, which can be spiked at some point during the evening.

Ugly tuxedos and bad prom dresses
(for a queer prom, I'd assume anyone could wear either.)

Votes taken during the evening for the King and Queen, with the winners announced and crowned around midnight. (The winners then lead a spotlight dance.)

Optional: a theme (Hawaii, black and white, etc.)

If you want to recreate that John Hughes feeling (16 Candles, Breakfast Club, etc.), songs you must play:

Simple Minds, Don't You (Forget About Me)
Mike Reno and Ann Wilson, Almost Paradise
John Parr, St. Elmo's Fire
Psychedelic Furs, Pretty in Pink
Bangles, Eternal Flame
Styx, Sailing Away
REO Speedwagon, Can't Fight This Feeling

Optional: Josie Cotton, Johnny Are You Queer?

13:51 / 24.01.07

I brought two dates to my senior prom, we ate shoddy chicken something or other (dinner at the prom was odd). I wore two flouncy petticoats, a corset, and my first tattoo very proudly. Date number 1 wore vintage tails, black jeans, and cowboy boots. Date number 2 wore all black plus trenchcoat and blue hair.

I believe we were already pretty drunk unimpressed with the bad hip hop and kept sitting in each other's laps for the entire hour we were there. Drunken adventures later.

Nowadays we go to the Big Kids' Prom here in town, a favorite annual event. It spoofs all the prom traditions and themes and even once had an Under the Sea theme. Bad tuxes are applauded as well as garish gowns. 80's metal rules the night along with some better hip hop from back in the day. It's the only time outside of the movies I hear the Bangles anymore.

I of course usually show up with 2 dates somewhat drunk already and we spend a lot of time sitting in each other's laps. More dancing happens.

13:54 / 24.01.07

here's a link to the 2005 Big Kids' Prom

14:06 / 24.01.07

"I don't know you're name, but I wouldn't throw you out of bed for a packet of crisps."

Of course he's English, WP, he would've said "bag" followed shortly by "chips".

15:09 / 24.01.07

I didn't want to go to my prom, but if you can believe it I was pressured by the parents of my then boyfriend to go so that he wouldn't miss out on that momentous occasion. I dressed up like a flapper (complete with a turban w a huge feather) and had a thoroughly boring time. Some adults I didn't know (parents? no idea) were circulating, taking notes on us to decide who made the court... I heard a rumor I was being considered so I hid in the bathroom for a while.

Now, a few years ago I went to a much more fun promlike event put on by some cool folks where I used to live... The Rock City Prom, put on to benefit local business and neighborhood revitalization. It was something of a punk/queer/comeasyouare type of prom. People dressed all sorts of ways, from punk to rockabilly to straight-up American prom style. There was a striptease/cabaret act put on by a group of drag kings, and the court was chosen based on who was deemed to have the best 'look' by the organizers.

Whisky Priestess

15:16 / 24.01.07

What's the "court"? The King and Queen runners-up? Who are they and what do they do?

15:23 / 24.01.07

Might want to check this out.

17:23 / 24.01.07

What's the "court"? The King and Queen runners-up? Who are they and what do they do?

Yep, they're runners up. I don't know if they actually do anything. I didn't pay much attention to that stuff in high school. I guess usually these people are voted in by the student body but I think my school did it differently. I found a vid of a real live prom court presentation if you want an example Jackie.

Kali, Queen of Kitteh

17:41 / 24.01.07

I have made sure there are no surviving copies of my prom pictures. That kind of madness must be left to the ages.

19:01 / 24.01.07

I look like a sulky pouty punk saloon girl in my prom picture. What's funny is one of my prom dates, Date Number 1, wore the exact same set of tails to my wedding 13 years later. Probably the same cowboy boots now that I think about it....

00:08 / 25.01.07

Thanks everyone!

What's the difference between a tuxedo and a regular suit? Is it just that you wear a cummerbund with it?

Happily, I own every record Ev G mentioned, except the REO Speedwagon one.

Whisky Priestess

07:59 / 25.01.07

Tuxedos usually have silk lapels and a black silk stripe down the outside seam of the trousers. And some have only one button on the jacket, but I think that's a bit old fashioned.

08:28 / 25.01.07

I got into a fight with a rival assassin and ended up stabbing him in the throat with a pen, just as my girlfriend walked in.

...

No, hang on, that was Grosse Point Blank.

08:32 / 25.01.07

I have experienced two proms in my life. One where I went alone and ended up bugging the lame band who was playing at the time to at least play one metallica song after a night of wishy washy covers. They obliged after a while, and I found myself together with three of my friends on the dance floor "rocking out" as they say, thoroughly inebriated and bumping into people. It was fun in the end.

The second prom I went with a long time friend of mine, who looked great in a black dress (she normally never wears a dress) and black heavy boots on her feet. She's a vegetarian too and the moment we walked into the posh dining hall, she immediately felt less at home due to the large number of animal trophies mounted on the walls. After eating a bit of fruit and vegetables we ditched the party and ended up going out that night at a rock café nearby, where we had a good time.

I always resisted the peer pressure to wear a tie of any sort as I feel those items of clothing are designed to slowly squeeze the life out of you. Somehow tying a noose around your own neck seems a bit too fatalistic for me.

09:18 / 25.01.07

Proms do have to have a theme. Besides the aforementioned "Under the Sea" I think the others are:
Over the Rainbow
Puttin' on the Ritz
and I do believe that's it, just the three.

Whisky Priestess

09:32 / 25.01.07

It's like a nightmarish vision of a dystopian future ...

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

09:52 / 25.01.07

I ended up copping off with mad John Finn's brand new wife, and had to stab the old bugger with a bolo knife. And the flies did hum and the flies did buzz around.

13:26 / 25.01.07

Here are a selection of themes: 50's sock hop, Hollywood, Arabian Nights, Paris, Italian villa, and a bunch more.

That site seems to be great for all things prom, including hideous crowns and other accessories for the king and queen.

14:16 / 25.01.07

Also it's protocol to get your school's slayer a thank you umbrella.

14:33 / 25.01.07

Jackie... tuxedos are usually worn with a tuxedo shirt and bow tie.

22:27 / 25.01.07

I didn't go to my prom because I was too busy taking University classes, but...

I did have a friend who went to the local vocational high school convinced me to go with her friend to their prom. I was just 14 and and found it all really boring until we all went to the "after-party" and I snuck off with my friend's date to make out with him. I am a bad, bad friend.

Both of my brothers' proms were held on a ship that cruised around the Boston Harbor for a few hours. i love the idea of sea-sick prom queens!

22:44 / 25.01.07

Long boring speeches by the administration all about "how great this school is and gosh aren't you glad you went here to prepare you for the world?" Followed by a crappy meal and then a group of us left to go jumping from party to party. I think that part was good... I dont remeber much of it. But I woke up with a bunch of people in a tent.

14:15 / 26.01.07

One other prom item you can't neglect:

A photographer taking souvenir pictures of couples in their finery. Generally posed in front of some backdrop that reflects the prom's theme.

And one more song you can't forget:

Modern English, "Melt With You."

15:20 / 01.02.07

So how did the prom go? Any pictures?

By the way, if you're still prom-obsessed you might want to check out this website about a book called Kings and Queens: Queers at the Prom. Looks interesting.