Virtual Vintage Prom

Today is the day that Natasha is hosting the Virtual Vintage Prom Party on her blog. Now when she said VINTAGE Prom, I took the word literally and decided she must be talking about MY prom from back in the day. You see, my prom actually qualifies as a VINTAGE prom! Above is a dress that my daughter wore to one of her HS dances - isn't it pretty and pink and girly? Ah to be young again. The pictures below are of me with my prom date on the BIG night. (OK, stop your giggling girls!) Yes, I also had a pretty pink prom dress, but it is not quite as stylish as my daughter's dress. I suppose it was at the time, that is if one can remember back that far! Don't you love the high neckline? Quite different from the dresses the girls wear these days, isn't it? I look like I attended a Catholic High School (or convent perhaps) from the style of this dress. I would like to point out that I actually MADE this dress, along with my mother's assistance. We went dress shopping at all the big name downtown Chicago stores and we came across one similar to this at Marshall Fields (recently bought out by Macy's). I tried it on and we both studied it and sketched it and tried to remember all the details of the dress. Then we went to the fabric store and looked through the Simplicity and McCall patterns to find something similar. We ended up combining several patterns to create the best designer knock-off that we could. Just look at the sleeve detail....nevermind the blurry photo!
And what about this hairstyle? (Looks like a school-marm hairdo with that bun!) My self-inflicted up-do, complete with curly tendrils, was a far cry from the expensive trips to the hair salons that the girls have these days. Boy, was I ever a cheap date!
Speaking of cheap, so was my date! My prom was held at the Knickerbocker Hotel (formerly Playboy Towers - how inappropriate for a high school prom!) in Chicago. The theme of the prom was, "Beginnings" after the group Chicago's hit song of the same title. The hotel ballroom where the prom was held was quite impressive and even had a dance floor that lit up. After the prom, couples broke up into smaller groups and went to "after prom" dinner events that they planned themselves. I had longed to go the The Palmer House to hear John Davidson (is he still alive?) sing. But my date had other plans. He made reservations for us to go to Greek Town and have dinner at a small local Greek restaurant. Now, I have nothing against Greek people or Greek restaurants or Greek food. . .my sister-in-law is Greek and she's is a real sweetie. But eating pasticio and baklava at a neighborhood resturant while watching some old men do Greek dances was a far cry from listening to John Davidson sing at The Palmer House in downtown Chicago! I just felt that my date, being the worldly "older" man that he was (he graduated the year before me!) could have planned something more elegant for the big night!
And don't be fooled by this photo. . .if the men dancing on my prom night looked anything like the hunky men pictured above, I may not have been quite as disappointed with the choice of entertainment!

Well, I am off to go visit the other Virtual Vintage Proms now. Check out Natasha's blog for a complete list of participants!