A May Ball is a formal event held in June at a Cambridge University at the end of each academic year. The balls are usually held in college gardens lasting from about 9 p.m. until early the following morning. Most balls are held during "May Week," which starts the week following final exams. This week usually includes "Suicide Sunday," a period of nerves and suspense before students find out their final grades for the semester.
The First and Third Trinity Boat Club hold the most famous May Ball. The St. John's May Ball was described by Time magazine as the "7th great party in the world." Unlimited champagne, expensive fireworks, expensive food and private performances from leading entertainers are common amongst most May Balls. So, of course, a fabulous party calls for a fabulous evening gown. Something extremely elegant and tasteful would do for this type of event. Nothing too flashy, but something that will also stand out. Look for a gown with interesting line work or with one accenting embellishment like an exquisite broach. At the May Ball, less is always more.
A Military Ball is a formal affair held by the Air Force and the U.S. Military every year. It's just one more excuse for women to wear an extremely expensive evening gown and dance the night away. Dress code for a Military Ball is very specific. Civilian women are required to wear a formal evening gown or dress and it should be knee to floor length. Civilian men must wear a dark suit, but a tuxedo is optional.
The evening usually begins with a receiving line where the first person in line announces the names of the guests and their dates. Once the guest list has been introduced, they go to their tables and wait for Madam or Mister Vice to introduce themselves and each member of the head table. Once this is completed, the Colors are posted.
Before dinner, the toasts are made to honor military personnel, leaders and invited guests. A silent toast is also made to honor the prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action. After dinner, a distinguished speaker who has come with some connection to the armed forces is asked to address the assembly of military personnel. Once the dinner is over, the colors are retired and the Ball Dance finally begins!
Sometimes a photo from prom isn't enough to re-kindle the evening. It's always a great idea to have some other items to help us remember what fun we had and the moments we cherished at our high school prom. Prom party favors are a great gift to give to your friends, dates and even teachers that have followed you all through your high school experience. Custom photo albums are a great way to preserve those photographic memories. Engraved picture frames or key tags are also a perfect reminder of a magical night.
More ideas for your prom party favors:
CD cases
Candy and mints
Garters
Glassware
Travel Mugs
Cell phone tags
Snow globes
f you love playing dress up, shopping for a vintage prom dress can be more fun than prom itself. The '50s, '60s and '70s were smoking with unique styles that designers just don't make anymore. But some of these flapper, glamor and disco gowns still flock the shopping racks at thrift stores and the designer racks.
If you are shopping for a vintage dress at a thrift store, be sure to look for a few things before you purchase the dress:
Make sure there are no spots or stains on the gown. If there are, ask for a discount and buy a corsage, shawl or some sort of embellishment to cover it up.
Be aware of what the dress smells like. Some stenches like cigarette smoke will haunt your gown forever.
Notice any rips seams or loose strings and be prepared to take the gown to a tailor for repairs or alterations.
Accessorizing is the most fun with vintage dresses. Look for vintage shoes and purses to match.
If you want a vintage dress from a designer shop, here are some of the styles that are always in for vintage gowns:
'50s- style satin gowns
1950s swing dresses
Mini-disco dresses with rosettes
Betsey Johnson cocktail dresses
Silk glamor gowns
Sue Wong flapper dresses
Halter gowns
Couture Antique Ruffles
Slinky 1930s gowns and more!
The seamless shaping body suit is truly the best body-enhancing invention ever and all high school seniors going to prom would like to sincerely thank Sara Blakely for dreaming up the "invisible" panty line. Blakely is now one of the judges on the hit television show "American Inventor" as an entrepreneur who has never even taken a business course! She is also the Ernst & Young 2002 Entrepreneur of the Year Award Winner. She has even been on Oprah for her brilliant invention.
So, if you are wearing a clingy gown for your prom, the SPANX Slim Cognito Seamless Shaping Bodysuit will hide all of your problem areas while thinning your tummy, slimming your waistline and accentuating your bottom. SPANX are 80 percent Nylon, 18 percent Spandex/Elastane and 2 percent cotton and for about $60, you can hide your perfect curves under your perfect evening gown.
SPANX by Sara Blakely also manufactures hosiery, tights, bras, panties and t-shirts.
Prom dress styles are getting sexier every year with backless gowns and hyper-plunging necklines. So we can tell immediately when looking at a gown that we are going to have some "bra issues." Some of us are blessed and can get away without wearing a bra. But the rest of us need one at all times, even in a several hundred dollar gown.
The goods news is that there are options. Some dresses have built in bras that may or may not do the trick, but another option is the adhesive bra cup. There are self-supporting, adhesive bras that stick to your skin or your dress and they can be backless, strapless or both. Another great thing about these types of bras is that they don't leave any glue residue and they can be worn multiple times.
If you find yourself in a bra dilemma, these self-adhesive cups really seal the deal. Check out Tiza's own self-adhesive bra coming October 2007.
If you belong to Latter Day Saints or just interested in wearing a modest prom dress that doesn't show too much skin, we know that finding the perfect dress can be hard and at some dress shops, near impossible. It's true that most prom dresses can be very revealing with plunging necklines, bare-less backs and hip-high skirt slits. A more modest prom dress is one that covers the shoulder, back, upper arms and from the knee up. In the past, it was almost impossible to find a modest dress in an evening wear shop, but times are different and modest, LDS gowns are popping up all over the place. There are even Web sites that are entirely dedicated to LDS prom and bridal gowns.
If you live in a town that is completely clueless to the idea of modest prom dresses, don't hesitate to try and make your own. Just grab some nice fabric and patterns and put yourself to work. Making your own LDS prom dress can be an adventure and accomplishment in itself
In order for your prom dress to look absolutely perfect, alterations are a necessary step to creating the perfect fit.
The first step is finding a good seamstress. Many dress shops have a seamstress on staff and she has plenty of experience altering evening wear all day. Bridal shops are another place to find a talented seamstress. These women are constantly working on difficult wedding dresses and your prom dress will probably be extremely easy for them.
For hemming, expect to pay $10-$20, but every seamstress is different. It wouldn't hurt to call ahead for a bid or drop in for a consult with your gown.
If you have some height and want to add length to your gown, consider making the dress a high-low hem line. This kind of hem is short in the front and low in the back. This style is rather popular and is in style just as much as floor length dresses. You could also consider wearing flat ballerina shoes or designer flip-flops instead of heels. But if you are set on wearing a floor length gown with high-heels, you can always order a shawl that matches your gown and have a seamstress add it to the bottom of the dress. This usually costs about $20.
If you are ordering a dress from the Internet, order one size bigger and see a seamstress to take it in. It's very easy and inexpensive to take a gown in a few inches, $10-$20. But if you order a size too small, it is difficult and sometimes impossible to let out the dress. The fabric will either expose pin holes or there may not be enough material to let it out.
For trains, ask your seamstress to keep the train, but craft something so that it can be brought up for dancing. You can ask for a small pearl to be sewn on the back of the dress for a very elegant look then sew some loops of thread to wear the gown would need to be brought up. Now when you are ready to dance at the prom, you just attach the threads around the pearl and you are ready to go without causing any damage to your train. This can cost between $5 and $10.
With just a few alterations, you are ready to paint the prom red!
If you are still sitting around trying to figure out when you are going to actually wear your prom dress again, stop wasting time and figure out how you can donate it to another high school senior that can't afford their dream dress. There are organization all over the United States that collect pre-worn prom dresses, shoes and accessories so that young, less fortunate girls who have the same dreams of going to prom and having the night of their lives can do just that. Not only will donating your prom dress give you years of great kharma, but you will also be helping the environment. By re-using items we buy we are decreasing the amount of waste that goes into landfills and also lowering production waste and energy needed to make more prom dresses.
Contact the organization nearest you for drop-off information:
ARIZONA
Fairy Godmothers of Flagstaff
Phone: (928) 526-2053
CALIFORNIA
The Princess Project
Phone: (415) 269-6667
Cinderella's Closet of Sacramento
Phone: (916) 442-5833
FLORIDA
The Sequin Dreams Project of Tallahassee
Email: sequindreams@hotmail.com
ILLINOIS
The Glass Slipper Project
Phone: (312) 409-4139
MAINE
The Fairy Godmother Project of Portland
Email: fairygodmotherproject1@hotmail.com
NEW HAMPSHIRE
The Cinderella Project of New Hampshire
Phone: (603) 472-8043
PENNSYLVANIA
Fairy Godmothers
Phone: (215) 674-8773
WASHINGTON
The Ruby Room
Phone: (206) 439-7575
Choosing a boutonniere or corsage for your date is not as hard as it looks. For all you who are unfamiliar with the corsage, it's an arrangement of small flowers decorated with ribbons and embellishments to match your dress. For the guys, a boutonniere is a smaller version of the corsage that matches and simply pins on the date's lapel. There are several different types of corsages, some more popular than others. In the '50s the pin-on corsage was the favorite, but more recent proms have made the wristlet and the small handheld nosegay the most popular. You can always try layering the flowers in your hair or pinning the corsage to your handbag for a more retro, less traditional style.
As far as choosing the flowers, roses and carnations have been the most common choices. But more modern flowers, like orchids or daisies, can really spice things up.
Let's face it. Prom is expensive, but anyone who has been to a prom would say that it is totally worth every cent. And the truth is, prom can be as expensive or as cheap as you want it to be. Here's a run-down of what you'll and how much it will cost. We've even included some things that you probably never even thought you needed.
The Dress:
Some seniors start their prom dress shopping months before tickets even go on sale. This is only to make sure that they have the prom dress that is right for them and maybe to check out the different styles, old and new. Depending on where you find your dress, at a designer boutique in Manhattan or Special Occasions down the block, there is something out there for everyone. Designers come in wide range of price tags with Faviana gowns ranging from $100-$300, Jovani from $400-$800 and Sherri Hill prom dresses from $300-$500. The gown might be pricey but the evening is priceless.
Accessories:
Shoes, jewelry and any other knick-knacks you want to go with your gown all fit under this category. Like the dress, shoes can be inexpensive flats, heels or even flip-flops. But some prefer the trendy styles and don't mind paying $300 for footwear. As for the jewelry, there are lots of options as well. There are plenty of costume jewelry shops that have the biggest selection of gaudy styles ranging from $5- $25.
Hair:
For the ladies, sometimes the hair-do can be just as important as the dress. Long-haired beauties may want to pay around $50 for a professional styling at the salon. Some might want the whole she-bang and go for an elegant up-do for another $100. And then hair accessories like hair jewels or tiaras can continue to ring up the bill.
Tickets:
What you spend on a prom ticket depends on what venue your high school chooses for the event and what kind of food will be served. You can either be out of luck and stuck with a small selection of appetizers or you can be overflowing with luck and dine from a grand buffet. Whatever it is, you are paying for it. Ticket prices range from $50-$200 at most high school proms and the prices go up every year.
Photographs:
You want this moment to last forever, or at least seem like it's going to last forever. Taking snapshots with you friends before the limo arrives is one way to get cheap photos with the gang and all of their dates. There is also at least one professional photographer at the prom that will get a timeless picture of you and your date in front of an ice sculpture or an luminous fountain. The price comes with a package that could cost $25-$100.
Flowers:
Prom flowers are an item that is usually overlooked and often forgotten until the last minute. It's a tradition for girls to buy a boutonnière for their date and guys buy the corsage. These can be in the form of fresh or fake flowers, but either way the price isn't too much to pay. Boutonnieres usually cost $7-$10 and corsages, wrist or pin-on, $15-$30.
Designer dresses, stretch limousines and a King and Queen- yes, that's right, it's prom. Believe it or not, we have been celebrating prom in American high schools since 1811. However, "prom," deriving from the late nineteenth century phrase "promenade ball," used to be inspired by debutante balls, or fancy gatherings for prestigious families to introduce their young daughters into high-class society. Into the early 1900s, prom was less of a party and more of a tea dance for the high school seniors. But these high school students weren't the only ones who had their fun. Written recordings shows evidence of a college prom at Smith College in 1894.
Now, promenade balls, or just prom as we currently call it, have slowly evolved into more simple gatherings that consist of months of planning, intense dress shopping as well as a long list of expenses. High school students spend their entire senior year waiting for this event and its importance is strikingly prominent in pop culture movies, books and television shows. But the old-school prom traditions aren't exactly being thrown out the window. We are slowly being introduced to a new take on "prom." For example, it's much more common for girls and guys to not have a date to the prom and fly solo with a group of friends. This serves as a more meaningful night where high school pals can look back and reminisce on the last four years they spent together. Same-sex couples are also making more appearances at high school proms, expressing their individuality and comfort with a more liberal society.
However you choose to spend your prom night- in a traditional fashion with a hot date or with a group of great friends to commemorate the past- your high school prom will be unforgettable.
