It’s that time of year again: sparkly dresses are lining the store shelves, limos are being booked and “prom-posals” are taking over social media. It’s been years since I’ve had to worry about prom, but the yearly hoopla always brings me back to high school, when I decided to be the only girl going solo to senior prom.
Prom at our school was a pretty important thing for most people. There was a select group that didn’t care that much, but I was kind of in-between. I knew I wanted to go, but I’d just broken up with a long-time significant other and was trying to readjust to single life. While all of this was going on, my mom and I found the perfect dress while we were out shopping and we just had to get it, even if I didn’t end up going to prom.
Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t like no one wanted to go to prom with me. In fact, I was asked by three different people in the weeks leading up to prom. They were all my close friends and I just didn’t want the pressure to pick one and having to deal with matching our outfits and coordinating a limo. I just wasn’t that into it.
Looking back now, I think that on a deeper level I just needed to prove to myself that I could go alone, that I didn’t need someone to lean on; I wanted to step out as an individual. So, after rejecting three offers, I walked up to the booth to buy my ticket alone.
The teacher checked with me four times: “Is it just you? Are you sure you only want one? There’s still people without dates. Are you absolutely, positively sure that you only want a single ticket?”
I brought the ticket home and pinned it on my wall next to where my dress was hung. Then I waited for the month to pass.
My parents weren’t very concerned. Even though they asked a few times if I had a date, they realized that I was happier planning on my own. The only thing that made me sad was that I wouldn’t have a corsage. Other than that, I booked the exact car that I wanted, had the perfect dress, and found amazing shoes. I could set my own schedule and do anything and everything I wanted to do. I thought I had struck gold.
I was friends with a lot of people who decided not to go at all (including the three people who had asked me), and there were moments where I debated doing the same. In the end, I knew I would regret not having the experience (my school only had one prom.) I remember in the week leading up to prom, I was doing facemasks every day, working out like crazy and wearing the heels around the house to break them in.
Then, the day before prom, something snapped. Who was I trying to impress? Why did I feel the need to look a certain way? Instead of working out that night, I opened a fresh container of ice cream and got to work.
The day of prom, I had my hair done at a salon and waited on the porch while my dad picked up the car he’d rented for me (it was a Mercedes E-Class, by the way). I did my makeup and got dressed alone in my room, watching YouTube videos. My neighbor came over to see me and offered some of her jewelry from her wedding to complete the ensemble. Then, my parents carted me around town putting on our own mini-photoshoots wherever there were pretty flowers and trees.
I arrived at my prom just as a light mist was starting to fall. My chauffeur *cough, dad, cough,* looking like someone straight out of The Godfather in a black suit, dress shoes and dark glasses, surprised me with an ivory corsage and escorted me right to the front door as other girls were struggling to get out of their limos gracefully.
My teachers commented on how beautiful I looked (some even took pictures to add to their wall of students) and when I finally entered the ballroom through the grand staircase (fashionably late, might I add) I remember some of my friends just saying “Wow.”
*Side note* I later found out that the couples were being escorted through a separate door, so I had accidentally come down the staircase alone, with some awesome backlighting. Not planned, but apparently, it looked like something out of a movie.
Prom was awesome.
I sat at a table with good friends, enjoyed a decent steak (why other girls opted for the vegetable dish just to look “feminine,” I’ll never understand) and danced a little bit (the music wasn’t quite my speed). I had the photographer take pictures of me alone (SO much cheaper than the couple pictures) and forgot just for a night about everything else going on.
When my chauffeur picked me up that night, I sat in the back seat and kicked off my shoes. Part of me was happy that prom was over, but part of me just never wanted to take off that dress. I ended up not needing anyone to support me, or a group of friends to be in a limo, or a date to slow dance with.
I survived going solo to senior prom, and I like to think that the experience helped me learn that I can be an independent, self-serving woman no matter where I decide to go.
Image Sources: Giphy and Victoria Testa