Prom\'s short story: Long gowns are out as teens emulate red-carpet ...

Tag : Short Gowns

The iconic prom dress -- in all its floor-sweeping grandeur -- hasbeen cut off at the knees.
Some promgoers this year are ditching the long gowns for dressesthat skim the thigh.
A sprinkling of high-schoolers have donned cocktail-length dressesat senior prom for several years. But now, more designers andretailers have latched on to the idea. And with a smorgasbord ofshorter dresses at the ready -- from the frilly to the sleek --girls in droves will be heading to prom showing more leg thansatin.
''I think a lot of people are going short this year,'' said AnnieBerkowitz, a senior at Miami Killian High. She'll wear a ruchedblack sheath by Nicole Miller with a hemline two inches above theknee to her prom on May 10.
''It was just too annoying to dance with a long dress,'' Berkowitzsaid. ``And, like, a lot of things are becoming more casual.''
Full-length gowns for girls were once as essential to prom asboutonnieres for boys. But starlets like Lauren Conrad, AmandaBynes and Hayden Panettiere are strolling red carpets in shorternumbers, convincing young admirers that they needn't dress likeadults to look glamorous, said Marissa Grumer, senior market editorfor Seventeen magazine, which has an annual prom issue.
''We just saw [actress] Brittany Snow wear a short dress to thepremiere of Prom Night, so definitely, this is a huge, huge trend,'' said BrianneDiSylvester, assistant online editor for PromSpot.com, a sitemarketed to teens.
Joanne Stoner, CEO of online retailer edressme.com (whose promofferings are on edressme
prom.com), said 30 percent of its prom dress inventory this yearhits above the knee.
''We've increased them because there's more demand and more shortdresses available for prom in the market place,'' Stoner said.
She and other vendors say the season's short-dress craze also wasfueled by Betsey Johnson's spring/summer '08 fashion show in NewYork City. Its campy prom theme involved lots of crinolines andbows, but on truncated dresses. Johnson took the look to the limit-- and beyond. One tongue-in-cheek dress was so revealing, knickersflashed from beneath.
Other prom dress stalwarts like Jessica McClintock, Alfred Angeloand BCBG Max Azria are touting shorter designs, too, as are massretailers. Macy's is offering a black Ruby Rox tuxedo dress thatends just above the knee; Bloomingdale's has a strapless taffetabubble dress by Laundry by Design that's short enough to give adate an eyeful should the wearer actually sit down.
Some parents say that given the immodesty of today's casual teenclothing, diminutive prom dresses don't seem particularlyrisqué. Some welcome the trend as practical.
''Wow, that would be really nice if they can wear it again,'' saidSally Matson, mother of five girls, including two prom-going teens,one at Ransom Everglades in Coconut Grove, and another who ishome-schooled.
Column dresses just seem dated and somber to some teens.
''While the long gowns are so dramatic, the girls are looking formore short, sweet, fun and flirty,'' DiSylvester said.
But even short dresses can scream prom. Lots of the girlyconfections still have voluminous skirts, sequined netting andsweetheart necklines. And the reduction in material generallydoesn't mean a reduction in price, especially for dresses marketedfor prom.
''In most cases, they really aren't'' cheaper, Stoner said. ``Theshort dresses are very embellished.''
But they aren't accepted everywhere, notes Grumer, of Seventeen.``The girls down south will definitely do the princess thing, butin L.A. and New York City and the [East] Coast, it's a trendy thingto do.''
In Miami, at least, short dresses so predominate that longer onesseem in short supply. Lilibet Aquino, senior class president atCoral Gables High School, had her heart set on a regular gown butalmost gave up.
''I found one, but in San Francisco, because I couldn't find oneanywhere else,'' she said.
Miami Beach High senior class president Ashley Casal said she andher friends weighed the pros of short dresses, but also decided onlong ones, even though their favorite designers didn't make as manyto choose from this year.
''Personally, I wouldn't wear a short dress to prom,'' Casal said.A long dress is ``like, tradition.''
But there is one tradition Casal may toss to the wind: theboutonniere.
``You don't have to buy one anymore.''