Prom during the 90s has been referenced countless times in movies and other pop culture, but what was it really like? How different was it compared to prom today? For Timpview’s 2025 Prom (my senior Prom), I decided to wear my mom’s dress that she wore to Prom in 1997. My mom gave it to me before I even started high school, saying, “Just in case you don’t want to buy a new dress.” She also stated that she only kept the dress for this long because she spent around one hundred dollars on it, which may be a common price for prom dresses nowadays but it was a larger spend a few decades ago. I held onto the dress because I thought it was pretty and I entertained the idea of wearing it in the future.
A few years later, my senior Prom rolled around and I decided it wouldn’t be worth it to buy a new dress when my mom’s dress still fit my style. I’ve always liked 90s fashion and in a way it has come back more mainstream; certain trends today find their roots in 90ss grunge and other decade-specific fashion genres. Although my dress is almost thirty years old, I didn’t notice it standing out among the newer dresses that were being worn during this year’s prom. I added my own jewelry, shoes, got my nails done, and did my makeup in my own style, while trying to match the aesthetic of the dress. However, it wasn’t until I looked at my mom’s senior prom photos that I realized the similarities and differences that stood out between the two proms that took place twenty-eight years apart.
The story my mom always tells when she talks about her prom night is how her friends wanted to stay out all night and she went along with it because she didn’t want to be left out. My mom has always been one to go to bed early and fall asleep first, and her friends definitely knew that. Once morning rolled around and they were still celebrating, they all went to a Denny’s to celebrate. She was so tired but continued to try and stay cheerful, but in one moment she was waking up to her face being covered in food after she passed out into her breakfast. My after-party consisted of getting into pajamas and watching Dirty Dancing; unlike my mom, I got home at 1 A.M. and didn’t stay all night for early morning Denny’s. It’s hard to imagine our parents being like us, and most of the time we forget that our parents were teenagers. When I wore my mom’s dress to the dance I found a way to connect our senior proms together- but the idea of prom has never really changed. Teenagers today and teenagers thirty years ago both want the same thing: to have a memorable night with their friends as they say goodbye to high school.
