The Guy's Side for the Gals

While most guys try to keep cool and calm about prom, in reality they are probably shaking in their boots for a number of reasons. Yes,ladies have a million things to do, but guys also have a laundry list of responsibilities. Sure we don’t have the hair, the dress, or the makeup to put up with, but we do have the tux, corsage, limo, dinner and the monetary responsibility that comes with taking someone to the prom.

Ladies, you know not to judge your date by what kind of restaurant you go to, or if he can afford a limo or not, right? The trick is to be sensitive. For guys, the prom can bring up a myriad of issues that I assure you we worry about. How does my tux look? Are my shoes shined? I hope she doesn’t think I look silly. I hope she doesn’t think this restaurant stinks. I hope she is really alright with not having a limousine. I can’t dance and I hope I don’t look stupid. The list could go on and on, but know that while we try our best not to show it, we are nervously excited, too. A lot of us try to pass it off as a joke. So if your date is acting like he doesn’t care, be nice and go with it, he is probably just trying to cover his own insecurities.


Just like you, ladies, guys just want to have fun. Most prom dates will usually go well, but there is always the chance that some strangeness could sour the night. Should your date suddenly clam up or seems nervous, just talk to him. Joke around, ask him light hearted questions and let him know that you are relaxed. Guys will happily answer your questions no matter how trivial they might seem. The key is communication. Talk before hand, talk during the prom and don’t leave him standing in the corner too long.

The prom is all about having fun. Remember you only get two, so make the most of it. Dance, laugh, dress up, and have the time of your life.

Dressing for the Prom

Guys have it easy. All they need for the prom is a tux, (or some guys wear those tux shirts), shoes, and a corsage for their date. Oh, and figure how to get there.

Girls have more decisions to make. But what if they don't have hundreds to spend on a new prom dress, accessories, plus there's the hair, nails...and? For some girls and their families, it can be not only overwhelming - but impossible. But the economy doesn't have to ruin prom.

The neatest thing is how the changes in the economy have opened the hearts of others who want to see that everyone can go to the prom. People in churches, schools and small communities are collecting gently used prom dresses and gowns. They then hold a prom dress event where girls can come in to find a dress and shoes. Most of the dresses and accessories are free or for whatever the girls can give. Everyone feels good and looks good, too. What a great idea!

* Donate My Dress is a national clearinghouse for gently used prom dresses. The site offers information to help communities start their own prom dress drive and host an event.

You Go For the Dancing!

Prom when I was a junior was full of good news and bad news.

Good news: I had a date (my super cute boyfriend), a killer dress, and no curfew to interfere with the after party.

Bad news: My knee was toast, surgery imminent, and dancing was a major question mark.

If I could even attend Prom was a big question when they scheduled my surgery for the Monday before the Saturday night event.

The good news was they could fix the knee - the bad news was they weren't sure what would be required. The good news, I had the best surgeon in the state - he worked on all the college football players so the man knew his knees (and mine too, I hoped). The bad news, (way back at the beginning of the Bronze age) this new thing called arthroscopy might find a more serious, involved problem.

I was determined to know if I would dance on Saturday. No one could tell me until after they went into the knee. Grrr. But not having the surgery guaranteed NO dancing. More grrr.

I won't bore you with the gory details of pre-op (where my dad totally embarrassed me by asking the surgeon if I'd be ready for spring training)...or post op where I embarrassed myself by asking repeatedly if I'd be going to prom.

Suffice it to say I spent Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday rehabbing my knee, making sure I could walk properly without staring at my feet and planning my hairstyle for the big night.

By Saturday there was only good news: I was walking well, we had a great time, and we danced and danced and danced.

My prom memories are second to none - I hope you enjoy yours!
Regan
author of Pixie Chicks and the Shadows of Justice series available from Echelon Press.
by the way, that's a Renoir called Dance at Bougival

The Month of Prom!

Today I've decided to let my character, Melanie Ryder, take a break from writing blogs and grab this one myself.

So the month of May. Besides a variety of other things going on this month, there is one event this month that is probably bigger than all of the others:

Prom.

If you've been reading my Melanie's Monday blog, Melanie has been talking about her own road to the prom, and she is quite excited for the dance.

I'd have to say that I agree with her. And even though I'm not the world's best dancer (although I think I've managed to finally leave the bottom ten) I have been so excited for my own prom - I have my dress and shoes picked out, and I've finally decided how I'm going to do my hair.

And ...

(Drum roll please)

I remembered to buy a boutonniere! Can't have the date go without his flower, now, can we?

But, pushing all those aspects aside, I think a major part of Prom is just being with friends. What with graduation around the corner and everyone going to different colleges... It's a night to just hang out with friends and dance and have a good time before everyone begins going their separate ways.

And now enough with being sappy.

So Prom.

A time of memories, laughs, and fun.

And maybe some dancing if you're not too afraid.

Alyssa Montgomery
www.alyssamontgomery.com
Author of Where Are You?, Mr. Mysterious, and 9:53 PM (from the Heat of the Moment Anthology).

Prompt

Funny that my turn to blog comes on a day where the subject is being 'prompt'... because the worse moments of my day is when I'm on my way somewhere and there's really bad traffic and I'm getting cranky ...

What?

Prom?

Not prompt?

Oh, well, ... um... lessee ... blog about the Prom, huh?

Okay, here's my entire knowledge of prom, in just one sentence:

" ....... "

Did you get that? No? Okay, I'll type it again.

Here goes: "........"

That's right. I got nothing (double negative, I know).

Anyway, I'm sure the other Teen Seen authors have all kinds of fun memories of the stress and/or excitement of finding a prom date or avoiding same, picking out a tux or dress (aka dressing up all goofy), arranging impressive transportation to the event, planning hair, nails, suntans, picking a king and queen, partying afterwards ... throwing up after afterwards .. and all that.

Not me. I never went to prom. I never wanted to go to prom. I got the heebie jeebies just thinking about it, for two really, really good reasons.

First of all, I was very shy. I mean painfully shy. My face went from normal to scarlet red in a blink. My face made traffic lights jealous. The capillaries feeding my blush reflex were as finely toned as Madonna's abs.

The second is my ineptness, no, more like my dangerousness on a dance floor - ask my wife and kids about this source of occasional jocularity. The movement of my limbs and the music are as much in sync as a hippo ice skating. Except the hippo would be far more graceful. I went to only one dance in high school - the Sadie Hawkins one - and legend has it I caused three twisted knees, two sprained ankles and one embarrassing hip check into the punch bowl.

So maybe the point to this post is that the subject of prom isn't positive for all high school kids. Some (of us) dreaded it, seeing it either as another memory of social failure, lack of financial wherewithal or proof that some of us can't party like a lemur (if you saw Madagascar).

So Prom? ... I got nothing. But prompt? Yeah, that I can handle.

Norm

my blog home: wwww.fangplace.blogspot.com

my website: www.fangface.homestead.com

Fashion is Passion

Hey everyone! It’s Melanie Ryder from Alyssa Montgomery’s story, Where Are You?, and I decided to drop by today to talk about …

Fashion!

I think that fashion can be a tricky subject to talk about since everybody has their own fashion. And I think that’s great! Your own fashion can define who you are!

But before I continue, I wanted to make a quick announcement. I was so excited this weekend when…

Cal asked me to prom!

Isn’t that awesome?? I was so excited! And now I can’t wait for the dance to start! But I still need to buy my dress, so on to talking about fashion!

I remember when my cousin went to prom a couple years ago, and she showed me pictures of all her friends dressed up in dresses that looked absolutely beautiful! But the great thing about these dresses was that they were all different! There was not one similar dress in the group, and I think that it proves my point that each person can have their own fashion. These girls chose their dresses based on what they wanted to wear and what they thought was beautiful. And I think that is what fashion is all about – wearing what you want to wear. Each person creates their own style. And when there’s a fashion trend? That’s just when a bunch of people have the same taste in what they like to wear.

So that’s it for me! I’m off to shop for a dress! I’ll see everyone in two weeks for another blog!

The character of Melanie Ryder can be found in Alyssa’s Montgomery’s short story, Where Are You?, as well as in the Heat of the Moment Anthology in the story 9:53 PM.

Fashion Don'ts

On Friday, I picked up an issue of Seventeen magazine, specifically the prom issue, because I was feeling a little nostalgic. (I eagerly awaited the prom issue every year, back when I subscribed.) Because I have an event coming up that I might be attending which would require formal wear, I was really looking forward to coming back from my lunch and flipping through hundreds of pages of pretty princess dresses.

Obviously, that didn’t happen, or you wouldn’t be reading this blog. Instead, my jaw dropped as I went through page after page of the most horribly ugly dresses I have ever seen in my life. Dresses that looked like they were made of cellophane or latex. Dresses with metal studs and enough accordion pleating to make even the most petite girl look like the Liberty Bell. Tie-dyed, fluorescent, psychedelic palm-frond print dresses. Most memorably, a dress which combined an oversized floral motif and a pink and blue leopard print with no success whatsoever.

Now, I know styles change. I know it’s been ten years since I attended my own prom. However, this is reminding me very much of a mistake I made in choosing my own prom dress, a mistake I don’t want you to make. I chose my dress based on the body I wished I had, not on the body I actually had. As a result, I shudder every time I see my prom pictures. (Part of that, admittedly, could be about my date, but I really think most of it is about the dress.)

Prom is a huge deal. You’re going to have these pictures and these memories for the rest of your life. So, please, choose carefully, and be true to yourself. If you feel that orange and green zebra print is really you, then put it on and rock it. But, if you’re only trying on that metallic paisley maxi-dress because Seventeen says prints are really in, take a moment and ask yourself, “What would Penelope Cruz do?” Then try something on that you know suits you.

Jacquelyn Sylvan is the author of Surviving Serendipity, a YA fantasy that takes place in a world where damsels in distress are so last season. Buy it here, or download to your Kindle here!