Grand march, circa 1984

Among the numerous memory lanes I’ve strolled down as I clean out my parents’ house, the most recent involves my high school prom dresses. I’m not surprised they were still there. Mom was a keeper and clothing was just one of things she held onto. I suppose at some point in the last 40 years we may have had a discussion about what should be done with my prom dresses but I don’t remember it.

So there they were, hanging in my old bedroom closet, carefully sheathed in garment bags since 1983 and 1984, the years of my junior and senior proms.

It would be an understatement to say they look nothing like the sparkling gowns today’s young women wear on those glamorous night. It would, in fact, be totally appropriate to say they look like something that wandered out of the “Little House on the Prairie” costuming department.

Literally. They look like granny dresses, if your granny was a homesteader in the 1800s.

Prairie chic was, well, very chic my senior year of high school. My prom gown was floor length with a full skirt, long, leg-o-mutton sleeves, basque waistline and high neck. The fabric was dusty blue (intentionally, not just because it had been hanging in a closet for 40 years), printed with tiny cream-colored flowers and trimmed with lace and dainty pearl buttons.

Unless you are a child of the 70s and 80s, chances are good the name of designer Jessica McClintock and her line of Gunne Sax dresses means nothing. But back then, the junior and senior girls of Wapello High School hit the grand march runway swathed in yards of calico and gingham in a salute to the times.

Compare and contrast with today’s formal fashions. Prom night in 2023 means glitter and shine. Jewel tone metallics shimmer under the lights. Even candy-colored pastels are vibrant as a tropical sunset. Sleek, form-hugging designs bare necks, shoulders, backs, legs and occasional midriffs.

The girls look wonderful, with their hair in up-do’s, careful makeup and wrist corsages. Back in my day, most corsages were the pin-to-the-dress type. Today’s styles seem too ephemeral to support even the smallest flowers. I wonder if today’s designers stitch in a pocket to accommodate cellphones?

In the 1980s, my classmates and I went to the local shopping mall to pick out our dresses. A few girls’ mothers took them all the way to Des Moines to shop at Younkers or a bridal shop. That seemed like a lot of fuss for a dress that would only be worn for a few hours.

Prom at my high school was not the all-encompassing event it is now. There was the grand march, followed by the dance, then we all went home. Well, I went home. I wasn’t dumb enough to think attending what passed for the “after prom party” back then was a good idea. The parent-organized, post dance mega event with games, food, entertainment and drawings for prizes donated by local businesses was still years in the future.

My dresses are gone now, donated to a local theater company for their costume racks. I’m glad they got to move on to a second chapter in their lives. And I’m glad the closet in my old bedroom is finally empty.

Comments: Melinda.Wichmann@southeastiowaunion.com