Remember when prom night meant months of planning, endless magazine flipping, and fashion choices that seemed absolutely perfect at the time? The ’70s and ’80s were the golden age of prom excess, when bigger was always better and subtlety was nowhere to be found. While nostalgia has brought back many trends from these decades, some prom traditions are best left in the past, preserved only in awkward family photos and yearbooks that remain firmly closed. Let’s take a cringe-worthy trip down memory lane to revisit the most outrageous prom trends that defined a generation – and that we’re collectively happy to leave behind.
1. Powder Blue Tuxedos with Ruffled Shirts
Nothing screamed “formal occasion” in the ’70s quite like a man draped in powder blue polyester. These pastel nightmares were often paired with ruffled shirts that cascaded down the chest like a waterfall of synthetic fabric. The look was completed with oversized bow ties and sometimes – for the truly fashion-forward – matching blue patent leather shoes. Gentleman’s Gazette further breaks down the history of this blue trend.
What made these ensembles particularly special was their remarkable ability to make even the most athletically-built teenager look like they were playing dress-up in their grandfather’s closet. The psychological damage of these photos surfacing decades later on social media cannot be overstated.
2. Enormous Corsages and Boutonnieres
Floral arrangements for prom in the ’70s and ’80s followed one simple rule: if you could still see your date’s outfit, the flowers weren’t big enough. Corsages weren’t just accessories – they were statement pieces that often covered half a girl’s forearm. These wrist-mounted gardens typically featured carnations (the more dyed, the better) surrounded by baby’s breath, ribbon streamers, and sometimes even small plastic figurines. 1800 Flowers explores just how diverse this simple trinket is throughout its history.
Boys weren’t spared either, with boutonnieres so substantial they threatened to topple them over. The flowers were often preserved after prom, turning brown in keepsake boxes as physical reminders of fashion decisions best forgotten.
3. The Gunne Sax Prairie Dress Phenomenon
In the late ’70s, many girls rejected disco glam in favor of the bizarrely popular “prairie girl” look. Jessica McClintock’s Gunne Sax dresses transported prom-goers from high school gymnasiums to what appeared to be a Little House on the Prairie-themed costume party. These frilly, high-necked confections featured lace collars, pintucked bodices, and enough floral calico fabric to upholster a small sofa. Vintage Fashion Guild gives this dress style a place of honor as particularly nostalgic, especially harkening to a particular demographic and era they grew up in.
The resulting look was less “night to remember” and more “butter churning competition.” The uncomfortable juxtaposition of teenagers slow dancing to Foreigner while dressed like Victorian dollhouse occupants somehow made perfect sense at the time.
4. Perms of Unprecedented Volume
The hair philosophy of ’80s prom was simple: defy gravity at all costs. Girls and boys alike embraced perms that created hairstyles so voluminous they required their own zip code. Achieving this look demanded hours of preparation, industrial quantities of hairspray, and a reckless disregard for the ozone layer. These architectural hairstyles often added 5-7 inches to a person’s height and required strategic maneuvering to fit through doorways.
Couples had to learn specialized dance techniques to avoid entanglement of their respective hair clouds. The morning-after deflation was a metaphor for the harsh reality waiting in adulthood.
5. Matching Couple Outfits
Nothing says “we’re in love” quite like dressing as color-coordinated twins. Couples in the ’80s took matching to theatrical extremes, with boys’ cummerbunds, bow ties, and sometimes entire tuxedos perfectly matched to their dates’ dresses. This trend reached its zenith when couples coordinated not just colors but patterns – leading to pairs dressed entirely in matching metallic lamé or, heaven help us, identical floral print.
The result looked less like a romantic evening and more like a bizarre cult initiation. These matching ensembles were particularly effective at emphasizing the temporary nature of high school relationships, as these photos would haunt both parties long after the inevitable breakup.
6. The Dynasty-Inspired Shoulder Pad Explosion
As the ’80s progressed, prom dresses began to feature shoulder pads so substantial they could qualify as protective sports equipment. Inspired by power-dressing icons like Joan Collins in Dynasty, teenage girls embraced gowns that created silhouettes resembling linebackers wrapped in sequins. These architectural shoulders were often paired with plunging necklines and peplum waists, creating a triangular body shape unknown in nature.
The resulting photos captured a generation of young women who appeared capable of bulldozing their way through brick walls while simultaneously attending a formal dance. Slow dancing presented logistical challenges, with couples forced to maintain a 12-inch distance due to shoulder infrastructure.
7. Tuxedos in Fluorescent Colors
If the powder blue tuxes of the ’70s weren’t attention-grabbing enough, the ’80s upped the ante with formal wear in colors that could be seen from space. Neon pink, electric lime green, and blinding yellow tuxedos turned prom into a visual assault. These suits were often accented with contrasting cummerbunds and bow ties in equally eye-searing shades.
The effect was less “elegant evening wear” and more “traffic safety gear.” Group photos from these proms resemble a pack of highlighters with corsages. The boys who wore these outfits developed a thousand-yard stare that remains with them to this day when someone mentions “prom night.”
8. The Grand Prom Entrance in Outlandish Vehicles
The ’80s took prom arrivals to competitive extremes, with couples renting increasingly bizarre transportation to make an entrance. While limousines were standard, creative teens pushed boundaries with arrivals via helicopter, fire truck, horse-drawn carriage, or even riding atop an elephant. The more illogical the connection between the vehicle and the couple, the better.
These grand entrances often cost more than the rest of prom combined and required more planning than most military operations. The actual arrival frequently involved mechanical failures, animal unpredictability, or weather issues, leading to couples entering their prom sweaty, disheveled, and significantly poorer.
9. Professional Prom Portraits with Laser Backgrounds
Nothing says “timeless elegance” quite like being photographed against a background of neon lasers shooting through a purple galaxy. Professional prom photographers in the ’80s offered backdrop options that ranged from “mildly tacky” to “active migraine trigger.” These portraits typically featured awkward poses where couples stood at 45-degree angles to each other, creating a diamond shape with their bodies that made physical contact nearly impossible.
The resulting images looked less like romantic mementos and more like audition photos for a low-budget science fiction series. These portraits now serve primarily as evidence in cases of fashion crimes against humanity.
10. The Excessive Metallic Lamé Obsession
The late ’70s and ’80s saw teenagers wrapped in so much metallic fabric they could have doubled as emergency space blankets. Gold, silver, and copper lamé dresses reflected dance floor lights with the intensity of signal mirrors. These metallic monstrosities often featured mermaid silhouettes, massive bows, or worst of all, full-body ruching that created a Michelin Man effect in shimmering material.
The synthetic fabric conducted heat efficiently, ensuring that dancers would be completely drenched in sweat within minutes of arrival. The metallic trend extended to accessories, with matching shoes, purses, and sometimes even metallic hair spray completing the look of a human disco ball.
11. The Notorious Prom Mullet
Business in the front, party in the back, regret for decades to come. The prom mullet represented the pinnacle of ’80s hair confusion, with boys sporting carefully maintained short sides and front while nurturing flowing locks cascading down their necks. These hairstyles were often enhanced with strategic highlighting, excessive gel, or in the most severe cases, perm treatments that created a curly mullet – the unicorn of bad hair decisions.
When paired with a ruffled tuxedo shirt, the mullet created a formal/casual contradiction that perfectly encapsulated teenage identity crisis. The most committed mullet-wearers accessorized with a single dangling earring, creating a look that screamed “I have opinions about Billy Idol.”
12. The Balloon Arch Obsession
Prom decorations in the ’80s were dominated by balloon arches of staggering proportions. These structures used hundreds, sometimes thousands of balloons in school colors to create tunnels, archways, and entire balloon environments that transformed gymnasiums into rubber wonderlands. The theme of these proms was often completely disconnected from the balloon color scheme, leading to confusing combinations like “Midnight in Paris” illustrated entirely in orange and brown balloons.
The evening inevitably included at least one balloon arch collapse, raining down latex on unsuspecting dancers. By the end of the night, static electricity from the balloons ensured that everyone’s carefully crafted hair stood perpetually on end, a fitting conclusion to an era of excess.
While we may occasionally revisit ’70s and ’80s fashion with selective nostalgia, these prom trends remind us that sometimes the past is best left there. The teenagers who survived these fashion choices have grown into adults who now hide these photos from their own children. Perhaps the most valuable lesson from these decades of prom excess is that confidence can make even the most questionable fashion choices seem momentarily reasonable – but photography ensures they’ll be questioned for generations to come.
