Redefining American Rites of Passage

Back in the early 1900s, a prom was really only an uncomplicated tea dance where high school seniors were decked out in their Sunday best.

Flash forward into the 1920s and 1930s and prom had gathered momentum to be known as a lavish class banquet complete with evening attire and dancing.

As the average American became more affluent, in the 1950s, proms ramped up the glitz to become increasingly extravagant and elaborate.

Today, the high school gym is still considered an acceptable setting for sophomore dances,though junior and senior proms have typically relocated to grand hotel ballrooms and posh country clubs. Teens (and their paying parents), we might agree, surely lost the plot on how important it was to have the best dress, the flashiest transportation, not to mention the hair, the nails, the accessories, the tux rental.

We've all heard that prom traditions are starting to relax. At least here in Northern California, where the fashion scene is casual for all but the most formal of events. Though as the mother of a graduating high school senior guy, I'm looking at a pair of black jeans in yesterday's sun-dappled photo, and a convenient ensemble of outfitting garnished from his ample closet. I'd undoubtedly have a very different take on the Prom bill if I were the parent of any one of his accompanying belles of the ball!  

But the fact that they left for the city in a parent-loaned Prius was a sign of the times. Rites of passage are as important today as they ever were, but the American perspective on individual style and expression in the way we celebrate is a big indication of the shifting values in shelving the excessive of former generations.

Comments

[Lesley]

Wish the same could be said for my decadent graduating senior.The prom is the highlight of his academic career, or lack of... From the party limo bus to the Calvin Klein tux to the hotel room in the city, catch my drift!

[lindsey]

Oh how different from my own experience....our school arranged a 6th form prom in a local hotel after much protesting from the students about the lack of a 'send-off'. Unfortunately a sink was broken and the daughter of the chairman of governors was sent to hospital to get her stomach pumped. I imagine it was a much more civilised affair in Petaluma!