Prom is still a fun and glamorous rite of passage in 2024

Now that prom season is in full swing, some clear trends in fashion, music and overall prom experiences are emerging. Here’s the scoop on how kids today are having fun at the big dance.

The fashion

Finding the perfect gown is an essential part of the prom process for young women everywhere, and there are definite trends in formalwear this year.

Dress shops are seeing some popular — and some not-so-­popular — silhouettes this season. Kaitlyn Nesbit, prom manager at MB Bride in Greensburg, said, “We’re definitely seeing a lot more girly type dresses. … I think the girls are getting away from the sexier look and more towards the glamorous, princess-type vibe.”

Brenda Beckett, owner of Formal Dresses for Less in Kitanning, agreed. “There’s been quite a few ballgowns this year,” she said. “What hasn’t been as big is the mermaid style.”

Nesbit is seeing a lot of slits on the skirts of gowns, too. “It’s almost like a need for teenagers, they almost won’t buy a dress if it doesn’t have a slit.” This style allows for more freedom of movement and makes formalwear easier to walk in.

Both Nesbit and Beckett agreed that black and red are evergreen colors for prom dresses — but pastels are trendy.

Corset backs and tops are sought after for gowns like the one Shelby Seybert, a senior who attended Valley High School’s prom, searched for.

“I didn’t really have a certain dress in mind, but I definitely wanted a corset top,” she said.

“The backs on these that lace up, it’s a big thing. It seems like that’s what we did all prom season was lace up,” Beckett said.

Sequins and feathers are a big deal, according to Nesbit. Emerson Murdock, a senior at Hempfiend Area Senior High School, selected a fuchsia gown with lots of sparkle and fun details.

“I tried my dress on and it was laced, really intricate design and feathers, and I was like, ‘I love this dress.’ ”

She was even more excited when she found out how well she would match with her prom’s “Great Gatsby” theme.

Some styles are decidedly out. “We’re completely away from two-piece dresses,” Nesbit said. “No one’s buying them anymore.”

“For prom, 100% of what I’ve sold here are long dresses,” Beckett said when asked if short dresses still get sold for prom.

Comfort is fashionable these days, for both clothing and shoes.

Beckett said she has sold some dresses made of jersey fabric. “They seem to like that because it’s more of a comfy material; it’s like yoga pants almost.”

Footwear is a complicated question — many young women aren’t as concerned about their shoes because of all the dancing.

“All the girls tend to take off their shoes and wear socks for dancing anyway because they hurt so bad,” said Mackenzie Halfhill, a senior at Greensburg Salem High School.

Meredith Zendarski, a junior at St. Joseph High School in Natrona Heights, said, “I knew it was going to be at a golf course, so I knew I would want something where I wasn’t going to sink into the ground if we were outside.”

In addition to block heels and wedges, lace-up open-toed shoes are popular.

“My shoes had little bows going up the top of them,” Murdock said. “So I had one bow on my toes, one bow at the middle of my foot, and one bow at the top of my foot.”

Colorwise, silver shoes go with almost anything.

On the other end of the spectrum, Nesbit said that it’s still popular for girls to wear athletic shoes like Converse with their gowns, oftentimes to match their dates. Murdock is on trend here, too — she and her date got matching Nike Dunks.

As for the boys? “I’ve seen a lot of pictures and TikToks with boys in Batman suits, printed Hawaiian suits, which is different. … The senior boys get to stand out instead of just wearing a tuxedo,” Nesbit said.

Even if they’re not choosing out-there outfits, more boys are wearing bright colors and sparkly shoes to match the girls’ dresses. Murdock’s date wore an all-black suit with a hot pink bowtie to go with her gown.

In the end, many girls are surprised by what they end up loving in a dress.

Shelby Seybert chose a gown in green, but that’s not what she was expecting. “I wanted hot pink, that was the main color I was looking for, and I went the opposite.”

The music

Most schools will get DJs to provide the entertainment, though every once in a while, a live band will sneak into the mix. For example, Greensburg Salem High School got cover band BB Steal ’80s LIVE to play at its 1980s-themed prom, rocking a two-hour set before a DJ took over for another hour.

For dances helmed by DJs, modern hip-hop fills the dance floor for most schools.

“There’s a whole genre of new rap music that’s in the 70-beats-per-minute range,” said Derek Galiffa, owner of Galiffa Productions.

“Trap rap” artists — Travis Scott, Roddy Ricch, Migos and more — find their way onto many playlists. Rapper Pitbull’s hits also get the party started.

“We’ve been seeing more of the 2008 to 2014 stuff,” said Owen Wolfe, general manager of Steel City DJ.

Emma Blackburn, a junior at St. Joseph High School in Natrona Heights, was pleased with the predominance of that era at her prom. “They played a lot of hits from the 2000s, and that was really good music,” she said.

Going back even further, lots of DJs are finding that music from the ’90s can still please a younger crowd. When reviewing one of his recent playlists, Galiffa found plenty.

“There’s some Britney Spears on this list, OutKast, stuff like that,” he said.

DJ Joshua S. Walker likes to do a portion of his set comprised of throwback songs — he’ll harken back to former Pittsburgh top hits radio station B94.

Most teenagers now don’t remember B94. “I’ll say, ‘Well, B94 was a radio station that played just about anything, and you could hear songs like this.’ And I’ll drop Backstreet Boys’ ‘Everybody,’ and the kids go crazy … then I play Spice Girls, then I play NSYNC, then I play TLC, then I play ‘Mambo No. 5.’ I do it as a bit almost, like a comedy thing, and the kids go crazy for it.”

Lauryn Swierczynski, a junior at Greensburg Salem High School, loved the ’80s cover band at their prom.

“I grew up listening to ’80s music with my parents. I was pretty much front row with all my friends.”

The band played “Livin’ on a Prayer” by Bon Jovi, “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” by Simple Minds and other classics.

“They’re still doing the Cupid Shuffle, the Cha-Cha Slide, the Wobble, all the line dances are still popular,” Galiffa said.

“They did most of the ‘YMCA’ and ‘Cotton Eye Joe’ type dances,” said Evelyn Esek, a Baldwin High School senior who attended junior prom in April and will attend senior prom later this month.

Despite the uptick in country hits over the past few years, the genre isn’t dominating at dances.

“There are some schools where country music is totally accepted, it just depends,” Walker said. “If you can do it in a unique way, you can get away with it.”

Galiffa agrees. “For us, it’s about the mashups — we mash up country songs with hip-hop beats. So we’ll play … Morgan Wallen mixed with ‘It’s Goin’ Down’ by Yung Joc. It takes on a whole new shape.”

Slow songs are used sparingly. “We’ll play one or two within an hour, average dance time for a prom is two to two and a half hours, so we might get in two to four slow dances,” Wolfe said.

Throwbacks are popular for those, too — he plays Boyz II Men and Lonestar a lot.

“You have to play what your dance floor is listening to,” Walker said.

But are kids even dancing at prom nowadays? The answer is a resounding yes.

“I don’t recall sitting down at all, except for the meal,” Meredith Zendarski said.

“I love to dance. It’s just super fun to be out there with everybody and dancing, it doesn’t matter if you’re friends with them or not. You’re just all kind of dancing together and singing along,” Evelyn Esek said.

Some songs are controversial, though. One Miley Cyrus hit in particular has opinions split.

“I hope they play ‘Party in the USA,’ stuff people can sing along with,” said Noa Solomon, a senior from Allderdice High School in Squirrel Hill.

“I’m not really trying to listen to ‘Party in the USA’ for three hours,” said Eli Firman, from the same school.

According to students and DJs alike, one song is ubiquitous at every prom: “Dancing Queen” by ABBA.

The experience

Common choices for prom venues are still school auditoriums and event centers. Some are hosted in hotel ballrooms, and some at country clubs, including Valley Brook Country Club in McMurray, which hosted Baldwin High School’s junior prom.

That school’s senior prom, however, is getting a new and unique venue this year — the Carnegie Museum.

“It’s usually at the Omni William Penn,” said Evelyn Esek. This year, they took a survey of seniors to gauge interest in the change of scenery. “I guess enough people said ‘yeah, sure!’ ”

And yes, proms do still have themes, though their importance to the event varies. Aesthetic-oriented themes — for example, “fairy tales,” “old Hollywood” and “a night at the masquerade” — are common.

“The Great Gatsby” is a popular theme with many cool decorative possibilities. That was Hempfield Area High School’s theme, and Emerson Murdock discussed the prom committee’s efforts to make their Grand March perfectly on theme.

“We were on the task of making it look like the outside of the Great Gatsby’s mansion when you’d walk out. So we made our own little fountain with flowers around it, we had candelabras with little pedestals under them that had fabric and tulle and lights, we had plants with feathers in them … we just went all out and went really extravagant with it.”

Many kids are skipping the extra expense and hassle of renting a limo and electing to drive themselves instead.

“I went with my boyfriend, we’ve been together for like two years, so we just went in his Jeep. … I don’t need anything fancy, and that just works for us,” said Mackenzie Halfhill.

As for dates, they never go out of style. But plenty of kids are foregoing traditional dates to attend with a friend or a group.

“I feel like there’s no obligation there. If you don’t go with someone, you don’t have to be with them and make sure they’re okay all night. You can just be yourself and hang out with whoever you want to hang out with,” Evelyn Esek said.

Eyoha Teshome, a senior at Allderdice High School, feels similarly. “I feel like a lot of people nowadays go with a friend so it’s more relaxed.”

When asked about her favorite part of prom, Meredith Zendarski said, “I think just the process of getting ready for it, talking to my friends like, ‘Oh my gosh, what dress did you get? What’re you doing with your hair?’ All those memories, just sharing it with everyone.”

The business of prepping and primping can be a whole-day affair.

“There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to that day … you start getting ready at about 11 or 12,” Lauryn Swierczynski said.

“I just love dressing up. I think it’s fun to put on a long dress and heels and makeup and get pictures with your friends,” Evelyn Esek said.

“I don’t think anyone wants to go to prom to go to prom — they just want to get ready and eat food,” said Eyoha Teshome.

Speaking of food, it’s more important than most may think.

“The steak dinner,” said Eli Firman, when asked what he’s looking forward to most at Allderdice High School’s prom later this month. “Making memories is always a good thing, and the steak dinner doesn’t hurt.”

Mackenzie Halfhill was excited to hang out with everyone, not just her close friends. “I feel like people who I don’t even necessarily talk to at school, because it’s such a fun environment, everyone just has a blast all together,” she said.

Emerson Murdock’s most memorable moments? “Probably Grand March. I get to look back on all these really pretty pictures that were taken and to think, ‘I helped do that, I was part of setting it up and making it beautiful for everyone else, too.’ ”