Reader Request: Prom Dresses!

So, my junior prom was twenty years ago. I know. Writing that down totally trips me out. It feels like simultaneously kinda recent and kinda ancient. But when Abigail wrote in asking about prom dresses, I thought it would be fun to take a little trip down memory lane.

Here I am, my senior prom (left) with my high school sweetheart, and (right) with some of my high school besties at my junior prom.

I’ve always loved getting dressed up and I remember both my junior and senior proms as really big deals.  I got my junior prom dress at Nordstrom Rack after trying on about 50 dresses. I remember very clearly how amazing I felt when I zipped it up in back.  I found my senior prom dress at an antique store in San Francisco. I remember feeling astonished and thrilled when, unlike most dresses from that era, it fit me like a glove. It was velvet with a train.  I was going through an Audrey Hepburn phase and was trying hard to channel her vibe. It’s not obvious in this photo but my hair was only about an inch long!

Ok ok fine enough with the high school flash backs. Let’s fast forward twenty years to Abigail’s ask:

Justina! I am such a huge fan of your blog – you inspire me a ton and I’m so glad I’ve stumbled across you over the past couple months. I’m in high school, and I was wondering if you could do a piece like this on fancy dresses (prom is approaching much faster than I thought). I know that you cater to an older audience and are focused on interior design, but I thought your eye for patterns and shapes would make for an interesting and inspiring post.

So Abigail (and anyone else who may be in the market for a fancy dress) I’ve put together some styles I think are cute and mostly all pretty affordable. It was actually harder than I thought it would be to find great occasion dresses that weren’t hyper boring or astronomically expensive–so it was a fun challenge…Have an amazing time at prom, Abigail and don’t forget to print out some real photos so you can look back on them twenty years later!

1.) At $280 this one is a bit pricier, but I’m thinking by the time prom rolls around, there might be a sale?

2.) This sexy little number kinda reminds my of the dress that I wore to my own Jr. Prom (only way better). I think it’s classic and love the deep red color.

3.) Love the deco vibe of this dress, and the flattering neckline.

4.) This is the kind of dress you could dress up for prom, but also dress down and rock with a pair of Birks all summer long…

5.) Loving the icy blue color one this vintage one–and a perk to wearing vintage is that you can be pretty sure you won’t have any clones at prom.

6.) This Afgahni dress is certainly unusual for prom, but I think it could really be bold and amazing.

7.) This one is kind of 70’s fabulous.

8.) Loving this almost 20’s style red number.

9.) I think this one could look amazing with a messy up-do and a lot of bling.