To say that my prom look was an epic failure is to say nothing. Somehow, I managed to pick the wrong dress, wear uncomfortable shoes, and totally forget about my manicure… In other words, my prom was a complete disaster. I’m writing this post in collaboration with Prom Girl to help you prevent any potential prom fails that you or your beloved ones might make.
Fail 1: Picking a Dress That Is Too Tight
My Story: For my prom, I picked a long beige gown decorated with blue beads (see my #TBT photo at the end of the post!). It had an in-built corset that I was thinking would help emphasize my waistline.
As it turned out, the dress became very uncomfortable after a heavy Russian-style dinner. I got tired and irritated and didn’t even think about how my waistline looked: I wanted to get rid of my dress and breathe normally again!
Lesson Learned: Every dress, even the most expensive designer dress, needs a bit of tailoring. Make sure to try on your gown a week before prom to verify that everything fits perfectly!
Fail 2: Dramatically Changing Your Hairstyle
My Story: On the day of my prom, I got an appointment at Minsk’s top hair salon for a haircut and color.
I spent more than five hours at the salon, and my mom cried when she saw the result.
From a classy brunette, I turned into a lady with a bright orange asymmetric pixie cut. I wasn’t thinking about it at the time, but my new hair no longer matched my dress. Not to mention that none of my friends recognized me at the prom.
Lesson Learned: Plan your hairstyle ahead of time, but never, ever change your hair color the day before or on the day of your prom. There are so many things that could go wrong with the new hair color, and you don’t want to ruin prom photos that you’ll be looking at for many years to come.
Fail 3: Wearing Brand-New Shoes
My Story: I can’t find any photos of the expensive shoes that I wore for my prom, but trust me — they were gorgeous!
Black satin pumps decorated with blue beads, they were the prom shoes of my dreams that I picked and objectified for months before prom night.
It slipped my attention though to wear my new shoes at home so I could avoid blisters on prom night.
As you might have guessed, my biggest shoe obsession turned into my biggest shoe problem and I ruined my feet dancing in new shoes my feet hadn’t yet adjusted to.
Lesson Learned: Don’t assume that the price of your shoes equals comfort. Wear your shoes at home at least a few times prior to prom night. None of the spoiler alerts will happen if you just walk around in your prom shoes at home. Refuse to post photos of your feet on Instagram though!
Fail 4: Spanxing Your Curves Out
My Story: I had an in-built corset in my dress that I was thinking of combining with compression underwear for a further effect.
Luckily, I forgot my torture device at home before going to the hair salon (see Mistake #1), so my dress was only partially uncomfortable.
Lesson Learned: You’ve heard it a million times: All celebrities wear shaping underwear for the Oscars. That’s right, but they also don’t eat or drink the day before, so they don’t need to use the bathroom during the ceremony.
Prom is a different type of event! Even though you feel that some lines on your body could use correction undies, it’s better to stay away from anything that makes you feel uncomfortable. Especially if you’re planning on wearing your Spanx for the first time.
Fail 5: Trying New Makeup
My Story: Since my hair color dramatically changed on the day of my prom, I didn’t have time to experiment with my makeup.
I missed my makeup appointment because the hair coloring took longer than expected. So I had no other choice than to experiment with my eyeshadow palette myself.
Lesson Learned: If you have the funds, let a professional makeup artist do your prom makeup. First of all, having someone who will take care of your look makes the prom day even more special. Second, the pros know which makeup will look better in pictures.
Fail 6: Having The Freshest Manicure
My Story: I spent so much time doing my hair, that I missed my nails appointment too!
I don’t know why I scheduled all beauty procedures for the same day. But if I could replay that week, I would do my nails a day or two before prom. Especially if you’re getting gel or acrylic nails.
Lesson Learned: A pretty manicure is what you will see on each and every photo from your prom. Here is your hand with a wrist corsage, here is a closeup of your elegant jewelry, a portrait from the dance floor… Make sure that your nails look well kept and elegant, but not too edgy, as it might not work with the gown.
Fail 7: Outglowing Everyone
My Story: Luckily, I figured out pretty early in life that self-tanners do not work for me so I didn’t try to impress everyone with my amazing tan on prom night.
However, there were a few girls at my prom with leopard-print legs due to the self-tanner failure.
Lesson Learned: I am older now and my prom took place before the era of spray-tanning, but I still want to warn all the beauty DIYers. Before your prom night, wear only those tanning products that you’ve tried at least a few times before. Otherwise, try a trusted spray-tan salon. Again, the one you’ve had experience with before.
Fail 8: Accessorizing To The Max
My Story: I can’t recall who came out with the idea of matching my necklace to the pattern on my dress, but the whole combo looked way too matchy-matchy.
As you can see in the photos, with my new hairstyle and a statement necklace, I looked too eccentric for a girl graduating from a high school.
Lesson Learned: An evening gown is already a statement in itself, so there’s no need to accompany it with attention-getting accessories. Otherwise, you’ll look like you’re trying too hard. Let your dress be a major focal point of your prom attire and use the ‘less is more’ rule while picking accessories.
There are so many things that can go wrong on prom night and it’s important to stay on top of any potential prom failures. Let me put it this way. If you have a perfect dress that you picked and (if needed) tailored ahead of time, you’re pretty much all set. Try not to make any dramatic changes in your appearance a day before prom night and you’ll be fine!
How did your prom go? Please share your stories and photos in the comment area below.
Enjoyed the Prom story and what you learned from it.
Thank you for reading, Laura! Me too! There was no YouTube at the time of my graduation so I guess it’s easier for girls today to DIY their prom makeup. However, it was not an option for me.
OMG!!! I am so sorry about all of it!! Indeed, both of us had some horrible things happening at prom and I am not wishing to anyone to experience… However, I am trying to think positively about what happened. At the end of the day, a prom is just another story to share and the life goes on!
Looking at both of our blogs today, I have to say that we definitely learned something since the prom time. Fashion sense could learned, and I am certain that we are doing better fashion choices today partly because we somewhat failed at prom night!
You look beautiful in all of your pictures and I actually like your orange hair from your prom night! Mine was similarly disastrous. I wore a terrible high neck black dress (my fashion sense was horrendous) and for my hair I had to drive to another town because all hairdressers in my town were fully booked. So I drove to the hairdresser for 2h, then got a horrible hairdo which didn’t last the journey back, I got a parking ticket and when I arrived back home and ready to go to the prom, the photography bit had already started. All girls needed 100 of pictures with their BF, then with parents. It took ages. By the time it was my turn, the celebrations were about to start, so from that prom night, I’ve only got two professional pictures. The rest of the night….oh well let’s not talk about it! I wish I had had better fashion sense or gone to the UK to buy one because the prom dresses are stunning and not as boring as they are in Germany.
Caz | Style Lingua
These are all fabulous tips! I wish I had someone do my makeup for me for prom!