How British children have embraced the high school prom

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/jun/03/high-school-proms-in-britain

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Piles of taffeta, ruffles, tiaras, heels and gallons of fake tan are accumulating in teenage bedrooms around the country, and heads are full of notions of stretch limousines and corsages. The UK's school prom season is gearing up for its biggest year yet.

A trend that arrived from the US on the back of incredibly successful high- school TV shows such as Glee and Hannah Montana, and teen movies such as High School Musical, it has swiftly become the norm for schools here. Where once an end-of-school formal dance or ball might have been held, or even a disco in the school hall, now it has become a major event to celebrate either the end of exam season or even, as the trend gets younger, the end of primary school education.

For recession-hit families the cost of the event is less welcome, but for many businesses the trend is helping keep them afloat. Last year the Holiday Inn saw a 5,000% increase in the number of proms being booked in its hotels and parents were shelling out an average of £244 per teenager.

While this year has a proliferation of prom dresses on sites like Ebay at bargain prices, the prom season is still proving a goldmine for British businesses.

"For the first time this year we've sold more men's suits for proms than we do at Christmas," said Dave Shaw, the marketing manager of men's wear chain Moss Bros.

"The prom business is certainly phenomenal now. And because a lot of boys will need a suit anyway as they leave school and start going for interviews or whatever, the sales are doing better than our hire market. There is already a move, however, away this year from the more traditional style of formal suit towards the more modern, straighter shape and coloured suits."

There are even "prom management" companies. Prom World set up in the Midlands last year, and the Prom Show is becoming a regular event on the Wedding Fair circuit, where exhibitors from dressmakers to photographers show off their wares.

But if all the boys need is a sharp suit and a fresh jar of hair gel, the girls need hair, makeup, nails, jewellery and of course, the dress. "It's all about the dream dress," said Linda Ellison of Prom Frock UK, based in Wigan and currently rushed off her feet by the prom season.

"Prom dresses are flying out of our shop," she said. "We saw the trend coming by chance, as my eldest daughter asked me to get her one and we ordered a few from our suppliers. That was only a few years ago and now we're selling 400 through our shop and 6,500 a year through our stockists.

"It's different from the American prom in that they tend to be aged around 18 or 19 for their prom, whereas our girls will be a bit younger, so dresses are less revealing. We have our own twist – not too risque – but still on trend. It's a very vibrant part of the economy up here."

"I think this year the market has hit the top – there are signs it's stabilising," she said. "Every school is doing it, so it is nearing saturation point."

Companies such as Glasgow-based Katy Moon, making bespoke brides' tiaras, who were in the wedding business, have found a new market coming to them as young girls want that same special day experience.

"The tiara has arrived this year for sure. And thank God for it," said hairdresser Sandra McKenzie, who works for a company in the Midlands which offers "Prom Day Deals" for groups of girls. "It's been a slow year and we certainly needed the boost: we've done loads of extensions already ahead of the proms, and have quite a few mobile bookings for styling a group together. It's like weddings except much more fun.

"Curling is big. Big hair is big! Ringlets and the romantic look – I've noticed a lot are really going for the My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding look in their dresses."

But it has exploded so fast that schools are not yet doing what US high schools have long learned to do: co-ordinate. "They will all have them on the same date – they don't think, so we could have rented out 50 cars for June and July if we'd had them," said limousine company boss Daniel Roberts.

"There's a lot being disappointed and all the kids can't get the cars they want. They all go for the same perhaps eight or 10 dates through June and July around us and then they can't get the bookings because we're booked solid. None of the schools think to liaise," said Roberts, of Star Limousines, which rents out the stretch vehicles around Brighton, London and the south east.

He imports and sells the stretch vehicles from the US and said that, while many people would like to get into the business, banks were not supporting them. "People can't get the finance to set up, and with the fuel costs it's not easy to get started.

"It's a booming business. We're taking bookings for 2013 prom season. But the big increase for us is in primary schools having cars for their end of terms."