Cover Story : They’re Doing All That Just to Go to the : PROM : Efforts to keep costs low often clash with students’ craving for a ritzy event.

With rock music as a backdrop, students suited up in formal finery are strutting across gym floors and auditorium stages in many local high schools this spring. Striking runway model poses to the cheers of their classmates, they are dressed in tuxedos and gowns supplied by merchants, dolled up by area cosmetics consultants and makeup artists and have dos swept to gravity-defying heights by hairstylists.

Partly a prom pep rally and in some cases a fund-raiser for the school, the fashion shows also serve as a showcase for the finery that can be bought or rented for the big event of senior year, the prom.

It’s been decades since the days of a simple corsage, powder-blue suit and dancing across a gymnasium floor. Today, girls wear sophisticated gowns, students rent limousines and the proms--held from now until June--are at L.A.’s finest hotels. But prom night, the highlight of the high school social season, carries a hefty price tag.

“Proms are an important rite of passage,” said Cari Meadows, senior class adviser at Glendale High School. “But the expenses make them horrible. Mostly the parents pay for it, and they are spending $70--times two--for prom tickets plus the clothes and everything. So the cost winds up being several hundred dollars.”

Miguel Hidalgo, 18, a senior at Granada Hills High School, expects to spend around $600 to attend the prom May 21. His parents will split the cost if he puts in his share from his job at Chuck E. Cheese in Granada Hills, he said. “The closer prom gets, the more stressed out we get,” Miguel said of the pressure students place on themselves to spend this kind of money.

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“Kids have a tendency to spend too much money,” said Bob Vincent, Associated Students Board director at Canyon High School in Canyon Country, whose prom role, he said, is to help students cut costs.

Donna Wyatt, assistant principal at Chatsworth High School, said she is “constantly telling students they don’t have to do all this,” in reference to the pressures of going all out for the prom, “but they want to do it.”

Christopher Huntsman, a senior at Glendale High School, said he will spend $140 for tickets, about $25 for a corsage, and split the cost of a limousine and hotel rooms, where he and five other couples will have their own after-prom.

“If you can afford it, you should do it,” Christopher said. “It will be the last chance to see your friends and classmates.”

But Christopher is getting his tuxedo free through a Glendale tuxedo company’s novel promotion.

All he has to do is wear a different tuxedo to school a handful of times and the company will give him a free tuxedo rental for his prom.

“A lot of my friends were going to do it, but they all chickened out,” Christopher said. “I was like, dude, it’s free.”

But Nicole Labrow, 17, a senior at Granada Hills High School, said students don’t have to go all out for the prom. “It’s not a fashion show. Just wear a nice suit. You can just treat it as a nice evening out,” said Nicole, adding that she and her boyfriend are splitting the costs and have a “prom can” they have been saving money in.

Sherrie Bobertz, a parent of four in Woodland Hills who last year saw two sons through the prom and this year has a daughter attending one at Taft High School, said the expenses are usually big, but her kids pay for about half of them. “They need to realize the expense, and it does add up,” she said.

Putting on the Prom

Just the cost of putting on the prom is an enormous one that is planned for years ahead of time. Glendale High’s Meadows and other advisers said the cost can range from $30,000 to $40,000, with a high proportion of that going toward the prom dinner and facility rental. Students begin raising money for their proms when they enter high school. Ticket sales, which can run as high as $140 a couple, complete the payment for the actual prom.

The prom ticket cost for most schools includes dinner, entertainment, a souvenir such as a videotape of the event, and in some cases, a school-planned after-prom party held at a church or YMCA.

“Prom pays for itself--people don’t realize that,” Meadows said. “But this whole hotel business is just crazy. I think personally that the prom should come back to the school or the community for a site and lower the price to $25 or $30 a ticket.”

Hoover High School in Glendale broke away from its tradition of having the prom at a hotel and will have its senior prom May 28 at Glendale Civic Auditorium. John Moe, a teacher who helps plan the prom, said having the event there will lower the total cost by 50%. This year’s ticket price is $85 per couple, compared to last year’s $120.

Betty Zigler, a teacher and the senior sponsor at Granada Hills High School, said the school selected the Torrance Marriott for its prom because the cost was lower than other Los Angeles locations.

“We get everything, including a steak dinner, for $38 per person,” Zigler said. Other schools’ individual ticket prices average $50 to $70 a person. Besides getting a lower-cost location for the prom, Zigler said the school also hired a disc jockey for $600 instead of a band, which cost $1,500 last year.

Jon Spiro, Student Council adviser at El Camino Real High School, said his efforts to keep costs low are often countered by the students’ demands to have a ritzy event.

“The school would like to hold the prom in the gyms like we used to have them, but the kids are adamantly opposed to that,” Spiro said. “Kids argue for the higher-priced bids, and I argue for the lower, and we try to meet somewhere in the middle.” El Camino’s prom is Saturday night at the Biltmore Hotel.

Spiro said every year he tries to reduce prom costs so that kids won’t have to pay more than $100 a couple for a pair of tickets. While proms may pay for themselves, it is students--and parents--who may go in the hole.

Transportation

Renting limousines to take to the prom has almost become de rigueur. Limousine rental costs--often with five- to eight-hour minimum rentals and 15% to 20% in gratuities--range from $45 to $80 an hour, and are usually split among several couples.

“It’s splurging to get a limo, and some people have even rented helicopters--that’s ridiculous,” said Nicole Labrow of Granada Hills High, who hadn’t decided whether she would rent a limousine this year.

Jessica Hon, 18 of Granada Hills High, said she would not be renting a limo to go to her prom. “Last year my boyfriend and I took his car. It’s not that fancy a car, but it got us there,” said Jessica, who will take her boyfriend’s wheels again this year.

Miguel Hidalgo said the limo cost is the biggest financial pressure he faces. “All my friends want to rent a limo. The limo companies are all about the same--they have a six-hour minimum, and we don’t need one that long.”

Some schools have enforced a policy that eliminates the limo worry altogether. Two years ago, Hart High School in Newhall made taking a school-leased bus mandatory, which squelched limousine rentals while upgrading safety and cutting costs for the students, said Dale Basey, activities director at Hart. The bus also helps control attendance of students who may leave the prom after only a short time because of the high cost of limousine rentals--the earlier they leave, the less they pay.

This year, two other Santa Clarita Valley schools, Saugus and Canyon high schools, will use bus transportation to their proms this month at the Sheraton Universal.

“We prefer to call them ‘luxury motor coaches,’ ” said Bob Vincent, Associated Students Board director at Canyon High. “It’s just safer and easier all the way around.”

Renting a nice car is one twist on the limousine expense. Crystal Bailey, 17, a senior at Granada Hills High School, plans to rent an emerald-green Lexus to match her green dress. “It’s much cheaper because you are renting it for the day rather than by the hour,” Bailey said. (One car rental company put the cost at about $100 for the day.)

There’s also another alternative, Vincent suggested: “Borrow the car from Dad.”

Clothes

Adam Krisan, 17, a senior at Granada Hills High School, is trying to keep his prom expenses to a minimum, so he may wind up borrowing his dad’s tuxedo--if it fits--rather than renting one, which can cost from $30 to $120.

But boys attending the prom also have the option of wearing a suit and tie that they may already own. Those who wear suits tend to be dates, not members of the senior class, students said.

Girls don’t quite have it that easy. Not only must they find the right dress at the right price, but also pray they have a dress no other female classmate is wearing. For fashion advice, they can turn to such magazines as Sassy, Seventeen and YM (Young & Modern), which herald the prom on their covers, some publishing separate issues with a prom focus. Other publications, such as Your Prom, published once a year by Modern Bride, are devoted entirely to the topic.

To reduce dress expenses, Frank Mendez, co-owner of Here Comes the Bride in Thousand Oaks, suggests shopping the sale rack at bridal and formal wear stores. “These dresses are discontinued from last season. Some are 50% off. They can get a beautiful gown for anywhere from $30 to $150,” Mendez said.

Less expensive options include renting or making one’s prom dress.

One Nite Affair in Westwood offers 900 different styles of designer gowns--from Gianni Versace to Bob Mackie--for anywhere from $40 to $150, said Sharon Gilchrist, the shop’s owner.

Sharon Schein, 18, will attend her Chatsworth High School prom June 4 at the L.A. Hilton near the airport in a rented dress from One Nite Affair that she said resembles the gown Sharon Stone wore to this year’s Academy Awards.

“It’s a Bill Blass dress, floor-length with black sequins and a halter top,” said Sharon, who said the cost of $180 for the dress and gloves was less than she expected to pay to buy a gown.

“I’m not getting to keep the dress, but I would probably only wear a dress I bought once anyway,” she said. “Why not spend a little less and make a great impression?”

Tracy Bobertz, 17, senior class president at Taft High School in Woodland Hills, found two positive aspects to having her mother make her prom dress: cost and originality.

“A lot of girls here are having their dresses made,” Tracy said. “There’s just not a great selection in stores. By having the dress made, I’m keeping the cost under $200.” Tracy’s dress will be a black velvet gown with a halter top with purple and teal sequins--the school’s colors.

Yanira Carrillo, 17, also a senior at Taft, is trying to custom design her dress in a colonial/medieval style for her May 21 prom, also at the airport Hilton.

“I don’t want to waste a lot of money; I’m paying for it myself,” said Yaniro, who works at 2 for 1 Pizza in Los Angeles. In addition to cutting costs on her dress, Yaniro plans to have a friend who is a makeup artist do her makeup for the event.

Hair and makeup costs can add up. Marie Brown, a senior at Taft, said she will spend $60 on a haircut and style, $25 on a manicure and $25 on makeup. Sid’s Hair Salon in Newhall offers a popular prom “day of beauty” that takes five hours and includes a facial, massage, manicure, pedicure, hair styling and makeup for $141.

Jessica Hon of Granada Hills High is saving money by having a private party make her prom dress. “It’s cheaper than bridal shops. The total cost is under $100, and my parents are paying for the dress as a birthday present.”

A Dash of Flash

Black is still big in tuxedos for boys, but more flashy accents in vests, suspenders, cummerbunds and ties spice up the look, said Marilyn Spiegel, vice president of marketing and sales for Gary’s Tux Shops in Granada Hills.

“Vests are really big. One in particular has a pattern in colors that’s sort of an optical illusion,” Spiegel said. “Another L.A. trend is having the bow tie, cummerbund and pocket square match the girl’s dress.”

Jackets take on a variety of shapes and styles, Spiegel said. Everything from a black, double-breasted gangster-look jacket to a Humphrey Bogart off-white dinner jacket to fanciful shawl collars on jackets to jackets with tails for the adventurous types offer a number of options, she said.

Kelli Rico of Tuxedo Gent in Woodland Hills said the double-breasted jacket and baggier pants are two trends for guys this year. She agreed that printed vests add a new and more versatile aspect to tuxedo dressing.

“It gives the guys more of a chance to get more dressed up,” Rico said. “Instead of just a red tie and cummerbund, they can have a red polka-dotted vest. The vests give more pizazz.”