FORMAL TIME: Prom night has faded in...
FORMAL TIME: Prom night has faded in and out of style over the years, but these days it is back in vogue, with the high season here in May. Even in these tight times for Orange County. . . . “Luckily, proms are one of the few things not affected by the bankruptcy,” says La Habra High School activities director Deborah Granger. That’s because student fund raising and ticket prices cover costs. Example: La Habra High’s prom is Saturday at the Disneyland Hotel--$90 per couple.
LIMO LINE: ‘Tis the season to be chauffeured, say owners of several local limousine services. No other time of the year is as busy as prom season. . . . VIP Coastal of Anaheim specializes in corporate chauffeuring, but the prom limo demand is so great that even VIP works the prom. Says General Manager John Kaye: “You can look out front at the Anaheim Hilton and see 40 limos parked for the prom any Saturday night in May. Smaller companies, if they can’t do well during prom season, they fold.”
PROM GIVING: It started five years ago, when a few Cal State Fullerton sorority sisters realized they had too many formal gowns collecting dust in their closets. So they donated them to Orangewood, the county’s home for abused and abandoned children. . . . It got Orangewood officials thinking: Why not a prom? So with a little more help--from the Boy Scouts and local merchants--Orangewood’s 65 high school students can dance the night away at its fifth annual prom, May 20 in the school’s gym. . . . “We still need a dance band,” says Rick Bazant, Orangewood’s activities director, “but we have everything else.”
RETREAD DUDS: Unlike decades past, it is perfectly OK these days to sport a borrowed or used outfit for the prom. At Gasoline Alley in Orange, fancy vintage clothing, from 1920s flapper era to the 1970s Disco Inferno period, is already being rented for this year’s teen galas. . . . An entire outfit, including shoes and jewelry, can go for under $50, says owner Donna Saucedo, who adds: “Kids are getting more creative. My son wants a leopard-skin tuxedo for his (prom) this year.”
