OLIVIA BISHOP, 17

THE pupil at Mearns Castle High School in Newton Mearns, Renfrewshire, celebrated her prom last Tuesday at Glasgow’s Hilton hotel.

The school’s sixth-year committee ensured none of the girls bought the same dress by setting up an online group chat, so each student could post the outfit they were wearing in advance.

Olivia said: ‘The committee chose a hotel because it had a better feel to it.

‘We had a dance floor, flower wall and photo booth with balloons and a DJ.

‘Everyone was happy to pay the £50 a head and around 50 of my friends and I met at a house before getting an air-conditioned bus that played party music. ‘The dresses were all long and different colours and we started getting them from August. We had a Facebook chat and had to post pictures of our dresses on it so none of us had the same dresses. There were a lot of red dresses and darker colours, baby pinks and a lot of sparkle. Some people spent up to £800 on a dress but others got £70 dresses from the high street, which looked equally as good.

‘Everyone wanted to have their own individual styles.

‘I didn’t want a puffy or sparkly dress. I wanted something more simple and got matching nails with love hearts on them.’

Olivia chose a £225 dress and, including shoes, makeup and other costs, she spent £387. Her jewellery came from her mother Philippa’s shop, Phil’s Boutique.

She said: ‘We were all really excited and had been forward planning for months and Mum and Dad thought I looked really grown-up.’

Philippa, 53, said: ‘Kids have become more aware about what A-listers are wearing. Some go very glam and OTT, while some are more understated.’