The dress is just the start when it comes to prom season
THERE are signs that the high school pre-prom season has begun.
On a trip into Cardiff this week, I bumped into several stressed mothers in shop changing rooms attempting to “help” their teenage daughters choose a dress.
I first had this experience three years ago when my eldest daughter attended her first school prom.
I was pretty naïve about the whole experience and we didn’t head out to select a dress until after she had taken her final GCSE exams.
Foolishly, I assumed that exams were more important. How wrong I was! She was probably the last of her friends to choose a dress but thankfully we got lucky and she didn’t end up having to go in her jeans.
With my second daughter, I am being a little more organised and giving myself four months head start but I’m beginning to worry that this may not be a good thing.
If you are the last one to choose a dress you have the advantage of knowing what everyone else is wearing.
Pictures shared on social media ahead of the big night should ensure that no-one turns up wearing the same dress and allows everyone to find out exactly what their friends will be wearing. They won’t be the only one to have chosen long if everyone else is going for short (unless they want to of course) or visa versa.
If you decide what to wear very early on, you are the trailblazer and everyone else may not conform to your trend.
Four months allows plenty of time for several changes of heart and I’m not sure I have the patience for that.
To be honest, I just wanted to buy the dress and hang it in the wardrobe
Dr Sharon Parry is a mother of three and a former public health research fellow. She shares useful tips and her experiences of having three daughters in primary school, high school and university in Wales on her website www. aftertheplayground.com