martedì 20 maggio 2008

Those Dancing Days Are Over

During the last two or three days I have read the word "prom" at least 150 times here and there on blogs and sites. I know, it's that time of the year...
Living in Italy I never had a Prom or any sort of school ball and by the way I bet I could have hated it when I was in the Art School! But now that I'm 27 I probably spend way too much time on Memory Lane and I often think of what I missed as a teen, having sometimes some guilty guilty secret dreams...it's a Sliding Doors world, there are memories and "missed opportunities".

Having studied cinema, the biggest part of my imagery is built around movies. A few times I'm the cinephile girl who like certain movies for their artistic qualities, but more than this I'm the everyday girl who - like probably everyone else - loves certain others simply because she grew up watching them or they're in some way near to her heart. I promise I'll tell you about them soon, but now I'm about to write on Prom, so I'll let the music starts!

In my sick mind the perfect school ball is not a "2008 Prom". My personal idea of perfection is a mix of (often kitschy kitschy) images from past decades, first of all 50s and 80s, but there is also something from 70s and 90s. I combine Grease, Molly "Pretty In Pink" Ringwald movies, Brian De Palma's Carrie, The Virgin Suicides and Beverly Hills 90210 (an obsession in this period, evidently).






Does this sounds awful and scary enough?!?

I like a lot the idea of themed parties and I thought I'd like a lot to have one with the theme "the Prom we never had" or "we always dreamt about" (even if I'm actually the only one who dream about a school ball!), where everyone could mix decades and personal stereotypical details.
As inspiration, I searched on Flickr for some Prom couples and obviously I found tons. Don't know exactly why but most of all I found photos from 1989 (I'm delighted, of course!). Old photos, past times...Aren't these crazily nice?









This last is so wonderfully Virgin Suicides...


Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

20 commenti:

Anonimo ha detto...

my faves are 1,5 and 9. :)

styledigger ha detto...

I love Grease! It's one of my favourites musicals, I've seen it at least 10 times! And Travolta was so cute...The soundtrack is great too.

Cate ha detto...

noi neanche abbiamo un prom, pero lo vorrei... abbiamo un ballo, pero non e una cosa grande come il prom...

e il mio prom perfetto e esattamente come il tuo, qualcosa retro, degli anni ottanta... i anni ottanta erano il tempo dei prom!

floresita ha detto...

I LOVE the prom photos you chose, and hearing a European point of view on prom. :) And I also love every prom movie you mentioned (ok, with the exception of 90210). Ha ha, such a fun post! :)

suzy. ha detto...

i love those old photos. prom is such an amazingly awkward time...as i remember it at least. a prom in your mid 20s might be better all around.

Giulia ha detto...

noi abbiamo un ballo della scuola, e per ora non ho la più pallida idea di cosa indossare/dove trovare il vestito. :D
comunque bel post, come sempre!

Rebecca, A Clothes Horse ha detto...

Ahh...prom, it was way too much drama. You didn't miss anything. I always think of the perfect school dances from really old movies like "Good News" with June Allyson.

Madison ha detto...

I didn't take my prom too seriously. I made my dress up the day of....yikes

Anonimo ha detto...

che meraviglia di blog, è un piacere leggerti! passami a trovare su myspace se ti va! baci

Times of Glory ha detto...

My dear, I missed my graduation ball. Your post make me feel the same! I want a party with theme to bring it back the time. How sweet is that! The photos you chosen are very touching - really seems bringing back to the olden days! I love it!

CULTURE CREATORS ha detto...

hahhahaaaaa love the photos!

CC

AlicePleasance ha detto...

@ styledigger: oh, yes, I have the songs in my Ipod!

@ cate: sì, erano gli anni perfetti per il Prom!

@ floresita: thank you! 90210 seems to be an obsession for me...!

@ suzy: absolutely, I never thought about Prom when I was in high school, but now it could be fun and ironic to have a party with this theme and all the stereotypes!

@ giulia: grazie! Peso che la sola idea di un ballo a scuola mi avrebbe terrorizzata anni fa! Invecchiando invece...

@ the clothes horse: love Good News!!

@ madison: wow, you did it yourself, it's great!

@ gemma: grazie!

@ times of glory: a ball, now that we're wise (!!!), could be so great...lot of fun!

la principessa emicrania ha detto...

che peccato sì non avere la tradizione del prom in italia. ma secondo me non sarebbe comunque esteticamente soddisfacente. diciamoci la verità, il prom dei nostri sogni non ce lo immaginiamo popolato da facce italiane e vestiti di dolce&gabbana...noooo?
e adesso mi hai anche fatto venire in mente "the breakfast club" e quella dannata canzone dei simple minds che mi fa piangere e essere felice allo stesso tempo, e non ho mai capito il perchè.
sì sono italiana, eh, scusa, mi avevi postato due commenti carinissimi ma io nel frattempo ero scomparsa. che commento fiume. pardon.

Elle ha detto...

all those pictures are GREAT! haha they made me laugh. I always imagine prom as being a kind of pretty in pink/virgin suicides mash up as well (i love both of those movies by the way)

AlicePleasance ha detto...

@ la principessa emicrania: ma infatti la mia più che un'idea è pura utopia in un certo senso...un vero Prom italiano suppongo sarebbe terrificante e in parte lo è forse anche l'originale odierno americano. Tuttavia l'idea di una "festa a tema", un po' retro e stereotipata, ironizzandoci su, mi diverte parecchio!
Già, quella canzone... :-)

@ elle: they're wonderful movies indeed :-)

Meg ha detto...

This was a brilliant idea - I always find old photographs really interesting and I think it's such a shame that the brownish tone of photos can't easily be achieved today. These are wonderful!

STYLE AND THE CITY . COM - PARIS ha detto...

hi stylish friend

i just discovered your blog : very fresh !

I just wanted to tell you that I met Sarah Jessica parker / Sex and the city Monday in Paris and did great shots that you’ll certainly like

I also got great shots during the sunny days in Paris

Have a look and enjoy !
and may be one day i 'll be in your fav blogs ! lol

Cheers

Kamel
Street style romancer in Paris

softspoken ha detto...

adore this post! great photos :)

Emilia Jane ha detto...

I'm having a Prom Night 1980 for my birthday this year! With full on taffeta and streamers! I love these photos - great inspiration!

AlicePleasance ha detto...

@ softspoken: thanks! glad you like them :-)

@ emilia: oh, that's great, exactly what I want!