The fresh side of formals
James Pinick | April 24, 2006 03:22 AM | Link
On May 25, Rosie Hull will apply her makeup; get into her formal dress and go to get her hair done. Dinner in the basement of Paisanos Italian Restaurant will add to the elegance of the evening, and a bus ride will take her to her final destination, formal. The only unique part of this night for Hull is that she is in only the ninth grade.
Dresses. Corsages. Limousines. Sounds like a high-school prom, right? Wrong. James Pinick explains what students as young as 14 are doing to prepare for their junior-high dances.
All four Lawrence middle schools have had ninth grade formals for at least the last ten years. In the last five years the formals have changed.
"Ninth-grade formals used to your Sunday’s best," said Aneita Baker, owner of Aneita's Alterations in Lawrence. "Now it is like they are trying to compete with the high-school kids."
Students continue to put an emphasis on the formal aspect of these dances, but the principals are reluctant to use the word formal.
Baker, who also rents tuxedos as well, says that other students put pressure on girls to buy the perfect dress. According to her, girls spend around $200 or more on a dress, while guys spend $100 or more on tuxes. She admits that dresses are not the entire equation either. Baker said that students are renting limousines and going out to eat in Kansas City, as well.
Picture by James Pinick
Tuxedos rent for around $100 dollars at Aneita's Alterations. Aneita has had requests for camo-tuxedos in the past.
Joe Flannery, owner of Weavers Department Store, is surprised at what junior high students are doing.
“I think the amount of money spent is amazing.” Flannery said. “It started in the high schools and it has been somewhat of a surprise to see it filter down into the junior highs.”
Flannery did not give specific numbers on his sales, but he said that Weavers is enjoying a “nice increase from 2005.” He confirmed that the age of girls buying dresses has become younger as well. Flannery has seen girls as young as 14 buying dresses, but dresses don’t tell the whole story.
Picture by James Pinick
The Hummer Limousine rents for $195 an hour from Affordable Limousines in Lawrence. Larry Ojeleye, owner of Affordable Limousines, said he has had sixth-grade students rent limousines before.
Limousines fit into this expensive puzzle as well.
“We have had sixth-graders rent limos before for their graduation,” said Larry Ojeleye, owner of Affordable Limousines in Lawrence. “It is getting kind of crazy.”
Ojeleye is the owner of Affordable Limousines in Lawrence. He said that younger students are renting limos just to show off and improve their status. He said his most popular limousine, the Hummer, runs $195 an hour and is popular with the younger kids. Ojeleye said last years sales from March through May were $75,000 with $45,000 of the $ 75,000 coming from prom or formal rentals. He said each year younger kids are renting limos with around a ten percent increase each year.
Source: Affordable Limousines
The majority of sales for Affordable Limousines from March through May 2005 came from students attending prom or formal dances.
One assistant principal agrees that kids are renting limousines and buying expensive dresses, but he does not see it as a problem.
“I haven’t seen it on the increase.” said Matt Fearing, assistant principal for Southwest Junior High in Lawrence. “I don’t think it is getting more out-of-hand.”
Fearing said that he has seen more students going with limos for the dances. He said someone even arrived in a horse-drawn carriage five years ago. Fearing admits that the carriage was too much, but he said that the limos are not getting out-of-hand.
Will Fernandez, principal of South Junior High in Lawrence, said that kids are renting limos and dressing up, but he continues to say it is not a formal dance. He said that kids just call these dances formals, but the school tries to shy away from the word formal.
Bill Montgomery, assistant principal for West Junior High in Lawrence agrees.
“We try to downplay the limos, tuxes and dresses.” Montgomery said. “It is too expensive especially for ninth graders.”
Central Junior High wants to downplay the formal aspect of the dance as well, but they are still having their dance at the Marriott.
Allison Ice, West ninth-grader, said she does not have time for a job but did not mind paying for the formal because it was “compensation for being in junior high one more year.”
Hull, West ninth-grader, said that these formals are important despite what the schools think.
“I don’t think that they should not make it a formal.” Hull said. “People will not be very happy if it is not a formal.”
Ice added that everyone comes to these formals, and according to her, people are getting stretch escalades and party buses at other schools.
Hull confirmed this because she said her brother rented a stretch escalade two years ago for his West formal just to go from downtown to the school. She said renting a limo seems like a waste of money because most people do not go to Kansas City for dinner, so they pay a lot of money to go from downtown to West Junior High in a limo.
Despite the high cost and preparation, these formals are still very popular. Ice said that some people have planned where they are going, whom they are going with and how the evening will go one to two years in advance.
“These formals are that big of a deal.” Ice said.
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