Facebook Helps Abate Prom-dress Anxiety

By Author: andy lily
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Anne Hathaway no longer weared a Valentino gown but Prada when she found out that her co-star Amanda Seyfried was set to wear a similar dress just before this year’s Oscars ceremony.
It turns out prom-bound high school girls have created a neat solution for such problems in the form of Facebook groups with names like Don’t Steal My Long Prom Dresses UK.
Therein, girls post photos of the dresses they intend to wear (the indecisive occasionally post multiple gowns) as a way of laying claim to the style and making sure they don’t show up as someone’s unintentional twin.
“There is an unsaid precedent that if the dress you want is the same as someone else’s who has already posted, you will contact them before buying it,” said Kate Marinkovich, 16, a junior at Palo Alto High School in Palo Alto, Calif.
Girls will also occasionally post questions, like where to find boutonnieres — giving the groups another, more subtle purpose, Ms. Marinkovich said. “It is a giant prom sisterhood of sorts, where all questions regarding ...
... prom can be answered by a large panel of girls.”
The goal is to eliminate undo angst on prom night, and girls in the group are encouraged to be on their best behavior. “It’s not a drama-causing group, it’s more of a lookbook of sorts,” said Madeline Weinstein, 17, who lives in Hunt Valley, Md., and is a senior at Garrison Forest School.
Comments tend to run toward the supportive: “you’re gonna look hot!!!” or “loveeeee.”
There is still plenty of intrigue just behind the scenes. At T. C. Roberson High School in Asheville, N.C., where Clare Johnson, 16, is a junior, there is no formal prom group, but girls post their dresses to their own personal Facebook accounts or to the photo-sharing app Instagram.
“I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed more mean tweets in one hour than the other day when my friend found out another girl bought the same dress as her,” Ms. Johnson said. A solution was reached: Ms. Johnson’s friend would get a new gown and wear the original dress to another school’s prom.
For the most part, prom Facebook groups are set to private, which keeps prom boycotters (and boys) out.
“We are absolutely not allowed in,” said Spencer E. B. Carlson, 18, who is a senior at Palo Alto High School, where someone created a parody tuxedo group.
“Still, many boys log in through the accounts of close girlfriends to look at the dresses,” he said. “I think it’s incredibly fun.”