Hannah Ogawa from Bialik College in Hawthorn says she was told that using Facebook was “customary and a tradition,” herself noting that rituals and traditions seem to hold weight; they were a way to have something reliable at a time when nothing else necessarily was so. As such, her mother will give her a corsage to wear around her wrist and she’s swept up in the excitement of hiring a limousine with friends. It’s an expense she doesn’t mind, given that her top option dress is a $20 vintage find from an op shop; she’s also considering wearing her hair in plaits. “I don’t want to look really old; I want to look youthful and make it quite playful. But I reckon I’ll decide on the day.”
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Cowen, too, says that many girls in her year opted for vintage dresses: “Lots of my friends are very thrifty and love the vintage look, so some wore their mum’s dress or got dresses from vintage or op shops for ethical reasons, as well as for the price.” She adds that it’s one way to guarantee a dress “will be different from what other girls are wearing.”
She nearly had a dress disaster herself: she only found her dress online a week before her formal, hoping it would ship in time. (It did.) At her school, not all the girls wore dresses: “There were lots of girls wearing suits. Some were androgynous and some were really feminine. For some it was about fashion, but there was a bit of gender expression and what people feel comfortable wearing, too.”
The reverse could happen as well: McKinnon Secondary College’s formal saw one costume change when a boy swapped out his suit for a white dress halfway through the night.
Tiana St John before her school formal.
Facebook groups are also set up for limousine rides, pre-parties and after-parties. Taya Minin, from McKinnon Secondary College, lowered her expenses by scoring a ride to her formally from her parents. She wasn’t so happy with the shoes she bought (“comfort wasn’t a factor, unfortunately”) and opted not to get a spray tan, like many others.
Professional hair and make-up is a non-negotiable for many girls. Tiana St John from Caulfield Grammar School also added a tan, manicure and pedicure. Still, she says: “What is surprising is that what you wear and what you do before doesn’t matter; it’s more about when you get there. Celebrating with your year level is actually the most important thing.”
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