terry78
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Alien Invasion: High-School Prom
Lands in England, Causes a Bother
Middle-Class Kids, Moved by American TV,
Go for It in a Big -- and Oh-So-Gaudy -- Way
By JEANNE WHALEN and ISABELLA LISK
June 17, 2008; Page A1
ORSETT, England -- Lisa Pickin arrived in style at her 2008 high-school prom in this middle-class town an hour east of London. The stretch Jeep limo, lilac ball gown and accessories cost her parents about £550, or $1,080. Her upswept blond curls took her aunt two hours to fashion.
WSJ's Jeanne Whalen reports on how British teens are embracing one of America's traditions: the high school prom. (June 17)
Britain, the land of school uniforms, rigorous exams and ivy-covered school halls, is embracing an American invasion: the high-school prom.
British teenagers say they've seen the events in movies like "American Pie" and television shows such as "The O.C.," and they want the chance to dress up and rent limousines themselves. That means a new reason for Britons to worry about the dilution of their culture, a new burden on parents' pocketbooks, and new businesses selling prom essentials such as tuxedos and corsages.
"It's getting more and more elaborate," says Keith Rider, who manages a banquet hall here that many schools hire for the big dance. "I'm 40 and we never had anything like this when we left school."
Many American adults cringe when they remember the unfortunate dresses and awkward dates from their own proms. Britons, meanwhile, are adopting the prom at its most traditional, with prom queens and kings and professional photographers favoring pastel backdrops. In some schools, proms are replacing more modest British traditions like the "leavers disco," where kids turn up at the school gym in jeans.
Recently, when partying students vandalized cars after their prom in a town in Wales, residents complained, says Martyn Peters, an official of Neath Port Talbot county. Mr. Peters passed on the complaints to the head of the Dwr-y-Felin Comprehensive School.
"It's a new thing that's come over from America, and a lot of the community don't buy into it at all," Mr. Peters says. School officials didn't respond to requests for comment.
Bright Yellow Lamborghini
Sue Clarke and her husband at first balked when their 16-year-old son, Michael, begged them to rent him a bright yellow Lamborghini plus driver for prom night. But they gave in after their son promised to study harder in return.
A vintage Triumph with a gloved chauffeur in full military uniform pulls up to the Howard of Effingham School prom.
"We didn't have proms or things like that when we were younger," says the 39-year-old Ms. Clarke, who, all told, spent $1,180 on Michael's prom. She says it was worth every bit of it to see her son so happy.
Old-line department-store chain John Lewis added a line of prom dresses this year, and tuxedo-rental stores report a jump in business from kids this time of year. Ruth Eckhardt, owner of Ruth, a dress shop in London, imports prom dresses from the U.S. because she can't find British makers. After customs duties, the dresses are marked up to about $275, from about $100 in the U.S. Ms. Eckhardt says she travels to U.S. trade shows four times a year to pick out the frocks.
Britain's vibrant celebrity culture helps amp up the teens' prom styles. Weekly magazines feature photos of American celebrities and "wags," the British shorthand for "wives and girlfriends" of local soccer stars, who make headlines for their outrageous clothing and shopping sprees.
At the Furtherwick Park School prom a few weeks ago, one group of girls rented an old firetruck with an off-duty fireman at the wheel, rolling up as "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" blared from the radio.
Abbey Bentham picked out her hot-pink sequined dress several months in advance. Her sister curled her hair and put in blond extensions and a sparkly tiara. Her "best boy mate" asked her to be his date, she said.
The girls and their classmates were celebrating the end of the 11th grade, called Year 11 in Britain. A committee of about 10 students helped plan the dance, making gold paper place cards and choosing white and gold balloons for the tables. Prom tickets were about $50.
"Our teenagers decided they want to do what the Americans do. They saw it in the films and got caught up in it," says Kate Sawyer, a Furtherwick Park teacher who helped organize and chaperone the prom.
But with teens spending so much on the evening, Gerald Haigh, a retired headmaster in central England, says he's "always bothered about the ones who are excluded by cost."
'Ghastly Import'
Mr. Haigh wrote an article criticizing prom excess for an education Web site, where other teachers also posted complaints. "Ghastly import. Conspicuous consumption and pointless excess," read one posting.
Some schools, typically the historic private ones, called public schools in Britain, aren't going for proms. Instead, at Harrow School, founded in 1572, graduating boys have a black-tie "Leavers Feast" with their parents in the school dining hall. The evening ends with a sing-along of school songs like "Ducker" and "Forty Years On" in the boys' boarding houses. Around the beginning of June at Eton College, boys gather on the banks of the Thames to watch classmates wearing flower-festooned straw hats row past.
Proms in the U.S. began in the 1930s, the invention of teachers trying to help young people make the transition to adulthood, says Amy Best, a sociologist and expert on youth culture at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. The dances largely fell out of fashion in the 1960s but came back in the 1980s and remain popular, she says.
Proms began crossing over to the United Kingdom several years ago and keep growing in popularity. Ricky Turrell, a photographer in southeast England, has 54 proms booked this year. Proms are practically a daily occurrence somewhere or other in England from May 1 till well into July.
Tom Kendall, 16, says American TV shows such as "The O.C." and MTV's "My Super Sweet 16" provide a "fairy tale" view of dances and parties that British teens like. "The O.C.," a Fox show now in reruns on Britain's E4 channel, chronicles the life of affluent teens in Orange County, Calif. "My Super Sweet 16" airs nearly every day in Britain, showing teens preparing for lavish birthday parties.
Mr. Kendall and 15 friends arrived at their prom in a hotel in Surrey in a stretch Hummer, rented for about $1,470. Also pulling up: a vintage Rolls-Royce, five other stretch Hummers, six stretch limos, a firetruck emitting soap bubbles and fake smoke, and a vintage Triumph with a gloved chauffeur in a military uniform.
----------
We're taking over for the '08, fool.
Lands in England, Causes a Bother
Middle-Class Kids, Moved by American TV,
Go for It in a Big -- and Oh-So-Gaudy -- Way
By JEANNE WHALEN and ISABELLA LISK
June 17, 2008; Page A1
ORSETT, England -- Lisa Pickin arrived in style at her 2008 high-school prom in this middle-class town an hour east of London. The stretch Jeep limo, lilac ball gown and accessories cost her parents about £550, or $1,080. Her upswept blond curls took her aunt two hours to fashion.
WSJ's Jeanne Whalen reports on how British teens are embracing one of America's traditions: the high school prom. (June 17)
Britain, the land of school uniforms, rigorous exams and ivy-covered school halls, is embracing an American invasion: the high-school prom.
British teenagers say they've seen the events in movies like "American Pie" and television shows such as "The O.C.," and they want the chance to dress up and rent limousines themselves. That means a new reason for Britons to worry about the dilution of their culture, a new burden on parents' pocketbooks, and new businesses selling prom essentials such as tuxedos and corsages.
"It's getting more and more elaborate," says Keith Rider, who manages a banquet hall here that many schools hire for the big dance. "I'm 40 and we never had anything like this when we left school."
Many American adults cringe when they remember the unfortunate dresses and awkward dates from their own proms. Britons, meanwhile, are adopting the prom at its most traditional, with prom queens and kings and professional photographers favoring pastel backdrops. In some schools, proms are replacing more modest British traditions like the "leavers disco," where kids turn up at the school gym in jeans.
Recently, when partying students vandalized cars after their prom in a town in Wales, residents complained, says Martyn Peters, an official of Neath Port Talbot county. Mr. Peters passed on the complaints to the head of the Dwr-y-Felin Comprehensive School.
"It's a new thing that's come over from America, and a lot of the community don't buy into it at all," Mr. Peters says. School officials didn't respond to requests for comment.
Bright Yellow Lamborghini
Sue Clarke and her husband at first balked when their 16-year-old son, Michael, begged them to rent him a bright yellow Lamborghini plus driver for prom night. But they gave in after their son promised to study harder in return.
A vintage Triumph with a gloved chauffeur in full military uniform pulls up to the Howard of Effingham School prom.
"We didn't have proms or things like that when we were younger," says the 39-year-old Ms. Clarke, who, all told, spent $1,180 on Michael's prom. She says it was worth every bit of it to see her son so happy.
Old-line department-store chain John Lewis added a line of prom dresses this year, and tuxedo-rental stores report a jump in business from kids this time of year. Ruth Eckhardt, owner of Ruth, a dress shop in London, imports prom dresses from the U.S. because she can't find British makers. After customs duties, the dresses are marked up to about $275, from about $100 in the U.S. Ms. Eckhardt says she travels to U.S. trade shows four times a year to pick out the frocks.
Britain's vibrant celebrity culture helps amp up the teens' prom styles. Weekly magazines feature photos of American celebrities and "wags," the British shorthand for "wives and girlfriends" of local soccer stars, who make headlines for their outrageous clothing and shopping sprees.
At the Furtherwick Park School prom a few weeks ago, one group of girls rented an old firetruck with an off-duty fireman at the wheel, rolling up as "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" blared from the radio.
Abbey Bentham picked out her hot-pink sequined dress several months in advance. Her sister curled her hair and put in blond extensions and a sparkly tiara. Her "best boy mate" asked her to be his date, she said.
The girls and their classmates were celebrating the end of the 11th grade, called Year 11 in Britain. A committee of about 10 students helped plan the dance, making gold paper place cards and choosing white and gold balloons for the tables. Prom tickets were about $50.
"Our teenagers decided they want to do what the Americans do. They saw it in the films and got caught up in it," says Kate Sawyer, a Furtherwick Park teacher who helped organize and chaperone the prom.
But with teens spending so much on the evening, Gerald Haigh, a retired headmaster in central England, says he's "always bothered about the ones who are excluded by cost."
'Ghastly Import'
Mr. Haigh wrote an article criticizing prom excess for an education Web site, where other teachers also posted complaints. "Ghastly import. Conspicuous consumption and pointless excess," read one posting.
Some schools, typically the historic private ones, called public schools in Britain, aren't going for proms. Instead, at Harrow School, founded in 1572, graduating boys have a black-tie "Leavers Feast" with their parents in the school dining hall. The evening ends with a sing-along of school songs like "Ducker" and "Forty Years On" in the boys' boarding houses. Around the beginning of June at Eton College, boys gather on the banks of the Thames to watch classmates wearing flower-festooned straw hats row past.
Proms in the U.S. began in the 1930s, the invention of teachers trying to help young people make the transition to adulthood, says Amy Best, a sociologist and expert on youth culture at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. The dances largely fell out of fashion in the 1960s but came back in the 1980s and remain popular, she says.
Proms began crossing over to the United Kingdom several years ago and keep growing in popularity. Ricky Turrell, a photographer in southeast England, has 54 proms booked this year. Proms are practically a daily occurrence somewhere or other in England from May 1 till well into July.
Tom Kendall, 16, says American TV shows such as "The O.C." and MTV's "My Super Sweet 16" provide a "fairy tale" view of dances and parties that British teens like. "The O.C.," a Fox show now in reruns on Britain's E4 channel, chronicles the life of affluent teens in Orange County, Calif. "My Super Sweet 16" airs nearly every day in Britain, showing teens preparing for lavish birthday parties.
Mr. Kendall and 15 friends arrived at their prom in a hotel in Surrey in a stretch Hummer, rented for about $1,470. Also pulling up: a vintage Rolls-Royce, five other stretch Hummers, six stretch limos, a firetruck emitting soap bubbles and fake smoke, and a vintage Triumph with a gloved chauffeur in a military uniform.
----------
We're taking over for the '08, fool.
