The 1989 Prom Mom is Sheri Meyer. Sheri went to prom in 1989 with her boyfriend now husband, PJ. Today, their daughter Lexi is a junior at Wauconda High School and going to prom in mom’s gown!
The original black dress is a classic 80s style with a big bow on this one-shoulder, knee length, two-sided skirt with ruffles on the left and a straight fitted pencil skirt on the right. Her inner valley girl is like totally stoked!
Prom dress trends today are very different than what they were in the 80s. In the 80s we sell lots of bows, we saw lots of volume, we saw dresses worn knee length and today things at prom look much different. Girls are wearing long sleek fitted dresses; The length is to the ground if not longer with a train on some designs. They are wearing halter-tops, strapless, and one shoulder looks are still fashionable BUT two-piece dresses with the mid drift showing is super trendy now. That is the key for prom this year!
So, how do we make this 80’s look a trendy, sleek, sexy gown and one daughter Lexi can wear today?
I cut the dress in half…. YES, super scary…and used the original one-shoulder top. I had to replace the long back zipper with a separating zipper that fit the newly sized top. The big bow and ruffles on the shoulder were removed and I stitched on an over-lay of embellished lace to the front.
I made a long sleek fitting skirt with a high front slit, embellished lace trim at the waist and a silver lining because every 80’s gown has a silver lining.
The ruffle portion of the original skirt becomes a cute cape to wear over her shoulders.
And the straight skirt, shoulder ruffles and bow were turned into a decorative pillow so mom can remember her prom!
Good news, nothing from this vintage garment went to waste; I used every piece of the original dress in the new design and Lexi is ready for prom!
