Daughters for sale?! The Dark History of Debutante Balls & Prom

One of my favourite sayings is "Money doesn't bring you happiness but, it makes being miserable a lot more fun" lol

Bridgerton makes so much more sense now. Queen charlotte & King George

2 weeks before my senior prom, my boyfriend broke up with me and invited someone else. I returned the $500 dress that matched him and my mom got to work making me an edgy dress out of denim and black lace (so 2000s of me lol). I felt SO COOL! Definitely rebellious and stood out like I wanted. I kissed his best friend at the prom after party and my ex left crying ✨

My grandma was a Debutant! It was wild to know because it explained her personality so much. She died poor but the framework of being a Debutant lasted forever. Absolute class while making instant potatoes. A queen. I miss you grandma!

Growing up, my mom was a single mom and she worked really hard. We didn’t have a lot of money, but when it came to my prom, all of my family members kinda came together to make sure I had what I needed. One brought me a dress. My other cousin bought me some shoes. My other cousin took me to Claire’s. Oh my goodness and I got to pick out my own jewelry that was fancy to me, and my mom made my corsage and my sister did my hair and make up. I still have my dress. It’s beautiful.

That $30k dress better have pockets 😂

There is a lady in our town who collects and buys used formal wear including shoes and jewelry and then opens her home like a giant store and gives it to anyone who shows up. It is AMAZING

My older sister bought a beautiful prom dress for $40 at Loehmans. 5 years later when it was my prom, I had the dress altered for $25 to fit me as I am much shorter. My mom still brags that she only spent $65 for both of us to have a prom dress, mom is 70 and my sister and are are 40 and 45 😂. The shoes were from my closet. My sister did my hair. The jewelry was left over from my cousins wedding. And I paid for my share of the limo and hotel room because I worked my senior year. And the BEST part: my prom date is now my husband of 15 years. We started dating at 17 and 18 years old. We are now 40 and 41❤

I learned in a psychology class that low income people tend to splurge on certain “unnecessary” things (like an expensive prom dress) because it brings happiness and momentary reprieve to a difficult situation.

I have a suggestion for future Dark History: the dark history of tunnels. (Subway tunnels in NYC, tunnels under Vegas, tunnels under Denver airport, etc).