What today's teens miss about the tacky, terrible proms of the 1980s

Remember when more was more?

Gone are the days...
(Image credit: (ClassicStock/Corbis))

As I feverishly photographed my son and his friends before their prom, it occurred to me that something was not right. The boys looked as I expected, in black tuxes and combed hair. But the girls were all wrong. Their dresses were simple and flattering. Their make-up was tastefully applied, not caked. The wind blew and their hair actually moved a little.

What the heck? Where was the black eyeliner? Where was the stench of Aqua Net? Where, I must know, were Madonna's lace gloves?

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Annabel Monaghan is a lifestyle columnist at The Week and the author of Does This Volvo Make My Butt Look Big? (2016), a collection of essays for moms and other tired people. She is also the author of two novels for young adults, A Girl Named Digit (2012) and Double Digit (2014), and the co-author of Click! The Girls Guide to Knowing What You Want and Making it Happen (2007). She lives in Rye, New York, with her husband and three sons. Visit her at www.annabelmonaghan.com.