Local Life

Old News: RFH Hollywood-Style Prom Glamming

The RFH Senior Prom was last week and people are still talking about it and its stylings — or writing about it on social media.

Just a few photos of prom ways and styles of 2023 and many folks of yesteryear RFH proms had something to talk about — in their retro minds, anyway.

No doubt, as is always with RFHers, there was a show of sharp couture de RFH, which meant, these days, anything from glamorous to personality-laden to pricey casual with a splash of pastel and shorts on the guys — yes, shorts. It’s the 2023 way of the prom stylin’. In other words, whatever floats your sailboat on the Navesink.

Comments ranged from sheer delight over it all to disdain for the girls’ long gown glamour alongside some of the guys’ short, literally shorts, of it all. One parent even chimed in in response to a naysayer that $1,000 was spent on the casual chic shorts and jacket look. Lest we forget the dress sneakers, too.

Hey, there was no prom theme. If there were it would be Anything Goes. But, we’re doubting anyone, save a Tower Player or two, would know what that is. So, individual style it was.

And, as old RFH folks continue to peruse the photos and ponder the newfound grandiosity of pre-prom partying with parents, breathalyzers before the main event, the main event at a venue far from RFH and the upscale planning of it all, we were thinking about those themed proms of yesteryear that just seemed to happen, but not really …

“Summarizing the vast preparations for these events, Barbara P. Lucian, guidance counselor at R-FHR for Class of ‘1976 said, ‘No one tells them we did these things so long ago …
but the pendulum has swung.'”

Red Bank Register June 12, 1975

Ahem. Oh, there were pics on front lawns and small pre-prom gatherings among friends, limos for some and a main event usually at the high school. Yes, the old RFH folk are still pondering that misstep.

So, in keeping with the longing for a return to a more classic glamour that we encountered in comments, it’s only right to take you back to a prom of the 1970s aptly themed A Night in Hollywood.

Nostalgia was a running theme at proms of the 1970s when the Red Bank Register‘s Eleanor Marko actually did a full-page story on proms. Back in the day, yes, reporters were assigned such stories.

RFH was featured prominently in this story dated June 12, 1975. What’s ironic about the theme is that the 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. prom held at the high school’s Senior Commons, featured music by Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes with “few slow numbers.” OK, then. No Hollywoodish Fred Astaire there. And while the theme was that Night in Hollywood, even back then, ohhhhhh so many decades ago, the setting “reflected a freedom of choice in attire.” Go figure.

“The junior class of 1976 gave the dance (with midnight supper) for seniors (with bids at $5); and elected to wear formal attire. The seniors wore their new business suits appropriate for their pending job recruitments. The girls’ range of mostly long-length gowns reflected a taste for prints.”

Hmmm … Correct us if we’re wrong, but that review is a bit odd. We get the Southside Johnny theme. It was big back then, even though it hardly jibed with A Night in Hollywood. But, the photos show senior guys in tuxedos. Business attire? Maybe that was. the “wear what you want” that wasn’t photographed. According to the author, their wasn’t a pair of shorts in sight, though.

Still, there were tuxes and gowns. Hey, Marty White even wore a top hat and tails and carried a cane. Fred? Ginger? That was a style variation seen from time to time at RFH proms.

And renegade Neil Krauter went shoeless for a twirl with Carolyn Brodsky, who chaired the prom. Oh, my.

So, really, not much has changed at RFH proms, aside from the slew of present planning and procedure. It’s always been a “be yourself with class” kind of event.

And, of course, there was always a post-prom visit to the beach in Sea Bright to watch the sun rise and, well … take notes?

Take note: The RFH proms of these days are no night at the beach. Shedding light on requisite misadventures is the wave of the present.

Either way, all dressed up, RFHers always had somewhere to go with the look — whatever it was.

Prom fashion forward and lookin’ good! Cheers to RFH prom finesse!