By Rachel Kalina
It was 11:30 a.m. the day of the prom at City Slickers on Grand Avenue, and the updated look was just another in a series of decisions that needed attention since Gonsalves and her friends had begun their prom planning back in December. She settled back into her chair without any worry, and the primping continued.
By now, she had gotten used to these back-and-forth decisions. "My friends were very indecisive," Gonsalves said of their after-prom plans. "So we're still planning." She smiled and mentioned her frustration about receiving yet another call that morning about a change of plans. Deciding who would ride in the 22-person limo that night had also been a long process.
Two seats away from Gonsalves, whose hair was being pinned high up, was Jennifer Harte, whose blond curls were starting to roll down along her shoulders. Her after-prom plans were solidified - a night in the city - and she was actually looking forward to that more than the prom.
"You feel like there are less eyes on you and less pressure," Harte said. "You don't feel like you're being baby-sat anymore." Harte was graduating on June 25, and looking forward to experiencing a wealth of new freedoms at Rochester Institute of Technology in the fall.
With more than 400 seniors at BHS, there was bound to be a big turnout at the prom. "Most people I've talked to are going with dates, but it's not uncommon for people to go with friends," Gonsalves said.
Unlike Harte, Gonsalves's date was from another school. Before coming to City Slickers that morning, she had already picked up her graduation cap, gown and tickets. She said her date was probably still sleeping.
"Guys have it easy: Rent a tux, take a shower and they're done," said Salvatore LoPalo, owner of City Slickers. The family-owned business has been in operation since 1972, and it has seen many prom hairdos bob out of its doors.
"Prom day is always crazy, but the girls today seem to know what they want," LoPalo said. He added that most girls get their ideas from magazines and Web sites, and explained that it's not the norm for girls to try out their hairstyles before the prom, but he's seen an increase in this practice lately. He said some girls have even added spray tans to complete their look. They want to make sure everything is right for their special occasion.
"I was the first person out of my friends to have a prom dress," Gonsalves said. Her mesh brown and turquoise dress was purchased on a family trip to Las Vegas this year. To go with it, she even reconstructed a pair of her mother's earrings to be magnetic, because, Gonsalves said, she has sensitive ears. Her tiny, rhinestone hair accessories were from Claire's, and her silver bag was borrowed from a friend.
Harte's accessories included fresh flowers in her hair to go with her burnt-orange dress. She said that students were told by school administration in the days before the prom "to be safe and make sure no one is drinking." Otherwise, parents would be called.
"They always tell us, 'No drinking, no drugs,'" Gonsalves said. Students were cautioned that those who appear intoxicated would be subjected to substance-abuse analysis and kicked out of the prom, she added.
Gonsalves, a soon-to-be University of North Carolina freshman, said that after her hair was done, she would get into her dress at 4 p.m., go to a pre-prom party at 5 p.m. for some food, and finally get to the prom at 7 p.m. Her family and friends - who came from as far as Kentucky, Texas and India to see her sparkle that night - would be waiting for her when she got back.
"This might be the last time I'm seeing all my friends," she said. "I don't know if I'll be seeing them over the summer."
Even though Gonsalves's plans were still somewhat undecided for after the prom, she said her prom group would probably go somewhere in the city and "just have fun. That's our main goal."
