Prom is a right of passage for many high school seniors across America. From the party theme to the Prom King and Queen, everyone knows that it’s a really big deal. It’s also no secret that going prom dress shopping is one of the most important purchases a girl can make during her high school career.
Unfortunately, not all girls have the best taste when it comes to style. In fact, some of them choose a prom dress that is downright hideous. Maybe they have no fashion sense, or maybe they just wanted to make a statement. Either way, these prom dresses definitely should have stayed hidden in the closet.
Hot Pink Mess
We honestly don’t have words for this dress. This dress, if you could even call it a dress, has so much going on that it’s giving us a headache.
From the zebra print bikini top to the hot pink belly shirt that connects to shorts in the front, we’re not sure if she got this at a dress shop or a psych ward.
Not to mention the zebra print tail that only covers the back, and the enormous Barbie necklace. If she was going for the Barbie look, we don’t think she quite got it.
Half Naked Honey
This girl almost got kicked out of her prom because the chaperones all thought that she showed up completely naked.
This backless dress has an ultra-sheer layer of skin-tone material that holds together a few small buttons that do it up.
Although she is technically covered up, it sure doesn’t look like it from far back, so anyone could easily mistake her Prom Dress for her birthday suit.
Jaw Dropping Prom Date
This high school boy was absolutely awestruck when he saw the girl he was taking to the prom. He thought he had seen everything and was feeling on top of the world ready to give his date the bouquet he brought for her. That is until he saw her.
Or, more specifically, until he saw her dress that was leaving very little to the imagination. All he could do was stand there looking stupid, jaw dropped to the floor, watching his scantily clad date take pictures with her friend.
Camouflage Couple
These two probably thought that instead of going to Prom, they were going on a hunting trip…or at least to a party in very tall grass. This matching dress and suit look like they come straight out of a John Deer catalog.
Even her corsage looks like it could hide her from an unsuspecting buck she’s about to gun down. Her boyfriend seems even more into it. We wonder whose idea this really was…
Bubblegum Baby
Everyone likes a piece of gum no and then when you want to freshen your breath. But this girl seems to have taken her appreciation for gum to an entirely different level.
She must have been saving her gum wrappers and keeping them in perfect condition for months in advance before constructing this “dress”.
It’s hard to imagine she was able to walk in it, much less dance, without it falling to pieces within seconds.
Down In Dixie
Even though the entire Confederacy lasted only 4 years, some people (especially down South) can’t seem to let it go. Sometimes you’ll see these flags on pick-up trucks, other times you’ll see them on front lawns.
Sometimes people even like to wear it on a t-shirt. But have you ever seen it worn as a Prom Dress? This girl from Gastonia, North Carolina couldn’t bear to wear a normal dress to the Prom without repping those Rebels.
A Musical Gown
If you don’t like music, you must not have ears. Everyone likes some genre or music style, and most people like to share it with their friends. But this girl decided that she wanted to do more than just send her friends a link to her favorite artist.
She decked herself out head to toe in CDs, just to make sure everyone knew how big a music fan she really was.
Avert Your Eyes
Some girls are just more well-endowed than others, and that’s perfectly natural. But it’s also natural that the ones who have a little bit more to offer will have to find a bit bigger of a dress up top.
Unfortunately for this girl (rather, fortunately for her date), she was filling out the top of her dress a little too well, and he was absolutely overjoyed about it.
He honestly wasn’t even trying to hide his excitement. She doesn’t seem all too phased by it though.
Edward VS Jacob
We all had that one girl in school who was OBSESSED with the Twilight Saga.
Sure, it was a little annoying, but we let her have her weird vampire/werewolf crush, as long as we didn’t have to hear too much about it. And then some girls would even fight over which halfbreed boy was hotter, Edward or Jacob.
These girls, however, have decided to wear their supernatural love on their sleeve (well, on their dress actually) and actually showed up to Prom like this.
Chicken Prom Dates
There are so many things to unpack here, and so many questions to ask.
First of all, did these girls not have dates to the Prom so they had to find chickens and pose with them? How are the chickens so calm in all this? Why didn’t they dress the chickens up in matching suits for a more authentic picture? And why is nobody smiling?
Also, did the chickens go to their high school or are they older boys from the college down the road?
The Pussycat Dress
If your mind is suddenly finding itself in the gutter, you’re not alone.
These girls decided to go above and beyond in making everyone super uncomfortable (especially the chaperones) by flaunting Prom gowns with what looks very much like lady parts on the bottom.
We’re not saying that they look bad, quite the contrary. But it does certainly make a statement. What statement is it? That, we’re not exactly sure of.
Extra, Extra!
We have two theories. One, this girl forgot about prom until the day of and had absolutely nothing to wear, so she gathered up a bunch of old newspapers and taped them together into a dress.
Or, two, she is the captain of the school newspaper and needed to make sure that every single one of her classmates was aware of it. We hope it doesn’t rain though, or else she’s done for.
Spicy Sauced Up
Yes, we will admit it. The spicy sauce at Taco Bell is absolutely delicious, and anyone who doesn’t appreciate it must be crazy.
However, this girl takes Taco Bell fandom to a whole new level that we could never achieve (do we really want to though?).
She stitched up a dress made entirely out of sauce packets, with her date wearing a tie and “rose” made out of the same. What happens if she sits down on something pointy though?
Creeping In The Background
At first, you might not notice anything too out of the ordinary about this very typical Prom picture.
A girl stands in her pink dress looking all dolled up and excited for her night at the high school dance. But if you look a little closer, in the background where there is a window into the house, you’ll see that someone has photobombed her picture.
And this someone happens to be a large, shirtless, and very hairy man making a hideous face. Poor girl.
Reach For The Stars
This one is a doozy. We tried to blame it on a simpler time, but the timestamp on the picture shows that this Prom was only in 2010.
These star-crossed lovers (pun intended) must have worked really hard on this ensemble, as they match everything from the star headband to the teal blue cane.
Even their shoes were not forgotten in the mix. Was it worth all the effort…we’re not so sure.
Beauty And The Feast
If you only glance at this dress, you might not find anything strange about it. In fact, the girl wearing it looks beautiful in it.
But if you take another minute to look closer you’ll see that it resembles the yellow dress Belle wore from Beauty and the Beast.
And if you look even closer you’ll see that the dress is made to look like tacos. This Prom heroin is Taco Belle, and we think she’s a genius.
Proceed With Caution
There’s something to be said for the creativity, time, and effort that often goes into creating a Prom Dress from ordinary materials girls find. But this caution tape prom dress is the definition of “basic”.
We’ve all seen girls wrap themselves in caution tape for Halloween or for an ABC (Anything But Clothes) party, and it really stopped being original years ago.
If you’re going to go to the Prom in something outrageous, you might as well put a little thought into it and make it special.
A Fishy Date
You have to feel bad and impressed all at once for this teen. He obviously couldn’t get himself a proper (human) date, so he went with the next best thing that would “agree” to go with him: a giant fish, of course.
He even dressed it up and made it look spiffy so he wouldn’t look overdressed next to him in the picture. We’ve heard of boys being proud of their catch of the day, but this is ridiculous.
All By Myself
This girl obviously was unable to find herself a date in time to take her to the Prom. But she didn’t let that ruin her chance of having the classic Prom Picture.
She decided that, as she was going to take herself anyway, she might as well dress the part. Half dress, half suit, all Prom Date.
Hopefully she treated herself nicely and got herself home by 11:00 that night.
Sunshine and Rainbows
Yeah we know, we thought the same thing. This is one of the most bizarre couple’s Prom ensembles we’ve ever seen. They’ve done their own take on what the weather looks like during a bad acid trip.
But they certainly seem to be happy with themselves, so who are we to judge? Even though the smiling umbrella kind of creeps us out, we must admit.
That Dress Is Trash
Usually, if someone tells you that your outfit is trash, it means you have a really poor sense of style. In this instance, however, that person would be absolutely justified in saying so.
This girl, who probably feels like her entire life is trash judging by her facial expression, decided to fill up a bunch of trash bags with air and tape them all together to make what we guess is supposed to be a beautiful Prom Dress.
The Dorito Dress
When you eat a bag of Doritos, you usually end up wearing the flavor powder all over your fingers and the crumbs all over your lap. But you don’t usually end up wearing the entire package all over your body.
Not until this girl took it upon herself to craft her Prom Dress entirely out of Doritos bags. That must have been at least 30-40 bags of chips, so we hope she didn’t get too sick in the name of fashion.
Bubble Wrap Dress
This girl was actually really proud of her bubble wrap Prom Dress, and we think that she has every right to be.
Not only does it look super cool, but she also did the trendy off-the-shoulder look with it, instead of just wrapping around herself as most other Prom Dress creators do.
The only thing we’re wondering about this dress is what happens when she dances up close to someone. Won’t all the bubbles pop?
Singing In The Rain
This couple must live in a really wet place to come to Prom in a full-body rainproof suit and dress.
Not only do they have rain boots on, but they’ve decided to use that waterproof material for their entire ensemble.
Were they expecting the roof to cave in? Prom should not be held during a hurricane, that’s just not safe. Even with that umbrella.
Prom Bear
This couple really went to prom in a matching Winnie the Pooh dress and suit.
We’re not sure why they did it or what significance this silly old bear has for these two teens. But one thing is for sure, it’s super weird.
Although, somehow, they seem to pull off the look because no one can say that they don’t look good…just maybe a little strange.
The Light Show
The only way these Prom outfits could be considered remotely acceptable would be if their prom was being held in a pitch-black room.
If not, then we’re not really sure what this couple was thinking when they decided to string LED lights into their Prom suit and dress.
Also, won’t they have to stay near an outlet the whole night? And doesn’t that get very hot?
Rainbow Connection
Rainbows are beautiful when they’re in the sky, on a canvas, or even on a tie-dye shirt. Rainbows, however, are NOT so beautiful when they make up your entire Prom outfit.
This couple held nothing back when they said they wanted a rainbow theme. Even her clutch and his (absolutely unnecessary) tophat and fully decked out in bright rainbow patterns.
It’s way too much, it hurts our eyes to even look at it.
The Beer Babes
If this isn’t the ultimate white trash Prom picture then we honestly don’t know what is.
These girls probably drank a whole 36-pack box of beers each, and then decided to stuff themselves into the empty boxes and just head over to the Prom like that.
They didn’t even bother to buy some quality beer, which they obviosuly should have done if they were going to wear the boxes all night.
The Table Dress
This girl decided that, instead of sitting at the table at the prom to eat with her friends, she would bring her very own table so she didn’t have to share the space with anyone else.
The only question we have (just kidding, we have like, a million questions) is how does her date get even remotely close enough to dance with her? Unless that was her plan all along…
Purple Rain…Suit
This couple must have been preparing for bad weather, as their entire ensemble is made out of raincoat material.
Aside from the very weird choice of fabric (is it even a fabric?), they went with a bright yellow and purple color scheme.
Actually, the guy kind of looks like a knock-off Prince, so maybe they were going for a Purple Rain theme. If so, it’s genius… if not, then they just look silly.
Pregnant Prom
It’s not unheard of for girls still in high school to get pregnant, but stay in school and get their degrees (you go girls!).
If they are far enough away from their due dates, these girls can even still participate in school events like graduation and, of course, the Prom!
This girl decided to go all out with her prom dress, and just in case there were still some students who didn’t know she was carrying…now they all do.
A Video Game Nightmare
Have you ever had a nightmare where you’re trapped in a video game that you have to win to get out alive…
but the game doesn’t make any sense and the shapes and colors are flying at you in all directions and everything looks like a rainbow threw up everywhere?
No? Well we just assumed that this eccentric couple must have and wanted to try and illustrate it for the rest of us.
Miss America
One thing everyone knows about Americans is how much they love to show off their patriotism.
They have their US flag on every house and every corner, they put it on their hats, their clothes, and their cars.
And, as we can see here, they choose to show up to their Proms looking like the statue of liberty just came to life and went to high school. It doesn’t look TOO bad…if you’re into looking like Uncle Sam’s wife.
The Double Date
Imagine being so popular that you have to Prom dates and you choose to dress up like the nutcracker and make them both match you.
Also, this guy really chose the two weirdest, most unaesthetic colors for his scheme: orange and grey.
Those poor girls had to try and find dresses that kind of matched. The whole thing is just really, really bad.
Are You Doing That Right?
Ok, we have a theory for this one. Just hear us out.
This girl is wearing her Prom dress totally backward! Why else would the entire front be open? Why else would it be SO wide on the sides? Would even the worst dress designer on the planet make something as atrocious as this?
The girl seems to never have figured it out, even by the time this picture was snapped. She does look completely out of it.
Rubik’s Cube Couple
Maybe these girls are just math enthusiasts…or maybe they did this on a dare. But these two really showed up at their Prom dressed like this.
One girl is in some sort of homemade Rubik’s cube dress, while the other (seemingly not matching her energy) just threw on whatever neon items she had in her closet.
What’s the statement? We don’t understand.
Troll Prom
If you grew up in the late ‘90s to early 2000s, you probably had at least one of those troll dolls with the jewel in their belly buttons and the brightly colored hair that stood straight up.
That’s the look this girl was apparently going for, and we guess her date just wanted to do something weird to accompany her.
Do The Dew
Mountain Dew soda, for anyone who doesn’t know, has a very particular fanbase.
If you’re obsessed enough with the alarmingly neon yellow, super caffeinated, bubbly beverage to wear it as your Prom ensemble…we can probably guess what kind of a person you are.
We’d like to say we’re not going to judge, but we’d be lying if we did.
Too Kool For School
We get it, Prom dresses are pretty expensive so sometimes making your own can be a cheaper option.
But just because you are totally obsessed with Kool-Aid Jammers, doesn’t mean you should save the used pouches and stitch them up into your Prom dress…right?
Actually, it probably cost next to nothing, and it’s very creative. Absolutely hideous, but creative.
Prom Or Wedding?
There is something really creepy about this Prom picture. The guy is in a normal suit and the girl’s dress is pretty standard, but if you look at the slit in the leg of the dress, it reveals something super weird.
First of all, his hand is way too high up her leg, and he is holding the dress up to reveal a wedding garter!
Do they know what that means? Is this a Prom or a wedding ceremony?
The Puffiest Prom
Cotton balls are great for cleaning wounds or for stuffing in your ears at concerts, but we don’t think they make a great Prom ensemble.
This couple must have been out of their minds when they decided to essentially glue hundreds of pastel rainbow cotton balls all over their suit jacket and Prom dress.
They look straight out of a children’s show.
Read Between The Lines
Either this couple actually tied themselves together for their entire Prom night, or they just had these hideous outfits sewn perfectly to their body height so that the strikingly bad colored lines could perfectly connect.
On an even weirder note, they finished off their look with cheap-looking sunglasses, a colored bowtie, and a hat that should only be worn in a Barbershop Quartet.
Reach For The Stars
Stars are beautiful, both in the night sky and worn on clothing…when it’s done tastefully.
This Prom couple must have missed the memo on the tasteful part though, as these two showed up in matching blue and orange outfits covered in big, chunky stars.
They went all out too, by including a starry hair barrette for the girl and a baseball cap with, you guessed it, more stars.
Did You Even Try?
While some of the other Prom outfits on here have been outrageously bad, at least the couple put in some effort.
This couple, however, looks like they didn’t even try.
The girl’s dress looks like a corpse-bride costume you could buy at Party City, and the guy looks like he woke up 5 minutes before he had to leave for the Prom and just put on a tie and went in whatever he was already wearing.
Maybe You Should Have Skipped The Heels
While the guy in this picture looks like he’s so happy to be going to the Prom with the girl on his left, she could have possibly made a better choice in regards to her outfit.
Firstly, if she knew he was pretty small, she probably didn’t need to wear such high heels.
Aside from that, she didn’t really wear a top, so much as a bow large enough to cover up most of her chest.
Gotta Rock The Jordans
Who doesn’t look good in a fresh, clean pair of Air Jordan’s?
The trendy (and pricey) basketball shoe has hundreds of thousands paying the big bucks for a pair, all around the world.
We get being Jordan’s fans, but when you love them so much you make an entire Prom ensemble out of it…maybe it’s just a little too obsessive.
Missing Half the Dress
Ok, there’s a lot to unpack here. Let’s start with the most obvious thing: the girl is missing half of her dress!
It looks like she tore half of it off and just let her bra stand as the other half of coverage.
Also, her date seems to have turned his hooded bathrobe into a matching baby blue suit. It’s a crazy look, and we’re not sure they pulled it off (as if anyone could).
Fancy Carrots
We took one look at this dress and just knew that this Prom couple gets their recommended daily dose of beta carotene.
How do we know this, you ask? Because why else would they dress up like two fancy carrots going to a vegetable-themed Prom?
It’s either that or they are completely color blind, because those two colors are NOT working together at all..
Barney and Friends Do Prom
What the heck is even happening in this picture? And why does everyone seem so ok with it?
So there are 3 girls dressed in their prom gowns, one guy in a suit who looks a little too happy about being there…and then there’s a guy in a Barney the Dinosaur costume posing right there with them.
Are we missing something? Does this always happen at Prom?
Don’t Mess With Dad
This boy is obviously regretting taking the Prom pictures at his date’s house because he wasn’t expecting her dad to be there.
Much less expecting him to get in the photos himself, with a giant automatic weapon strapped to his side, with a look that says “hurt my daughter and I will end you”.
He’s smiling for the picture, but you just know that he’s sweating through his suit jacket.
