Emily Ota | Writer
February 5, 2025
Winter Formal is a long held tradition among high schools all over the country. Traditionally, the dance is the main focus for the sparkly event, but today, many kids use Winter Formal as an excuse to dress up with friends and skip the dance, opting instead to go bowling or attend parties. While many of the dance’s customs have remained untouched, such as wearing corsages and pre-dance pictures at Pines Park, Winter Formal has definitely shifted with the times. From dresses and suits to activities and hairdos, Winter Formal at San Clemente is not the same as it used to be!
For students in the 90’s, Winter Formal was a big deal. Teenagers looked forward to getting dressed up, asking out dates, and dancing the night away. Annika Lawrence (San Clemente Class of 1997) loved the dance and reminiscences that “it was always so much fun, and the whole school pretty much went.”
Everybody had dates for Winter Formal, even if that meant asking your friend. The tradition of girls asking boys was still a thing in the 90’s, but Lawrence adds that it was not with the big poster signs used today. She comments about the creative ways girls would ask out the boys to Winter Formal, for example, she says, “a friend and I wrote a song, recorded it on a tape, and gave it to our dates.”
Everyone wanted to look their best, and Lawrence describes how girls would go all-out getting ready and usually completed their look with the trendy updo. She explains that “updos were the ‘thing’ and girls would go to salons to get them done. In terms of dresses, they were different for everybody. Some wore short, some wore long, but the in-style material for the era was silky fabric. Lawrence adds that she always sewed her own dresses for her own unique outfit. Boys, on the other hand, had different means of getting ready for Winter Formal. They usually rented suits and made their outfits pop with fun shoes. If they did not rent, “they’d go thrifting for funky jackets instead,” Lawrence recalls.
To get to the dance, which was usually in Irvine or Camp Pendleton, people would rent stretch limos to take with their dates and friends. In one case, Lawrence painted a car to drive to Winter Formal with her date, Brett, (now husband), and another couple.
Once at the dance, there were no extra activities to keep the students entertained, so the attendees spent the entire time dancing. There were no phones or digital cameras, just memories to keep the Winter Formal nights alive. Music like Mariah Carey, R&B, and Hip-Hop were popular at the dances, and Lawrence particularly points out that “It wasn’t Winter Formal unless Boyz II Men’s ‘End of the Road’ played at the end of the night.”
In contrast, Winter Formal today is not based around the actual dance. While some people do go to the dance, there seems to be a general lack of interest in the event (partly due to it being far away). However, most teenagers do take the opportunity to ask a date, get dressed up, take group pictures at Pines Park, go to dinner, and follow up with an activity like bowling or laser tag to end the night.
The 2025 Winter Formal took place last Saturday, February 1st, and sophomore Brooks Lawrence (Annika’s son and member of Winter Formal’s 2025 court) says that he had a blast. He was asked to the dance by a girl, but it was not in a song like his mother, it was by the more common poster boards of today. Brooks states that his friend group was 50/50 when it came to dates, with half who went by themselves and half who went with a date.
Outfits in 2025 have lots of similarities to the 90’s. Girls still wear nice dresses; some long, but most short. Boys try their best with either full suits or nice shirts and ties. Overall, the attire for Winter Formal aligns closely with the 90’s, just a little tamed down in terms of spunk. Girls’ hair is very different from before because they can usually do it themselves at home. They commonly either curl or straighten their hair and leave it down, while boys just keep their natural hair and at most comb it down a bit.
Instead of a stretch limo or painted car, Brooks went to the dance on a party bus with friends. However, it is safe to say that most kids drove to the dance with their everyday cars.
Today’s Winter Formal dance is full of activities. Brooks described how it had “poker and black jack…a fun karaoke room…a dirty soda bar…[and] photo booths.” In addition to the various activities at the venue, teens still danced and moshed to the DJ. The music were popular songs that everybody knew so people were singing along the entire night.
While some things have changed over the years, Winter Formal is still a memorable night looked forward to by students. Dresses and hair trends are temporary, but the memories made with friends in high school will stay forever!
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