Teens Nailed Wearing Their Mom’s Vintage Dresses to Prom

Prom goers and parents all know about the behind-the-scenes stress and drama that come with the territory. You’ve got to hunt for the perfect outfit, spend cash on dinner, manage the photography, and deal with the miscellaneous issues that pop up.

Image by Amy Kate on Unsplash

Some mothers and daughters seem to have gotten wise, though, and decided they're going to worry about one thing less. You see, instead of going out to buy a new prom dress, they’re making use of gowns that are already in the family!

“Wore my mama’s dress to prom,” this young woman tweeted in 2015. Both mother and daughter looked great in this gown that features gold detail along the straps, a plunging neckline, and an ultra dramatic slit up the leg.

Image by @jaydamh / Twitter

We’ll give you a spoiler alert right now: Many of the dresses in this roundup are black, leaving us to suspect that it might be the single most timeless and gorgeous color for formalwear.

The 1970s were the era of mod, but that doesn't mean that every style actually held its own in the following decades (looking at you, men's flared pantsuits).

Image by @Kira Brenner / Facebook

That's not true for this look, though. "Since I was wearing my mom's senior prom dress from the '70s, we had to recreate this gem," this young woman wrote. That strap detail across the chest looks like something you'd see in a store window today!

This young woman’s mother, pictured at left, originally wore this bold pattern to a prom in 1986. Her daughter managed to rock the same item in 2014 by wearing it to her school’s “tacky prom.”

Image by @cicelyp / Instagram

Tacky proms are school dances that mimic the same setup as a prom but trade the formality for a bit of weirdness. Students are encouraged to dress wildly for a night of dancing to goofy throwback tracks from decades past.

It looks like this mother was able to gift her daughter with more than just genetics: Confidence, taste, and one of the most amazing prom dresses ever. The pattern, cutout, and belly straps come together for a gown that is the very definition of slay.

Image by @Tiffany Sims / Facebook

(Also, this young woman is lucky to not attend one of the many schools enacting supremely strict dress codes for prom these days. There are so many high schools creating strict standards for young women’s gowns. What gives?)

“My daughter ordered a pretty gown online for her senior prom this year, and when it arrived, it wasn’t what she had hoped,” wrote this mom on Facebook. “Four days away from prom, she decided to raid my closet while I was at work.”

Her daughter was able to take the dress in for tailoring, turning it something seriously awesome.

Image by @Hope Buzzell-Bates / Facebook

“Who knew that my USMC ball dress from 1995 would see the light of day again?” her mom wrote.

This black floor-length gown looked great at mom’s prom as well as her daughter’s. It’s even sleek enough that it could be worn for many other events, too. If you think about it, wearing a vintage dress is a super smart choice. It reduces your prom expenses by hundreds of dollars—some prom goers end up spending the most money on their gown, after all, so this cuts out a major cost.