Downey High’s students dressed to impress for their Escape to Neverland themed Winter Formal held in the Knotts Berry Farm Ballroom on Jan 31. Some took an enormous amount of effort, time, and money preparing for this night, which mostly went towards finding the perfect attire for the occasion, while others did not need to spend as much time finding the right choice.
Though Mollie Beemer, 11, planned on attending Winter Formal before the tickets went on sale, finding her dress and a matching tie for her date was far less time consuming than most.
“I went shopping in downtown LA in the fashion district and I originally wanted a blue dress, and didn’t find anything, so my mom found this dress. At first I didn’t like it, but they said to try it on and it ended up looking really nice so I got it,” Beemer said. “I only had to make one trip looking for a dress and it only took like an hour and a half.”
Beemer mentioned that finding the perfect matching shoes was the most challenging part, but finally found a pair at Forever 21 in the Stonewood Mall. In total she states that everything came out to be about $160.
Unlike Beemer, Lakisha Wheat, 12, made a last minute decision to go to formal a week before.
“I wasn’t really looking for a certain style,” Wheat said. “It took me the whole week to find a dress and I had to get it fitted. I probably made like 10 trips looking for this dress.”
Wheat went from looking for her dress in down town LA, to a couple of dress shops in Lynwood, to finally finding her silver and black high-low dress at the Lakewood Mall, one of the 3 malls she went to.
“My parents bought my shoes and they went perfect with the dress, “Wheat said. “I took flats because I knew I was not going to last long in heels. I probably put on the flats after an hour at formal. For everything I probably spent about $300.”
Melissa Garcia, 12, began searching for her dress in December, despite the fact her boyfriend, Robert Salazar, 12, hadn’t asked her until a week prior to formal. Instead of buying it from a mall or dress shop, she had her dress custom made to resemble a designer Sherri Hill dress she came across online.
“The dress was [a] peach, two-piece and was $150,” Garcia said. “I bought gold heels to match and accessories were simple: gold dangling earrings and gold bracelet. Everything including pictures came out to be about $260.”
Regardless of the difference in taste or the effort put into finding an outfit, Downey High students were dressed to impress. Making their escape into Neverland a night that they will always remember.
