Staking out prom fashion at South Coast Plaza show

Stefanie Frith

Mix hundreds of teenage girls with Nashville’s version of the

Backstreet Boys and you get a room full of ear-popping screams, giggling

and more screams. Throw in a fashion show full of this year’s hottest

prom dresses and, well, you get more screaming.

Macy’s South Coast Plaza was host to Seventeen Magazine’s Prom 2001

Style Tour Saturday afternoon. More than 400 teenage girls and their moms

attended the fashion show, which was kicked off by Marshall Dyllon, a

band of five young guys from Tennessee. After the fashion show,

make-overs were offered as well as an autograph signing by the band.

Rosemarie Robles, spokeswoman for Macy’s, said it was a natural choice

that the fashion show take place at Macy’s South Coast Plaza because the

Costa Mesa store is the largest in Southern California.

Other fashion shows by Seventeen will take place in locations like

Dallas and San Francisco. Robles also said that Macy’s has had a

long-standing partnership with Seventeen and tries to combine together as

much as possible for fashion shows and other events.

Most of who attended the Prom 2001 Style Tour said that even though

prom is more than two months away, they have already started the hunt for

the perfect dress. Others were there for eighth grade graduation dresses

or simply just a pretty dress for a special occasion.

Angela Ordaz, an 18-year-old from Rancho Santa Margarita, said she has

already begun her prom search.

“I am hopefully going to prom,” Ordaz said, shouting over the screams

and pulsating music. “We, my friend and I, just happened to be walking

through and saw the show starting and thought it would be a good idea to

watch. I am looking for a silver dress, so I hope they show one soon.”

Dozens of dresses were modeled by members of the Orange County

Regional Ballet, and silver dresses were modeled in the “Precious Metals”

category. There was also a black and white category, a “Bright Nights”

section, which included jewel tones and a “Pastels Princess” section full

of poofy, flouncy dresses.

“We want to bring our March pages to life,” Nicole Kenneally,

merchandise director for Seventeen, said. “March is the prom issue. We

don’t want to tell the girls what to wear, we just want to give them a

wide variety and just get the ideas out there.”

Kenneally also said that this year, it’s all about sparkly dresses and

makeup.

“Teens like sparkles. That’s why the precious metals, like gold and

silver, are really popular,” she said as a group of girls waved pom poms

and screamed in anticipation for the first round of dresses. “Black and

white is also a huge trend. And a lot of what they wear to prom depends

on what is worn at the Oscars. Girls want to be just as sexy as Julia

Roberts or Salma Hayek on prom night.”

Lauren Bennett of Orange said she is definitely looking for a sparkly,

princess-style dress.

“I want a pink dress that is really poofy,” the 17-year-old said. “So

it’s good to come to something like these fashion shows so you can see

what you want. For me, it’s all about the princess dress. But first, I

have to get a date.”