Recently, on Twitter, a friend commented that he can't hear "Pretty in Pink" by The Psychedelic Furs
While I hate John Hughes for taking a great punk song and making it a mainstream anthem for late 80s teen angst of haves against have-nots, I love him for the indelible message he sent through that movie to girls my age about resourcefulness, independence, and strength despite insecurity — about the timeless possibility of looking pretty by going ready made instead of spending a fortune on ready to wear.
Who didn't want to hack apart an old bridesmaid dress and whip up their own fabulous frock for prom after watching Andie Walsh do the same, then strut into the soiree, Duckie on her arm, and make Blane swoon? I know at least Chloe Dao and I did — we shared a moment at BlogHer 2007, talking about making our prom dresses from our mom's old bridesmaid dresses, inspired by none other than Andie Walsh. For me, it was just a way for a poor kid to keep up appearances among the rich girls in my prestigious Boston suburb, for her it launched a fashion career and a Project Runway win. Sigh. Choices.
Anyway, the scene from Pretty in Pink is as iconic for any Gen X girl as Lloyd Dobler hoisting that boombox to his shoulder to win over Diane Court is for any Gen X guy. Which is why I was psyched when my friend Brooke, via Facebook, introduced me to the Stuck at Prom scholarship contest, hosted by Duck Tape. The true spirit of punk and a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor are alive and well in this DIY scholarship contest, which has apparently been going strong for almost a decade now.
According to Patti Sack from Duck Tape, with whom I had the pleasure of speaking by phone today, "..[the contest] is just a lot of fun," she said. "It came up as a way to connect with the new generation of consumers who are using Duck Tape as a crafting medium. We were getting tons of calls about the innovative ways Duck Tape was being used, so we came up with Stuck at Prom as a way to engage the younger audience and demonstrate the company's commitment to education."
And commit they did. Since the first Stuck at Prom contest in 2001, according to Sack, Duck Tape has given $70,000 in scholarship money to students and $36,000 to their representative schools. First place winners each receive $3K for first place, plus $3K for their school, second place is $2K, and third place is $1K — totalling $18K in cash prizes for each year's contest. Seems to me, for crafty teenage Shoestringers out there, this is the perfect opportunity to offset the cost of college while having fun and baring your punk rock soul.
Make Andie and Duckie proud by going to StuckAtProm.com by June 8th to enter, or check out Stuck at Prom winners from previous years and 2009 Stuck at Prom entries for inspiration. It only took last year's winner Sharon Dranko three months to complete her outfit and one for her date...and 100 rolls of Duck Tape. Get cracking!
~ Melissa
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