Classic Prom Hairstyles & The Best Prom Movies Ever
To celebrate the launch of our new hairdressing course Classic Prom Hairstyles, we’ve put together a list of our favourite movies featuring Proms, and the Prom hairstyles that accompanied them. So, grab the popcorn and enjoy the show, and take comfort that your high school days are over!
Spoiler Alert. Even though most of these films are at least 20 years old and you really should have seen them by now!
Valley Girl
Based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, 1983’s Valley Girl sees Nicholas Cage, as the poor misfit kid from the wrong side of the tracks and Deborah Foreman. Needless to say, the star-crossed lovers get the happy ending after the Prom.
Let’s take a closer look!
This was Cage’s first major film following a small role in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and set a high standard for his eccentric haircuts in other films.
The most 80s haircut ever
Pretty in Pink
This classic teen flick from John Hughes, Pretty in Pink featured Molly Ringwald, Andrew McCarthy and Jon Cryer. Ringwald is the poor misfit girl from the wrong side of tracks and McCarthy the cool rich kid who falls for her.
Seriously, that a massive quiff!
The film’s most notable Prom hairstyle is Jon Cryer’s character Ducky’s big 80s quiff that’s as big as his face.
Back To The Future
One of the biggest film franchises of all time, the first Back to the Future saw 80’s icon Marty McFly (Michael J Fox) travelling back to the 1950s in a DeLorean. While not strictly a Prom, the Enchantment Under the Sea dance sees McFly invent rock n roll while trying to not have sex with his mother. Who says teen films can’t be dark?
The things we do to avoid getting off with mum
Hair wise, look out for Lea Thompson’s 50s wave and formal prom hairstyle, all the buzz cuts and flat tops and Christopher Lloyd’s mental Doc Brown mad scientist hair.
At least she made an effort for Prom
Teen Wolf
Michael J Fox followed up Back To The Future with Teen Wolf, a comedy about a werewolf going to high school and becoming a basketball star. Obvious really.
What’s really scary about the film is how it predicted the hipster beard and hairstyle we all know today.
Teen Wolf was a hipster before hipsters existed
Peggy Sue Got Married
Nicholas Cage stars in this time travel movie with Kathleen Turner as his ex-wife who returns to the 50s to rediscover what a douchebag he is.
Spoiling the prom hair with a cardboard and tinfoil crown
She really should have just checked out his quiff and run.
Nicholas Cage’s hair takes another starring role, while Jim Carrey goes for a buzzcut
Footloose
In Footloose Lori Singer (out of Fame) and Kevin Bacon (out of everything) star as a preacher’s rebellious daughter and a kid from the wrong side of the tracks battling to dance in the Bible Belt. The final dance scene shot through soft-focus distorted lenses looks really strange.
Not too shabby for the 1980s
I have to admit that Singer’s and Bacon’s prom hairstyles are sort of ok for the 80s. But I bet the theme song is now in your head.
Mean Girls
One of the greatest teen movies of all time, Mean Girls stars Lyndsay Lohan as a misfit kid from the wrong side of the tracks (well, Africa) struggling to make friends with the ‘Plastics’ – the group of spoilt bitchy girls who rule the school by being really judgemental and cruel, run by Rachel McAdams.
Don’t worry about the tiara, her hair can’t look any worse.
Lohan teaches them a lesson through tricks and humiliations, including fattening one girl up with ‘diet’ bars and giving another a dose of diarrhoea in the canteen. It’s funnier than it sounds.
She eventually makes it to the prom to give the whole school the prom queen title and a happy ending.
Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion
The only Friends star to make a watchable movie, Lisa Kudrow stars with Mira Sorvino as two misfit friends from the wrong side of the tracks determined to make a splash at their school reunion.
Great ponytail Mira
Not a pure prom movie to be sure, but close enough and worth checking out for Mira Sorvino’s fabulous ponytail. And the jokes.
10 Things I Hate About You
Based on Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, this film features Heath Ledger as the bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks who eventually falls for Julia Stiles uninterested ‘shrew’.
Finally a film with a decent prom hairstyle, if not some misplaced values about feminism!
Finally someone makes an effort to go to the salon and get a decent Prom hairstyle
There’s Something About Mary
Ben Stiller and Cameron Diaz star in this hilarious gross out comedy as a couple reunited years after a disastrous date. Unfortunately, the pair never made it to the prom due to an ‘unfortunate’ zipper incident concerning Stiller’s frank and beans.
Frank and Beans!!
The film also features the greatest hair product joke of all time.
Is that hair gel? Great…
Carrie
Finally we come to the greatest prom movie ever. Sissy Spacek plays the naïve misfit from the wrong side of the tracks struggling to cope with teenage hormones and the inevitable psycho-psychic abilities they bring. We all remember what it was like.
The film concludes with possibly the worst dye-job in film history before Carrie unleashes her rage on the school bullies.
Time to find a new colourist
Look out for a young John Travolta’s 70’s bushy hairdo.
It was the 70s
Don’t let your clients’ prom end up as a bloodbath or embarrassing comedy. Sign up for the MHDPro Classic Prom Hairstyles Course now!
Watch the Classic Prom Hairstyles Course Trailer
MHDPro.com’s online hairdressing training courses provide a structured approach to learning from video tutorials. Every lesson within the course builds on the previous, so techniques are learned, repeated and embedded, then taken to the next stage. The learner progress naturally until by the end of the short course, they fully understand the principles and can transfer their new skills in to the salon. They can even download a certificate to prove they've completed the course.
Visit MHDpro.com today and discover a range of hairdressing training courses that you can easily incorporate into your in-salon training programmes to motivate and incentivise your team.
