The other day, my friend was talking about how her prom was going to be held in an outdoor beach cabana, and that she was thinking about getting a new bikini for the event. At first I thought it was the coolest idea in the world, but then of course I changed my mind: prom night is all about getting dressed up in formal prom dresses! You can wear bikinis everyday during the summer (well, I guess depending on where you live, you could wear it all year too!), but prom night is that one night to be special. So come on, you know you want to deck out in a really special dress. I know I totally wanted to, and I ended up getting a beautiful dress'read on for my story!

When I got invited to my first prom, I was only a freshman and I was totally terrified about going to the upperclass prom with my date who was a junior. But then I got really excited about wearing something classy, and started looking for some dresses that would fit my style. The problem was that it was my first time, and I didn't know where to get started. So I immediately thought that formal would mean long gowns, so started searching for some long prom dresses. And in fact, there were definitely amazing long gowns that were elegantly formal ' check out some of Terani's great designs that show off the soft, feminine, and classic side of a girl in long, sweeping dresses! Jovani also had some great print designs in long dresses that showed off a unique pattern on the skirts.

However, I kept looking and realized that there were much more to formal prom dresses than just length! I mean, there were lots of different styles of tops to choose from. Immediately, I noticed that strapless dresses were really eye-catching because they focused everyone's attention to your shoulders and knew I would get a chance to show off some gorgeous accessories. Since the current trend tends to go with more layers of stones than with just classic pearls, I got excited about the combinations of chokers or necklaces I could pair with my formal dresses.

The other details that caught my eye were the embellishments on the skirts. A lot of them had beautiful prints on them, floral or geometric, that gave nice finishing touches to the ends. Nothing was as impressive, however, as the ruffled dresses I saw! The fabulous ruffles I saw on some Mignon dresses made me think of blooming flowers ' that might sound corny, but take a look yourselves at the intricacy! Gigi also had a split skirt with ruffles starting on both ends that made it look like such a fairy-tale dress. I felt like a storybook character just imagining myself in such a gown!

So if you're looking for formal prom dresses as I was, check out all the different varieties of styles out there. I'm sure you'll find a perfect dress that will make sure night special and classy.