Ah, prom. A quintessential teen experience that somehow manages to take every single one of those high octane, conflicting emotions felt during the entire school year and condense them into one solitary evening. All while everyone is dressed in elegant evening wear.
Though prom began as early as the 1800s as a simple cotillion, it has evolved over the years to become more extravagant—what with “promposals” and limousines and celebrity appearances. But, it has also evolved to become more LGBTQ inclusive and challenging of old gender rules.
Prom is (and continues to be) such an integral part of teen culture that it’s the central plot of many well loved rites-of-passage movies like “Pretty in Pink,” “She’s All That,” and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” Hopefully, your own prom was more like these movies, and less like “Carrie.”
But the truth is: for many of us, prom really was somewhere between a romantic comedy and a horror movie. For every romantic slow dance and first kiss there were also plenty of fashion disasters, alcohol experiments gone wrong and relationship drama. Lots and lots of relationship drama. Successes and failures, if you will.
In honor of prom season, Jimmy Fallon asked his “Tonight Show” audience to share some of their most memorable prom fails on Twitter. Here are 20 that were just too hilarious and/or relatable not to share. Hopefully it will help you love your own #PromFail.
Fallon went first.
1.
“My friend ripped his tuxedo and spent the night crying because he thought Men’s Wearhouse was going to sue him.” – @jimmyfallon
2.
“A guy I knew rented a tuxedo and died on his way to prom. It wasn’t damaged, so his family decided to bury him while wearing it, but forgot it was just a rental and they didn’t buy it, so they ended up with a huge debt and the other partygoers had to help them pay.” – @jon_jonz
3.
“A friend of mine was planning on going with a girl he had liked for many years. He was so nervous, he got Very drunk, then ended up throwing up all over his rented suit AND spending the night in jail for underaged drinking as he was entering, so she had to go alone…” – @Sallyjo25
4.
“Our limo driver was pulled over at the venue and turns out he was driving with an expired license and we had no way to get home so we had to scramble during prom to find another limo.” – @allieng07
5.
“My date’s ex-boyfriend showed up to the prom and won her back. He didn’t even go to our school. I still paid for their room.” – @chrisfreas
6.
“I was walking up to a girl in the cafeteria to ask her to prom and someone threw a big piece of cake and hit me in the head right as I got there. Long story short, she went with someone else and I became known as ‘cake boy.'” – @gumgumerson
7.
“I was dumped on prom. That’s it.” – @beastmodemom247
8.
“End of the night, stepped outside the perimeter to see my date off. A total distance of about 10 feet. Well within eye shot. Was denied re-entry because 1. I went on the grass (a real excuse they used) and 2. They genuinely thought I was a stranger crashing the party.” – @L_Drumer
9.
“We didn’t have a prom in 90’s UK but did have a disco. I don’t imagine U.S. proms had a quality beige buffet of sausage rolls, chicken legs, vol-a-vents & chips; & a DJ who waited till each record ended before lifting it off the player and putting the next one on!” – @Optimist_Eeyore
10.
“One year they played “Cruise” by Florida Georgia Line – the grind pit immediately vacated the floor and the only ones left were like 8 of us that decided to square dance while everyone left to quench their thirst off the dance floor.” – @TotallyVannah
11.
“The Prom King and Queen were twins. Their slow dance song was “Truly Madly Deeply”. They pleaded with the DJ to find another song, and when asked why, they yelled “We’re twins!” The DJ quickly picked another song: “Always be my baby.” The king walked away, grumbling.” – @overbaughs
12.
“Walked in dressed to impress including fake fur. Walked beautiful self to bathroom sat down and realized the feet next stall facing towards toilet. I had been so self absorbed I walked into mens room.” – msyvonnne2u
13.
“My date’s friend was trying to impress me by breakdancing. He ended up slipping on his own sweat and broke his wrist in the process. I guess he put the break in breakdancing.” – overbaughs
14.
“My girlfriend and I broke up right before my senior Prom! She ended up not going at all, so when we won queen and king, my friend just yelled out ‘that’s one lonely castle”’! – @claydoughrocks
15.
“A bunch of the girls in my class all got their super puffy, super expensive dresses from the same place. By the end of the night, they were stuck sitting because their dresses were falling apart. Meanwhile, 18 years later. I still have my maybe $200 dress.” – SaiyanaBrief
16.
“My husband and I are teachers. We were chaperones and he was doing the Russian bottle dance and tore his meniscus. Life’s little reminder he was 40.” – MrsMieschigan
17.
“Our prom was booked at a hotel resort. When prom committee went to decorate and setup the space. There was a huge wedding party already in progress. Wedding party offered more money so resort Mgr took it. Took 3+ yrs in court to get the $21k fee they refused to refund.” – @DingleBob
18.
“I wore the wrong spanx under my dress, does this really need more explaining?” – @itstherealmeboo
19.
“After leaving prom my date and I were involved in a 9 car accident on the freeway. Just bruises luckily, and hey we got to ride in the same ambulance together.” – @Wayren
For the last one, let’s just say a picture’s worth a thousand words:
20.
My daughter and her friends thought it would be fun to take pictures in the rainforest at our zoo. This was the moment a bird decided to fly right at them. #PromFail pic.twitter.com/wMMVdyrVJZ
— Lisa Hebert (@lmhksu) May 10, 2022