As the year begins, Laguna Beach High School’s Winter Formal is right around the corner. Dress shopping becomes a top priority, but what trends and styles will students be wearing? It is a notorious fact that trends will rise and fall across social media. The coquette aesthetic is a popular trend and aesthetic that peaked at the end of the year and continued into 2024. This particular style derives from themes relating to bows, lace, and light pink. The inspiration stemmed from TikTok, Instagram, and Pinterest, which will most definitely see a resurgence at this year’s dance. Another upcoming new style is a slightly retro look with heavy patterns, including cheetah, polka dolls, etc. This year, it is also possible for more people to opt for a black silk simple dress. Many students might gear toward this option due to its simplicity and lack of attraction toward the dress and the person wearing it. Floral patterns or lace could be spotted since it draws inspiration from the coquette aesthetic. The prediction of long-flowing dresses with less shape leaning out of tight-fitted dresses can be easily detectable because of the shift social media is making toward a less skin-tight perspective; you can look cute and not have to accentuate your body to the extremes.
Throughout the days leading up to Winter Formal, the Brush and Palette team ran a Google Form asking what they would wear to dress to impress. Approximately 75% of the students replied, stating they planned to attend in either light pink or silk black. This prediction ran accurately as seen:
“While considering my dress, I was in the market for a bolder and bigger look,” said senior Coco Black. This is why I went with a hot pink silk dress with my favorite pair of Adidas Sambas to dress down the look a bit.
“I’m wearing a long black silk dress with lace wrapped around the hem with a big black bow in the back,” said sophomore Aniela Cavka. I chose this dress because I enjoy the simplicity yet stylistic choice of the bow as an accent.”
“I chose to wear a black long dress with an open back because it looks more sophisticated and mature compared to previous years,” said junior Lauren Norrix.
“I’m torn between wearing a short black dress or a long one since simplicity was my main concern this year, I was not interested in having a ‘stand-out dress’,” said senior Grace Barasamian.
“I decided on wearing a long black glittery dress with a side slit paired with black bedazzled heels to elevate the look together,” said freshman Kylie Osburn.
“Wearing a green silk dress was the way to go because I saw that not that not many people wanted to go for that option, it is a stand-out choice for sure,” said sophomore Inara Herring.
As a whole, it is certain that the predictions ran true as well as exceeded the expectations of what to expect for a Winter Formal dance.
