Campolindo’s junior class of 2026 is filled with excitement and anticipation for their prom dance on April 19. As the date approaches, some students have begun to dress hunt for their desired outfits. With that comes the debate on dress length.
A five year tradition at Campolindo involves junior prom dresses to typically be shorter, while the senior ball dresses are typically longer, wanting to make the senior ball more special. This tradition has been known to create mixed feelings for many during this time as some believe the prom should be just as special.
An Instagram poll asking for the desired prom dress length was posted to the junior class account. It had a dramatic result with over 70 percent of the students wanting a long dress, while around 30 percent wanted to keep the tradition of years past. The controversy arose after the leadership class decided to make a new post stating they wanted to continue with the tradition, upsetting many and contradicting the poll results. Some now are questioning, why should we keep a tradition that isn’t following the desire of the majority?
Junior Sarita Berks shared her opinion of the switch up, stating, “I was a little confused why they would take a poll and ask everyone what they preferred, if they weren't going to change anything based on what everyone answered.” Many other people echoed Berks confusion, stating concerns about their opinions not being heard. Some felt the decision wasn’t relating to what the student body wanted.
Junior Ella Binney is a member of the Campolindo leadership committee and helps coordinate the school dances. Binney stated, “we were originally going to go with long dresses but there was a lot of backlash from the seniors feeling like the tradition was being taken away from them and that we were taking away the specialty of them having long dresses.”
The seniors wanted the short dresses for prom to allow the ball to be that much more special and, although the length upsets some, others have a different point of view. Senior Avaya Stone mentions why she's happy she waited, “I think the tradition of the short dress makes senior ball so much more special so i think it was definitely something to look forward to like getting to wear the long dress. It's also something that's financially affordable because buying two long dresses can be expensive.” This point of view shows why others are in favor of keeping the tradition of short dresses.
Whether you're in favor or opposed to the tradition, prom will be just as fun. The length of the dress won’t matter when you're dancing with your friends.
