UK Teens Make Epic Prom Entrance In Giant Barbie Boxes

The flashy prom entrance is generally thought of as a American pastime, but the epidemic seems to be spreading. Understandably so, too—although the prom itself is almost bound to disappoint (or at least it was circa 2005 (hello, soggy chicken, Eve 6’s “Here’s To The Night” slow dance and immensely damning photographic evidence), at the very least you can make the action of rolling up to prom “a rolling up to remember.” This practice is catching on in the UK; three days ago two girls from Glouchestershire found that all of the area limos were booked for the big night and decided to take a helicopter to their prom eight miles away. But they’ve already been one-upped by Emily Pounde and Hannah Jagger, 16-year-old best friends and Year 11s at England’s Wadham School in Crewkerne, Somerset, who hatched a plan to arrive at their prom in life-sized Barbie boxes.

It took £250 and the help of Pounde’s mom Christine (OK, “help” means “Mom made them”) to create the 6′ by 2′ hand-painted pink floral boxes decorated with battery-powered lights, protective screens and Mattel branding. The two kept their plans secret from their friends until prom night arrived, and Pounde and Jagger got in their boxes and were delivered to their high school on a flatbed trailer. And it was worth it, the girls said—they were the talk of the prom all night. “It was something I will never forget,” said Pounde. “All the teachers and our friends kept saying how brilliant it was, the amount of attention was amazing.”

It feels macabre and yet somewhat important to note that it’s only the vertical aspect that keeps this from being Two Young Women Arrived At Prom In Sparkly Pink Dream Coffins. Never underestimate the importance of geometric planes!

Teenagers get ‘dolled up’ as Barbies for school prom’ [Telegraph UK]
‘They’ll make a PROM-pt arrival in that! Schoolgirls copy flashy US tradition and take a helicopter to their prom because all the limousines were booked’ [Daily Mail]