The American Civil Liberties Union has issued a letter to superintendents in Utah informing them it is unconstitutional to ban same-sex couples from attending school events.

A female high school student was asked to leave a school dance because she brought a girl as a date. Equality Utah instructed the student to contact the ACLU. Based on previous court precedence under the First Amendment banning a same-sex couple is a violation of equal rights.

Allowing high schools students to bring same-sex dates to school dances has been a highly contentious issue over the last few years. Last week the first lesbian homecoming king and queen couple in the US  received hate mail after receiving national media coverage for their titles. One step forward, one leap back.

You also might remember the Mississippi prom that was cancelled after a student asked if she could bring a female date to the dance. This student sued her school for sending her to a fake prom. While in Utah it doesn’t seem like legal action will be made, the student is making sure other students don’t go through the same ordeal. Because they shouldn’t.

On top of being unconstitutional, questioning high school students right to be involved in a same-sex relationships has also proved to be detrimental. Youth who identify as LGBTQ are two to three times more likely to commit suicide then their heterosexual counterparts. Even in Canada where same-sex marriage is legalized, LGBTQ teens are still being bullied and some are still committing suicide.

Ending bullying by peers unfortunately seems like a lofty goal, but what can be done is ending the bullying from school officials. I know we’re saying that it gets better, but I agree with Canadian comedian Rick Mercer that it’s time to make it better now.

Big mistake. Huge.

So I was flipping through some old Facebook albums the other day (you know the ones people label THROWBACKS! OLDSCHOOL! And OMG WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!! ) when in between fits of hysterical laughter, I started to catch sight of what I actually looked like. And all I can say is, seriously? I mean, seriously? I know I was young and naïve, but I don’t remember being that naïve.

Unstyled hair.
Poorly applied makeup.
And terrible, terrible fashion choices.

But the thing is, I wasn’t alone in these choices. No, they were all the rage once upon a time. Don’t pretend you didn’t think you were so cool with your Victoria’s Secret PINK sweatpants and ponchos (hopefully not worn together). I know you were right there with me, doing the sideways look in the mirror, thinking you looked so good. But really, none of us had any no clue what we were doing. And now years later, as seasoned fashionistas, we can look back on these fashion disasters and laugh.

Or cry. Whichever you prefer, really.

10. The original Ugg Boot. I already know people are going to rage against this one, but Uggs are not attractive. They’re just not. Comfortable? Yes. Warm? Yes. But not attractive. And although they’re still around today, worn on those rainy/snowy/slushy/extra cold days when nothing else seems quite as appropriate, I will forever think of my high school years as the Uggs-with-skirts years. And those are some very bad years.

9. The Messy Bun. Flip your head over. Compile all of your hair into a ball atop your head. Wrap a hair tie around it. Styling complete. It’s still worn today, but at least in college we can admit that it’s not so much attractive as it is convenient…

8. Platform flip flops. They seemed so cool at the time, and added that extra bit of height that we pre-pubescent teens still needed, but really, really, what were we thinking? “God, I really want my leg to look thick and stumpy”? Thank goodness we’ve traded up to four inch stiletto heels that kill our feet, instead.

7. The poofy prom dress. Or the poofy Sweet 16 dress? The poofy bat mitzvah dress? At some point you wore a dress completely covered in tulle. A dress with sparkles and bows. A dress that you loved at the time. It was THE.PERFECT.DRESS. Now? Well, now you look back and try to even find yourself in all that tulle.

6. Velour Sweatsuits. Granted, these things are also still around, but now they’re associated more with The Real Housewives of New Jersey than they are with impressionable, young high school girls. These probably wouldn’t have looked quite so bad if they didn’t come in the most ridiculous colors ever. Or you know, if they didn’t have the word “juicy” stamped across the butt. Oh yes, which reminds me…

5. Label Whoring. Ed Hardy. Victoria’s Secret. VonDutch. Kangol. Coach. Juicy. Anything with any name that could possibly be placed anywhere. Bedazzled. Bejeweled. Painted on. It didn’t matter where it was, or who it was, as long as people recognized it.

4. Side Swept Bangs. I think I was a junior in high school when the side swept bang craze first hit. Suddenly everywhere I looked, half of a girl’s face was covered by her SUPER CHIC looking bangs. That she cut by herself. Right there in homeroom. With a pair of safety scissors. (True story!) It’s really no surprise that senior year saw the rise of the…

3. Headbands. This was pre-Blair Waldorf. At least, it was for me. Inspired more by the boho chic Mischa Barton, and Nicole Richie, these headbands were super thin little straps of fabric that were really very far from flattering. But that didn’t stop anyone from wearing them.

2. Ponchos. Come on ladies, admit it. Once upon a time you threw on a pair of jeans, your favorite tank top and a brightly colored poncho. Probably something crocheted with lots and lots of fake flowers on it. Think Haley James circa season one of One Tree Hill, which also coincided with my freshman year. Because there’s nothing quite as flattering as a maternity top. Except….

1. Midriff-bearing Tops. No, not the currently popular crop top that flows away from the body (That I really like right now but that will no doubt make it on my list of worst college fashion decisions ever…) but the skin tight baby tee, that was paired with super low rise jeans and sported by Britney and the like.

Ah, memories

Fess up. What were your worst high school fashion mistakes?

As we look to our neighborhood magazine stand, we can start to notice the new crop of mags popping up to kick off spring. And mixed in with all that glorious spring fashion is the creme de la creme of prom style.

Obviously, we aren’t really looking for prom dresses (unless we’re robbing the cradle and dating high school boys), but just seeing these magazines dedicated to high school’s most important night really takes me back. I remember the stressful search for a date (found one a week before!),  coming up with the money for tickets (which, at my school, cost an arm and a leg both years), the limo (who’s friends are we going with, and the after party (who’s friends are we going with, aka, we’re going with my friends, get over it).

Yeah, prom was stressful, but totally worth it. I had a blast both times. Mostly because I spent 60% of the night shaking my groove thang, and the other 40% of the time staring at all the girls in their hideous prom dresses.  You know the ones I mean – the  fashion don’ts dresses that girls completely tricked out and possibly bedazzled to make prom super special. They were annoying then – ruining every picture when the flash reflected off all that sequins – but I loved every tacky minute of it. Even now I find myself drawn to dress department in Macy’s, watching young girls make the biggest fashion mistake of their lives.

So in honor of this joyous season, and some serious internet trawling to avoid the giant paper I have to finish before Spring Break, I bring you the ugliest prom dresses that the internet has to offer:

If teen magazines are to be believed, from January to June, there’s exactly one thing on every female high school student’s mind: prom. Or should I say: ~~*OMG PROM!!@! Only writing out the word like that can give it the respect it deserves.

According to sources like Seventeen, CosmoGirl (now only a website—RIP, CG!), and even classier options like Teen Vogue, prom is the absolute apex of a teenage girl’s existence. The big night apparently requires months of preparation and planning: who’s your date going to be? What are you going to wear? Can you get your dad to spring for a limo? Are you going to lose your virginity, or your dignity, or both? How will you resist the pressure to drink at the after parties? (… Because obviously, nobody ever voluntarily drinks alcohol in high school.)

I know what you’re probably thinking right now: “This is a website for women in college! Why is this stupid blogger talking about something that we all experienced years ago? I can barely remember my own prom. Sure, it seemed really important at the time, and I guess I had fun, but it definitely wasn’t actually the biggest night of my life.”

And that’s exactly my point. Prom fever, frankly, is totally ridiculous. Which makes it a prime topic for this column—because our culture inexplicably imbues this event with so much significance (can you think of a major teen movie that doesn’t end with a prom scene?), any articles that focus on prom are inevitably going to be teeming with Bad Advice for women, if you can call HS seniors “women.” That’s because there’s literally no reason any girl should make such a BFD out of prom in the first place.

But the most egregiously bad prom advice I’ve come across stands in a class of its own. It’s a specialized website on seventeen.com called the “Prom Dress Workout Finder.” The point of the site? To determine what kind of exercises you should be doing so that you don’t look like a big ‘ole cow in your dress of choice, no matter what style it is.

See, if you’re wearing a backless dress, you need to do a move called “The Usher,” according to Seventeen Trainer Jenna Philips in this workout video. But if you’re wearing a minidress, says trainer Jessica Smith, you have to do a different exercise to target your thighs. God help you if your dress is short and you’ve mistakenly been doing The Usher anyway. Probably, your date will end up dumping a bucket of blood on you or something.

It’s bad enough that girls are tricked into buying into the whole prom industry in the first place—but now they’re supposed to perform special exercise routines for the sole purpose of looking nice on a night that, truth be told, is probably going to end with their best friend throwing up on their shoes? There are plenty of great reasons to try to stay fit, but doing it in order to squeeze yourself into a certain dress is not one of them. I wish I could say that I expected better form you, Seventeen… but if I did, I’d be lying. Just like I did when I told my mom I’d be spending the night of prom at my best friend’s house.

I'd rather spend my V-day crying into a bowl of noodles than have to hang out with one of these turds.

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, many of us are spending our days in bed, sifting through photos of boyfriend’s past with a tube of cookie dough in hand while The Fray plays in the background.

No? Just me?
Alrighty then….

Regardless if you’ve hit rock bottom, it’s not easy being single in February when it seems that everyone’s focus is on love: finding it, expressing it (with cheap chocolate), and (unknowingly…hopefully) rubbing it in everyone’s face who hasn’t quite found it yet. Who can judge you, then, for taking a trip down ex-boyfriend memory lane, thinking about all those wonderful little things you had together.

But maybe instead of drowning your sorrows in raw dough thinking of all the good in your past, it’s time to focus on the bad: all those jerks in your history of love who, thankfully, are long gone. Because as much as it sucked then, nothing lifts the spirits quite like realizing you’d rather be alone on V-day than with any one of these losers: (And hey, if you’ve got a man to snuggle up to on February 14th, you can still enjoy knowing he’s not like this.)

Kelly – University of Iowa: He was cute and “funny-a-hole-from-the-back-of-class” hot, but turns out he wasn’t so fond of anything that wasn’t white. When a hypnotist came to our high school and I was hypnotized, I was asked which celebrity I wanted to make-out with. I said Denzel Washington (OMG, duhhh, why not!?!) and he flipped out a month later because I thought a black man was hot. Racism is grosser than any halitosis problem. Yuck. Now, I’ve been dating a Mexican for over 2 years and there is no shame in that.

Samantha – UC Santa Barbara: Spent a long and amazing weekend with this guy that I had just started dating. Weekend included me dropping $220 on a hotel room for a spontaneous night at the beach and money on groceries all weekend, only to find out that he was going to another state to visit a girl for Valentine’s Day AND to see him tell another girl that he “found” all these cool places to hike in the hills (which I showed him). FML.

Christie – NC State: One of the biggest jerks I ever dated asked me if I was going to pick him up so we could go to the movies (on our first date). After I said I couldn’t, he made his friends drive him. When he arrived (late!), he immediately went up to the box office and bought himself a ticket, then turned and got out of the way for me to purchase my own. He wondered why I didn’t sit close to him during the movie (uh, get a clue). Oh, and he asked me out in a text message to be his girlfriend. Like an idiot I said yes, then he randomly could never hang out with me and about a week later I found out through Facebook he asked another girl out and began dating her.

Kelly – Simmons College: So many to choose from. It’s either the guy who broke up with me by not answering my calls for two weeks, or the guy who gave me a facial after I told him not too, then left me in his room while he went back downstairs to the party…

Carly – Grinnell: Wow. There have been a few doozies, for sure, but I think the dude who takes the cake is the one who broke up with me in high school over AIM on the night before finals, then started dating my best friend IN SECRET. That’s right. I didn’t even know they had ever been together until three years later when one of my other friends finally gathered the decency to tell me.

Brittany – University of Saint Thomas: Recently, a guy I had really liked and I were getting into the swing of things.  In fact, we had a steamy make-out sesh in his boat and literally 10 minutes later, I went upstairs and I caught him hooking up with his guy friend’s girlfriend. She was 17.

Meg – University of Delaware: Biggest jerk I’ve ever hooked up didn’t know how to take no for an answer (cut to me walking home by myself at 4am) and still tries every time I see him!

Sara C – Fordham: My first boyfriend broke up with me on my birthday. He said it was because his camp friends didn’t like me–but I’d never met them!

Lauren – University of Michigan: I dated a guy for two months and he ended things via mail. Addressed to Laura.

Alex – Lakehead: It would have to be Alex (yes, same name). He told me he broke up with his girlfriend for me and that he was falling in love with me after knowing each other for a week. Should have clued in, but obviously didn’t. One night at a bar, we kissed a lot and one of his girlfriend’s friends came up to us and tried to hit me because apparently they weren’t actually broken up. Luckily another friend saved the day and convinced the friend to back off.

Elizabeth – UC Berkeley: I think it would have to be the guy that made me pay for my own subway and bus ticket and then go inside and claim seats inside the venue while he smoked a joint.  Oh, and he also ended up giving me a piggyback ride that ended with me falling on my face on the sidewalk and chipping my front tooth in half.  What a winner.

Leah – Ryerson University: I was friends with this guy who I started getting feelings for, but he had a girlfriend so I placed them on the back burner.  Then he told me they broke up, we started hooking up and I started to really like him.  He then stopped talking to me, and I found out they hadn’t actually broken up.  Good times.

Melanie – Northeastern University: Two words: Adderall dick. Makes whiskey dick look like Ron Jeremy’s.

Kim – Stanford: I had been dating this guy for a while and Christmas was coming up. It was going to be our first Christmas as a couple and I spent hours thinking about what I was going to get him. I put together this great gift of all his favorite things and spent a good amount of time (and money) on him. Then we exchanged gifts. He legitimately gave me a candle for Christmas. A candle. And NOT even in my favorite scent. I faked that I liked it at the time and didn’t tell him till a year later how lame his gift was. He responded by saying he gave me the gift of light.

Jessica – FIT: So this guy called me to hang out at around 1:00 am, you know, the usual time to be hanging out.  I was already in bed but I was desperate and stupid so I got up, re-did my make-up and drove to his house.  When I got there, instead of inviting me in, he got in my car and told me his basement was already occupied by his brother so we’d have to “hang out” in my car.  After a few minutes he realized I did not want to make out with him in the back seat of my car, he got pissed off, told me I shouldn’t dress like a slut if I wasn’t going to act like one (I was wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt…) got out, and slammed the door.  Not to mention, I got my tonsils out the next day and he never called to see how I was.

Jessica – Delaware: My 9th grade boyfriend dumped me when I got sick with mono. He then proceeded to yell at me because he would miss soccer season if he caught it and blamed me for ruining his chances at a scholarship. He didn’t catch it. What a winner.

Emmy- Loyola University Chicago: I dated this one boy for three years. He got mad at me and asked my best friend to our senior prom without ever getting around to telling me that we were breaking up. The kicker is that she said yes. Yeah, he kind of sucked…

We  spent the rest of the week thinking about being an independent woman and wondered if we were just being too picky to find that right guy to sweep us off our feet. When that got too depressing we started thinking about the end of the semester instead. There’s still so much left to do before we move out! We have to get ready for graduation, get real jobs or get ready to transfer to a new school (beware if you’re switching to NYU, though; we got some bad news about their financial aid package).

All this stress really made us miss high school, where we would be getting ready for prom right about now. Which is why we are putting the books away for the night and grabbing a drink. Don’t worry, it’s just one.

A few weeks ago we put out a call for prom pics. We thought it would be fun for CollegeCandy readers to share their favorite prom memories with one another and to compare prom experiences. Ok, that’s bullsh*t. We really just wanted to have something fun to look at in the CollegeCandy headquarters.

And boy did we. The prom pictures flooded our inboxes and left many of us “working” late to sort through them. The funny thing is, though, that no matter how many we got and how many different places were represented, prom is the same no matter where you go.

We chose a handful of our favorites to break it all down below. We’re pretty sure you’ll enjoy these more than the actual prom itself as much as we did.

The Posed Group Shot:

There are so many of us that there is no way we can all fit in one frame. Also, one person in this picture will look bad, thereby ruining it for the rest of us.

"Wait, no. You are ruining it! Everyone has to stand in front of their date. That is THE prom pic!"

The Glam Factor:

12 cans of hairspray, 3 bottles of self tanner and countless eyeshadows were used in the taking of this photo.

The Corsage/Dress Color Scheme:

"Thank you for listening and getting a flower to match my dress. Now we will look perfect forever."

The Corsages:

"These things are going to die in a few minutes, so let's get an artsy shot!"

The Putting-On of the Boutonniere:

Girl: "OMG my mouth is KILLING me from all this smiling. But we have to get the pic of me putting this thing on you." Boy: "Watch my nipple, woman."

The “My Baby is All Grown Up” Moment:

"Mom, this is really awkward. Stop crying. Mom. Mom! It's not that big a deal!"

The BFFs:

The just-girls shot must always be taken in a garden setting. Always.

The Limo:

"Ohmygod, mom. Get a picture of this! We're in a limo!"

1 or 2 pictures from the actual event:

"I had class with these girls once freshman year, but they look so pretty so we shoved the camera in my date's hands and made him get a pic."

Look how much FUN WE'RE HAVING!!

Aw. Together forever. Or until they go off to separate colleges and hook up with other people at their first frat party.

The Picture with Asian Tourists
(Ok, so that one isn’t quite so standard, but it is pretty awesome. How could we not include it?)

Sigh. Prom. What we would give to go back there and do it all again (in sweatpants…without a limo….and without that awkward date who spent the entire night at the dinner buffet instead of on the dance floor with us.) At least we can relive it through everyone else’s identical experience.

(Thanks to everyone who submitted prom pictures. You definitely made our week.)

And then it’s over and, with the aid of the 4,256 posed pictures we take in someone’s backyard, we remember it forever.

For some, it’s a fantastic and memorable affair. For others, it’s a waste of 6 hours and $700 that we’ll never get back. But either way, everyone has some pretty vivid memories of that milestone night. Being that it’s prom season, we decided to ask the CollegeCandy writers to share their favorite prom memories.

No joke – some of these will make you LOL. For real.
Share your faves in the comments section below, then send us your prom pics!

Laura – St. John’s: My favorite prom memory was going out to Denny’s and having a sleepover with all my friends afterwards… it was a great way to keep the party going after the dance was over and enjoy one of our last high school events together!

Charlsie – Hollins: The one memory that sticks out from prom is the overwhelming feeling of stupidity for spending so much on my hair, make-up, nails, and dress.

Lauren – University of Michigan: My date left me because I decided to try a Mike’s Hard Lemonade at the after-party. Then, after passing out, I opened my eyes to witness my friend going down on her date.

Mazuba – Westchester Community College: The prom memory that stands out is my dad not letting me go out clubbing after my prom. So I attended the prom after that and partied hard to make up.

Thu – USC: Six or seven of my friends and I were all grinding on each other in a line, and I’m pretty sure we were all sober. Good times.

Elise – Stanford: I’m a big fan of those sticky silicone backless bras (“chicken cutlets”) for prom dresses…but apparently I’m the only one.  My freshman year at Prom I went to the bathroom and found about 8 pairs of sweaty, used sticky bras on the counter of the bathroom.  Either people were too sweaty to keep the stick or wanted to get a little friskier on the dance floor…Needless to say, I was a tad horrified.

Kayla – California State University, Sacramento: My boyfriend at the time had bought me a coffee after dinner (which makes me ridiculously hyper and active) and I ended up spilling it all over his white tux (which made him look like Colonel Sanders, so I didn’t care if it got ruined).

Elizabeth – Berkeley: At my senior prom, my date snuck out of the after-party to see his ex (?) girlfriend at the time.  He left with my camera, my keys, and a handle of alcohol that I bought for us.  The best part?  3 years later we reconnected and we have been dating since January.  Don’t worry, I haven’t even gotten close to letting him live it down.

Sarabeth – University of Texas: My prom ended in me going home early to eat ice cream in my dress because my ex showed up making out with his pregnant girlfriend…and I showed up with the gay guy.

Brithny – Duke: Getting asked to prom by the hottest Korean in our school. Actually, hottest guy in our school. And satisfying my senior-year Korean fetish.

Carly – Grinnell: Ahhhh, prom. When I was a senior, my boyfriend of two years dumped me over IM and then started going out with my best friend. I rebelled by sneaking into prom and dancing with tons of guys that were way better dancers than he ever was.

Sara C- Fordham: I saw two people having sex, standing up, on the dance floor at my senior prom. Word of caution to the ladies of the class of ’09: if you’re going to do that, don’t wear a mini dress so everyone can see, okay?

Erica – Kent State: I went with my BF of 4 years (at the time) to his senior prom.  The next year we were still together & I asked him to take me to mine, but he refused.  He had already graduated & thought he was “too” old (& cool) to take me.   I was the only one of my friends without a date, and the only one with a steady boyfriend. ..FML, or what?

Cristina – Michigan State: My senior prom date “got mono,” didn’t want to dance the entire night, then drank an entire fifth of Jack Daniels at the after party, didn’t talk to me, and left without saying goodbye.  I wish I was kidding.  I love my life.

K – GWU: Sophomore year, I got those stick-on boobs you can buy at the beauty supply to fill out my gown. They started falling off an hour into it, and my best friend thought to attach them with Band-aids in the bathroom, we used about 20 for one boob, only to realize, there were no more Band-aids.

Kim – University of Delaware: It was junior year and the long awaited Junior Prom was right around the corner. My best BEST guy friend, who I had always been in love with, decided to ask me to the magical event. Filled with bliss and love for him (and the help of my first game of spin the bottle) we finally kissed and admitted our love to each other. However, from that day forth, he stopped talking to me. It was two weeks before my dream day when he decided he found a different date. In full force mourning, I asked my guy friend to come with me instead. I started to gain excitement once again until one week before prom (7 DAYS) my date got in academic trouble and couldn’t go. I had to take a freshman to my Junior Prom. If that wasn’t enough, some other girl was wearing MY dress (that bitch) and my FIRST date was making out with his new date inches away from me. I spent the night in the bathroom crying and trying to adhere my dress to me with a roll of two-sided tape.

It’s prom season! No, I don’t know this because I plan on cougaring it up and heading off to de-flower some high school senior on prom night. I know this because I was visually assaulted by hundreds of horrible sparkly dresses when I attempted to cure my weekend hangover at Nordstrom. And let me tell you – they did not help me with my task of “keeping vomit down.”

Why oh why do you have to put those things next to my beloved shoe department?!

All that taffeta got me thinkin’ back to my own dreadful prom night: my pastel blue dress, the flowers in my hair, my date who left the after-party because I thought I’d try a Mike’s Hard Lemonade for the first time…

Ah, memories…

I started getting a little nostalgic for that overpriced night of mediocre fun, so after I returned home (and pulled the trigger) I flipped through my old pics. And they are priceless. I realized that I am clearly not the only college girl with a book full of awkward posed photos chock full of hairspray and caked-on makeup. We all have ‘em…and we should all share ‘em.

So this is my call to all of you: send us your favorite prom pics! We are going to compile them all into one fantastically awkward post and share them with the world. The more cliche (in front of limo or not!) the better! You can block out people’s faces if you want, or let everyone see that smiled-so-much-my-cheeks-are-killing-me face.

Just attach ‘em to an email and send them to Lauren@collegecandy.com by Friday, April 24th and we’ll put them all together next week. And don’t worry; I guarantee mine are a whole lot worse than anything you can come up with. I left a deoderant smudge on my date’s shoulder…and didn’t realize until I’d gotten my 4 rolls of film back from CVS.

I’ve heard of girls wearing their hearts on their sleeves, but this is the first I’ve seen of wearing their vaginas on their dresses. WTF?

And P.S. Someone should tell this girl that a vagina that big is probably going to scare some boys away.