School dances. You see them all the time on TV. Fancy dresses, expensive suits, curled hair, and sparkly shoes. They seem fun, but are they worth all the fuss?

Although seemingly fun, behind all that glitz and glamour, the cost starts to add up. FLHS sophomores, Amanda Blanco and Maitreya Fabbro, weighed the costs.

A staple for all dances is the perfect dress. Shops like Apricot Lane in Downtown Fairfield, Brandy Melville and The Winged Monkey in Westport are popular places to go.

When asked how much she spends on a dress, Fabbro said, “I’d say about 40, maybe 50 dollars.”

For Blanco, the price shoots up. “The last one I got was $250 for Sadies.” 

While the prices may vary, spending money on a dress you may only wear once for a dance with, in the words of Fabbro, “cheap streamers and tiny water bottles and pretzels,” may not be worth it. 

In addition to all that, an average ticket price is expensive. Blanco said her ticket was “20 dollars which I think is so absurd and stupid because all you do is go into this small gym with 100 other people, that’s literally it.” Blanco believes dances are usually “boring” and “overhyped.”

Fabbro, who participates in cross country and track and field, agrees that dances are overhyped, saying “I’m not going to miss a pole vaulting clinic that I prepaid for to stand inside of Ludlowe for two hours.” 

Blanco also admitted, “It gets to be a little much when you see people post on their private [Snapchat] stories, saying how if you wear the same dress as them they are literally going to hurt you.” 

The pressure doesn’t stop at trying to find the perfect date. Dances such as Sadies, which is when girls ask boys, the pressure is on to find a date.

“There’s a lot more stress for the ones with formal names,” says Blanco. Fabbro adds, “If I don’t have a date, I won’t go.” 

But, if you haven’t managed to find a date before the dance, there is still hope. It’s still “socially acceptable” to go with a group of friends instead of a date. 

“Go with your friends, go with a date, but don’t go by yourself,” says Blanco.

So, go out there and find a date or gather your group of friends, go shopping, and make the best of a crowded gym with tiny pretzels and miniature water bottles. Or don’t.