Girls Flock to Trampy Prom Dresses

By: ANNIE KARNI



Prom is going porn this year.

The days of dressing like a lady are over -- with teens preferring to parade around at their first big dance looking more like strippers than schoolgirls.

The hot trend is slutty chic -- with cleavage-revealing frocks, bellybutton-baring gowns and dresses made of barely enough fabric to make a washcloth.

"I can't believe that mothers let high-school girls buy these dresses for prom," said one sales associate at Saks Fifth Avenue, embarrassed to be selling a collection of prom dresses that were more appropriate for the main stage at Scores than a high-school gym.

Nathan Vaknin, manager of Fiesta Ladies Fashion, a dress store on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, said, "For prom this year, girls want short and poofy or long, tight-fitting, with everything cut out -- the sides are gone, the back is gone, the front is basically gone.

"Personally, I think it's too much, but we sell whatever puts money in our pocket," he said.

"The parents might say no at first, but I don't think anyone can convince these girls to get a dress besides the one they really want."



At Saks, one of the most popular prom dresses this season is a $380 floor-length leopard print La Femme dress that is backless and practically frontless with a diamond cut out between the breasts.

Girls are also coveting a Panoply dress with the sides cut out and a plunging neckline that sells for $370 on the Web.

Perhaps the most shocking dress available this year is the Nadia, designed by Boutique. The stretch-satin dress -- whose front dips to just above the pubic bone -- retails online for $349.

The city Department of Education doesn't impose a dress code for proms. It's up to each principal to make a judgment call about acceptable attire.

At Christopher Columbus HS in The Bronx, Principal Lisa Maffei-Fuentes inspects every dress herself.

"I check all of the dresses to make sure their body parts are covered," Maffei-Fuentes said. "They're not allowed to wear anything where their breasts are exposed. It can't be very short, and their rear ends can't be exposed."

Maffei-Fuentes has the girls show her pictures of their dresses before the big day. On May 26, when the school will hold its prom, Maffei-Fuentes will be at the door to make sure no outfits are breaking her rules.

"I watch them walk in," she said. "If they're wearing something inappropriate, I send them home or we fix the dress with pins, thread and needles."