By Isabel Eva Bohrer on April 10, 2012 in
For many teens, prom is the event of the year. Hours of preparation go into finding a beautiful dress, a well-fitting tux, a flattering hairstyle, and the perfect date, of course. This year, you can add a new assistant to make all of this easier for you: your smartphone. Make prom night all the more special with apps that will help you put together the right look.
iProm Dress: Prom Dress Shopping Assistant ($1.99 for iPhone)
Torn between several different dresses from different stores? Sure, you can keep a running list of dresses on scraps of paper, but that's tedious. The iProm Dress app's Prom Dress Shopping Assistant allows you to put together an alphabetized catalog of dresses, including details such as designer, style, color, silhouette, neckline, length, fabric and price. When you're out shopping, you can take photos of the dresses, and save them along with store information and phone numbers. You can then share the photos with your friends and family directly from the app using email or Facebook. The only thing missing is that you can't save information about accessories, hairstyles and/or makeup.
Prom Guide (Free, available for iPhone and Android)
PromGuide.com helps teens find everything from dresses to tuxedos to elegant shoes. You can browse the most recent designs, and even flip the outfits to see how they look from the back. Once you've found an outfit you like, the app will help you find a store that sells it near you. You can also share your finds with friends via email or Facebook.
Prom360 (Free for iPhone)
Prom360 provides one of the most comprehensive app approaches to planning your prom. The app is from the International Prom Association, and lets you browse dresses, tuxedos and more, and find nearby retailer locations and locate them on a map. The app also has more practical tools, including a budget and layaway calculator, timeline, and checklist.
Prom Hairstyles (Free for iPhone)
Once you've figured out what to wear, Prom Hairstyles helps you "try on" prom hairstyles. First, you take a picture of yourself using your iPhone camera. Then you select different hairstyles and see how they would look on you. You can easily adjust the size and position of each hairstyle using your fingertips. Whether you have short or long hair, or prefer an updo, there are plenty of options to choose from. Once you've found your favorite, you can save it and take it to your hairstylist. You can also share your makeover via email or Facebook directly from the app.
Ask 2 Dance ($1.99 for iPhone)
Once you're at the prom, it's time to mingle with your classmates. But with this app, there's no need to be nervous. Ask 2 Dance will help you with exactly what its name states: asking someone to dance. You can find icebreakers in four different categories, including "Play on Words," "So They Say," "Take Action," and "Old Classics." You can also use a text search to find further advice. Once you've browsed around, you can mix and match the ideas to ask someone out in your own style.
