A Look At The Latest Prom Dress Trends, Today's Styles Borrow From Designer Runways

NEW YORK, April 4, 2008

A model wears this coral plunge sash and bow dress by Flip. (TheShowBuzz/Bulent Bas)

(CBS) Prom dressing used to be all about wearing miles of taffeta in pastel colors, but the days of girls looking like poorly dressed bridesmaids in search of a wedding are so over.

Today's prom looks borrow from runways and red carpets, with sophisticated styles, varying lengths and a rainbow of colors.

Joyann King, ElleGirl.com's fashion editor, visited TheShowBuzz.com to talk about how to select the perfect prom look.

At left, a red dress with floral embellishments by Alyce available at unique-vintage.com, and at right an empire waisted dress by Mark Bouwer Glamit from edressme.com. (TheShowBuzz/Bulent Bas)

"The first thing is to settle on your personal style, the second is to find a dress that's right for your body type, and third, find a dress that's comfortable so you can have fun on the dance floor," she said.

Popular trends this year includes floral embellishments, metallics, Grecian styles, and contrasting shades of bright colors.

Short dresses are just as popular as long dress this season, especially because they're flattering for all heights.

Putting together a great prom outfit can be done on a budget, King said.

Photos: Girls Gone Mild

At left, a model wears a silver pleated gown by A.B.S. available at unique-vintage.com, and at right is a full-length view of the coral plunge sash dress by Flip available at edressme.com. (TheShowBuzz/Bulent Bas)

"If it were me I would spend a little more money on the dress and then go cheaper on the accessories," she said.

King thinks it's not necessary to show a lot of skin at prom. She believes in making a choice that's age appropriate.

"There are a lot of outrageous dresses out there," she said. "I think that girls nowadays are just trying to dress so much older than they are and they are forgetting about how beautiful and young they look right now. They see the red carpet; they read Us Weekly, and they want to look like the woman on the red carpet who's 35 years old. I want to remind girls to look your age, wear color, don't wear a heavy beaded black dress. You have the rest of your life to do that."

For more on all things prom, check out ElleGirl.com.