Australian Year 12 formal trend stuns the world
But, a new trend has emerged in the last decade where students (and let's face it, their parents) are forking out hundreds to be in on it.
Suddenly, it's all about hiring a really cool or classic car to arrive to the formal in so that everyone stops and stares. It's all about making an extravagant entrance, while everyone snaps your photo. I am reliably told by a colleague from Western Australia, who did this exact thing in 2010, that it is the epitome of bogan chic that has finally taken hold on the East Coast.
Video footage taken from outside a school formal in Cairns on June 14 showed male students leaping over the edge of Mustangs while the girls, dressed in incredibly elegant dresses, stood in front of the luxury cars and posed for the perfect shot. Engines revved and there were screams and applause from fellow students. There were all kinds of cars, including a 2021 Ford Mustang, a 1971 XY GT Falcon, a R34 Nissan Skyline and a 1966 Fastback Mustang.
It's a world away from my friends and I being driven to the formal in my mum's Toyota Aurion.
Christen Puckett and Jordan Carlyle, two Americans who took the footage, were stunned by what they were watching unfold.
'We have never seen anything like this in our lives,' the women, who go by @wheretonextyall on social media, told news.com.au.
'One of our Australian friends we were travelling with told us this is how some places in Australia celebrate their formals and we were shocked. We put a video together because we were like 'well we cannot be the only ones who have never seen something like this' and bam it went viral.
'In the States, we don't get dropped off in crazy hot rods, and to be quite frank, we don't even dress up nearly as much as what we saw! We absolutely loved how it is celebrated in Australia. It is not nearly as big of an 'event' back home as it is in Aus.'
Todd Richardson owns Dream Rides, a chauffer-driven car hire company for vintage and unique cars that started post-Covid. He joked that it was 'Airbnb for cool cars', where people get qualified to drive their cars in a chauffer capacity like a ride share company and list the vehicle on Dream Rides.
Mr Richardson said his company is commonly used for photo shoots and weddings — but school formals have been his biggest market.
Mustangs are always popular — new and old — Kombi vans and stretch Ferarris are just some of the vehicles the company has on offer in Queensland, NSW, ACT and Victoria.
'I don't know if it's recent but it's gaining popularity, probably in the TikTok and Instagram era,' he said.
He isn't wrong. Facebook is filled with call outs from parents and students finishing up school, all looking for cool cars they've seen in the area to drive them to the formal. Mr Richardson said he gets countless calls and emails with inquiries, revealing November — when formals are typically held — is booked months in advance.
He said it's gotten to the point where schools will assign arrival times for students in order for them to get the whole experience, and for no one to miss out.
'They say it's the most exciting part of the formal, where all the parents stand around and watch the kids get dropped off in the cool cars,' he said.
'They'll often have a red carpet, so the car will pull up and there will be photographers to capture all the moments. A lot of the focus is around the arrivals in the cars.'
Mr Richardson said while formals happen year-round, in November his fleet can't even get close to filling all the inquiries they receive.
'We've had a school book a car — a 1920s car — and had it parked in the venue and it was run like a photo booth,' he said.
'We have a lambo, and we got some pretty cool footage of the boy going to his formal in that. It's only got two seats so he rocked up and thought he was the coolest thing.'
Themed cars — like the iconic Impala from Supernatural and a John Wick-inspired Mustang have also been used for formals. There are also groups in Kombi vans or stretch vehicles.
'For the kids who have left it last minute they will book whatever you've got left, because they don't want to be rocking up in their parents' car,' he said.
Mr Richardson said it's been a huge thing in Queensland, with New South Wales and Victoria catching on. He also revealed it's becoming a big trend for Year Six formals, booking a Kombi with one parent jumping in with six kids.
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