The Road Spring 2020_online

1960’s
1970’s
BLAST FROM THE PAST
DAMASCUS COLLEGE ARCHIVES
Formal Fashion
Well, it has certainly been an interesting year, one in which many
of the things we always look forward to were either cancelled or
looked very different to previous years.
Much missed by students this year has been the school social. Most
of us would remember the anticipation leading up to our school
social—or formal, as it was known to many of you.
1980’s
Who remembers having dance lessons at the Jim Welsh Dance
School in preparation for the big night? Or perhaps your dance
lessons took place after school with Miss Challingsworth.
When it came to the big day itself, boarders will remember
bathrooms choking with the scent of perfume and hairspray. If
you were particularly lucky, you were entertained on the night by
Chiodo, a Ballarat institution we all remember so well.
The St. Martin’s girls of 1969 must have felt like royalty when, at
9am on the day of their first formal, a hairdresser arrived, employed
by the school to spend the day turning pig-tailed girls into elegant
young ladies.
While today’s school social is often a much more relaxed affair, one
thing that never changes is the time and effort that goes into choosing
an outfit. Whether you wore flowing polyester in the 70s or taffeta in
the 80s, borrowed Dad’s old suit or bought your own, the social was
always a night to remember.
2000’s
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