Teenage girls are pulling out all the stops to wow their mates at US-style proms, says Jenny Needham.

IT’S almost prom season.

Music lovers swaying to Land of Hope and Glory?

Not likely. We’re talking teens in tuxedos dressed up to the nines and staggering out of stretch limos for an evening of glamour and glitz.

It seems we’ve embraced another US import. And with what gusto! The traditional end to school – limp sandwiches and a lager in the pub – in my case followed by a group trip to the harbour to ritually cast our detested school berets into the North Sea – has been turned into the high school prom.

And not much has been lost in translation.

Inspired by scenes from American Pie, the OC and Gossip Girl, the end of exams is now marked by a scene more reminiscent of Beverley Hills than Billingham or Barnard Castle. Schools have long had post-exam parties, but now they are billed as proms, with all the trimmings that come with them – the dress, the hair, the accessories, the limo – and as expensively clad girls shimmy into hotel lobbies exchanging greetings in the glare of flash bulbs, it could almost be Oscars night Nor are the boys left out. Interestingly, British boys seem to have opted for classic black tie rather than the less formal modern US tux with its almost limitless variation.

Menswear retailers and suit hire companies are happy to supply them, of course. It’s big business now.

Girls usually seen in a variety of grunge and casual gear suddenly turn into Cinderellas at the prospect of their ball, opting for the most beautiful dresses ever created for teens.

The end of June and beginning of July are the busiest party weeks, but preparations start much earlier. A sign outside Coco dress agency in Darlington’s Grange Road last month said it all: “Wanted: Prom dresses”.

And after the perfect frock has been bagged, and the limo hired, there are the last-minute titivations.

Make-up lessons and manicures are de rigueur, and when it comes to hair, the slightly grungy, backcombed look most girls sport to school is replaced by a sleek mane for the occasion. For hairdos, read up-dos, princess-style. Only the tiara is missing.

At the end of the day, it’s all about glamour and feeling like a star for the night. Even in these days of endless celebrity, these youngsters will probably never have a chance to shimmy along a red carpet for real, so they’re determined to make the most of their first night at the proms.

■ The word prom is thought to have come from “promenade”, the grand march that opened formal balls in the 19th Century.

■ US high school proms were first held in the Thirties and grew in popularity after the end of the Second World War. They evolved from debutante balls, where the teenage daughters of wealthy families were presented to society.

■ Prom traditions include the appointment of a King and Queen and girls receiving pretty corsages to wear from their dates.

■ The trend for having a school prom first crossed the pond to the UK in the Nineties, and is now typically held to mark the end of school or exams for the senior year.