TEEN'S DREAM $10,000 PROM ($2400 dress, $550 shoes, but no date)

NY POST ^ | 3/26/06 | LINDSAY POWERS

[Liz]

GLAM GAL: "You only do prom once, and I've been planning this for over a year," says Brooklyn 17-year-old Jenna Cossuto. Photo: Graham Morrison

Jenna Cossuto spent $2,400 on her custom-made dress. She'll rent a 22-seat stretch Hummer to transport her closest friends to privately booked Gotham Hall. And then it's off to the swanky South Street Seaport at Bridgewater and afterward, a party in Crobar's VIP section before a long weekend in a Hamptons beach house.

But this once-in-a-lifetime weekend isn't for Cossuto's wedding. It's for this 17-year-old's senior prom.

She's part of a growing generation of teens who think of prom as the end all, be all of their young lives. "Teens think of prom as their Oscar night. They want to look and feel like celebrities," says Gina Kelly, fashion director at Seventeen magazine.

According to a Seventeen prom survey, girls spend an average of $833 for dress, shoes and accessories......(and) shell out $135 on beauty products, $105 at the salon and $206 for tickets and limos.

"I'm not sure exactly how much I'll spend, but probably thousands and thousands," said Cossuto. If she gets all she wants, the total will exceed $10,000. "My parents are just happy that I saved up myself for the dress, and they'll obviously help me pay for everything else I need."

Beyond the designer Jovani dress, which includes multi-carat Chopard diamonds, Cossuto got $550 Gucci shoes, a matching handbag, tanning sessions, eyebrow shaping and professional hair and makeup for the big day, June 7.

The only thing she hasn't nailed down? A date. "I don't care about that as much," said the teen, who will go to college at Florida International University in Miami. "I'll have one, but I don't want to make the wrong decision."

[dennisw]

Mark- Your post has the ring of truth. Too bad you and yr family got caught up in the the New York Post meat grinder

[Mark_C101]

"Brooklyn Italian princess!! Must be a real sweetheart; like Victoria Gotti.

I almost married one! Looked great on the arm but the freight on something like that was too heavy for me. I wasn't one of the 'boys'.

Checkout her choice of colleges;
Florida International University in Miami.

There's a real hall of higher learning. Bring extra thongs sweetheart! Party till you puke!"


Hey Shooter:

Take a look at my post #180. You go beyond any sense of decency when you attack people because of their nationalities. I am not Italian, but that is not the point. How dare you attack someone else because of what you think of their nationality. You send your daughter to the college that you choose. You have a lot of nerve to sit in judgment of my daughter's choice of a college. The more that I read the completely misinformed posts here, the more obvious it is who the real losers are. Okay big L? Get a life! I'll buy you a new pair of shoes for the occasion!