Before popular celebrities graced events such as the Met Gala, Oscars, or Grammys with their designer looks they attended the less coveted "red carpet" event of prom. Yes, stars they're just like us, and the proof is in these gloriously awkward photos of our favorite famous people dressed to impress this celebrated high-school tradition.
On this list, you'll find some pretty staggering transformations from cringy to glamorous, whereas other lucky ducks were fortunate enough to avoid their awkward phase and look as if they haven't aged a day. Scroll down below to find your favorite celebrity's prom photos and don't forget to vote!
This post may include affiliate links.
Jeremy Renner
Prom night is now synonymous with the high-school experience but the first recorded prom in history took place at Amherst College where male students invited female students from Smith College to dine and dance back in 1894. The dance evolved into a high-school tradition in the 1900s and was nationwide by the 1930s.
Ru Paul
Barack Obama
One of the traditional etiquettes of prom is for the boy to give the girl a bundle of flowers called a corsage for her wrist or to be pinned to the top of her dress. In the past, the corsage was placed on the hip. The term “corsage” actually means “bodice” which dates back to the 19th century with French origins, so the former positioning makes more sense.
Will Ferrell
Meryl Streep
Most celebrities had their prom experience before fame, but that was before the trend of doing a celebrity prom was born. In 1963, President Kennedy was not invited but unintentionally crashed the prom of John Burroughs High School. The politician scheduled a $1,000-a-plate fundraiser in the largest room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel but as it turns out, the students had already booked the same room two years prior. JFK gave up the larger room to the students and settled for a slightly smaller one for his event. In an act of goodwill, he stopped by to say hello to the teens accompanied by comedian Jack Benny.
Angelina Jolie
Terry Crews
While the average high-schooler may have to settle for a decked out gymnasium for their annual prom, the wealthier schools (where celebrities attend) might get glitzier options. In 1975, Susan Ford, the daughter of President Gerald Ford, got permission to throw her prom in the White House. The President was away in Europe at the time so the dance was chaperoned by the Secret Service.
Lady Gaga
One can only imagine the amount of money celebrity teens are dishing out for prom but even for the average American, the costs can be outrageous. When you add up the tickets, dress cost, tux rental, limos, and other common prom expenses, parents have paid an average of around $900 for their high-schoolers to attend these events. In 2013, the average peaked at $1,139 - those are some red carpet numbers.
Sandra Bullock
Jimmy Fallon
Jennifer Aniston
Jessica Alba
Matthew Mcconaughey
Bruce Willis
Brad Pitt
I like him more as an older guy than a teen. Same happens with Harrison Ford, he looks bext from his 30-ties up for me :D
Robin Wright
Taylor Swift
Her current boyfriend seems to be a step up from the others, especially this douche.
Her date though, you can see in her eyes that she's already regretting her choice of date.
And already writing and recording at that age. She is super talented and quite beautiful.
"yes dad, we know you took Taylor Swift to the Prom.. now can you help mom with the septic tank?"
Comments picking on the guy, he was young ffs. Lots of people judging him based purely on this one picture, it says a lot more about you than it does him. This guys probably a lot more grown up and mature now, which is more than I can say for the authors of those comments.
That is the whitest thing I've ever seen......and I'm pretty damn white.
There's this girl in my grade who literally looks just like her when she was younger
Where I am from in the southeastern US, a teen in their junior or senior year is eligible to attend. However, a freshmen or sophomore can attend if they are invited as a date by a junior or senior. So she could have gone to prom as a date, but not as a junior or senior.
Load More Replies...
Seriously, you all carry on about her date looking like a douche but what does that actually say about her ?? She's no friggen angel people. I bet he was doing more than smiling by the end of that night.
Meh. This lady is too vanilla for me. Her music is mediocre and her image is a tad non-brave. I prefer Annie Clark, Kate Bush and Rhianna
her music is worse than mediocre. it sucks
Load More Replies...
Reese Witherspoon
George Clooney
"Someday, I'm gonna be famous, and then I'll provide the barks for a cartoon dog, and my life will be complete. Marry a hot lawyer? That might come second to the cartoon dog."
Rihanna
Michelle Obama
Beyoncé
Scarlett Johansson
Ashton Kutcher
Natalie Portman
Amy Poehler
Blake Lively
Courteney Cox
Shane Dawson
He is the biggest Youtuber and he is famous for changing the Youtube platform with his docu-series and won creator of the year at The Streamys last year and NO, he DID NOT molest his cat, that was a JOKE he made on a podcast.
This series as as US american as it gets. The importance of proms is striking...
it's not all that important to everyone, trust me Hans ;) it's like most everything, if you were a popular person you probably enjoyed it and went to a few, if you were an average jo or joanne you maybe just went once to see what it was like and then got on with your life.
Load More Replies...
What a stupid title. There’s nothing awkward about most of the images I looked at here. I got sick of seeing photos of perfectly fine looking young people, while under the article’s supposed theme of them being “awkward”. If you’re going to come up with a theme, stick to the damned thing. This is a problem with many of these lists.
As usual I've never heard of at least half of these people. I'm beginning to think maybe I'm the only non celebrity left in America. Which would, of course, make me a ..........celebrity .
Bored panda doesn't know what Awkward means. Maby 5 of these were slightly awkward.
The photos of those who became celebrities later in life are far more interesting than those who already had a measure of fame/money when they were teenagers.
Yes! One of my favorite sayings is that "you're not ugly; you're just poor." Lmao
Load More Replies... They left out Keith Urban. Look it up yourself. You'll discover the wonders of dentistry and plastic surgery.
I don't understand why the bit must be titled "awkward". That is just fishing for toxic and abusive comments, which I unfortunately did see.
Technically since all photos are from the past you don't really need to specify that in the title.
You wonder how awkward some of these people actually were at their prom. Many of them were either child celebrities before the proms came about or were kids of famous people before prom. Seems to me they would have had a little less awkward time than the rest of us...
This series as as US american as it gets. The importance of proms is striking...
it's not all that important to everyone, trust me Hans ;) it's like most everything, if you were a popular person you probably enjoyed it and went to a few, if you were an average jo or joanne you maybe just went once to see what it was like and then got on with your life.
Load More Replies... What a stupid title. There’s nothing awkward about most of the images I looked at here. I got sick of seeing photos of perfectly fine looking young people, while under the article’s supposed theme of them being “awkward”. If you’re going to come up with a theme, stick to the damned thing. This is a problem with many of these lists.
As usual I've never heard of at least half of these people. I'm beginning to think maybe I'm the only non celebrity left in America. Which would, of course, make me a ..........celebrity .
Bored panda doesn't know what Awkward means. Maby 5 of these were slightly awkward.
The photos of those who became celebrities later in life are far more interesting than those who already had a measure of fame/money when they were teenagers.
Yes! One of my favorite sayings is that "you're not ugly; you're just poor." Lmao
Load More Replies... They left out Keith Urban. Look it up yourself. You'll discover the wonders of dentistry and plastic surgery.
I don't understand why the bit must be titled "awkward". That is just fishing for toxic and abusive comments, which I unfortunately did see.
Technically since all photos are from the past you don't really need to specify that in the title.
You wonder how awkward some of these people actually were at their prom. Many of them were either child celebrities before the proms came about or were kids of famous people before prom. Seems to me they would have had a little less awkward time than the rest of us...
