21 Rather Mortifying High School Formal Horror Stories

And you thought just having a tiny stumble in your heels was bad.

We recently asked the BuzzFeed Community to share their most embarrassing high school formal horror stories. Here are their answers:

1. The eyelash dilemma:

Nickelodeon

Decided it was a good idea to get my eyelashes tinted on the day of my Year 12 formal. Turns out the beauty therapist had no idea what she was doing and the tint started burning my eyes out while I was laying there. The tint got all over my face and acrylic nails. After the whole situation was finally over, I knew I had to rush back to the nail salon to get my nails fixed. I cried the whole way to the nail salon, thinking my eyes were going to be red and burning for the rest of the day. Luckily the nail salon saw the state of me and fixed my shellac for free!

–Amy Mckenna, Facebook

2. High beaming it:

Bravo

I wore a low cut dress and couldn't wear a bra to stop the high beams. I decided to wear these little flower shaped bandaid things over my nipples... when I came off stage I was informed that under the bright lights everyone could see my nipple flowers through my dress.

–Kristy Anne King, Facebook

3. The bump 'n' grind:

CW

I was grinding so hard on my date and my tampon fell out right on the dance floor! Thankfully I was wearing a long black dress and could drag it with my foot to the bathroom. It was disgusting and my friends never stop talking about it to this day almost two years later.

–roxursoxj

4. Champagne showers:

Paramount Pictures

I was completely sober at my Year 12 formal and I ate, not only all of my three courses, but also my two best mates' leftovers. Thirty minutes later (which is NOT enough time for food to digest properly) the DJ started his banger-filled set, literally every song was my jam. So I'm starting to feel light-headed and I go to sit down, then I feel some nasty shit going on in my stomach and I knew I wasn't going to make it to the bathroom in time, so I grabbed a champagne bucket and vomited. I managed to flag down this cute waiter and asked him if he could take away the champagne bucket (btw all the ice had melted at this point so my spew was just floating around in there) and I kept apologising but I could tell by the look in his eyes he fucking hated his job.

–Chandra Vidar, Facebook

5. The Macca's run:

HBO

Our car didn't have air conditioning, so being in Australia in November, it was VERY HOT and we had to have the windows down. My hair was a mess by the time we arrived. My dress was the same colour as the backdrop for the photos and the food was so bad we ended up getting Macca's instead.

–Stacey Sergeant, Facebook

6. The crumping queen:

giphy.com

I accidentally broke the front of my formal dress by crumping too hard. My class nearly saw my nipples.

–Ainsley Sherwell, Facebook

7. The awkward chat:

FOX

My crush went with my friend because I chickened out. When I tried to talk to him for the first time ever at the formal I puked on him.

–Steph Davies, Facebook

8. The matching dress dilemma:

Universal Pictures

My school’s formal had a strict dress code, and people were not allowed in if they didn’t follow it. I got this dress and I was really excited to wear it because it followed the rule. I go to the dance thinking that I will slay, but then right as we walk in I notice that our 67-year-old principal was wearing the exact same dress.

–lizziek4c6ac560d

9. The bum-split:

Bravo

The weekend before my Year 12 formal I tried on my dress again out of excitement and realised there was a huge split over my bum. I screamed and ran to mum and we got it fixed at the tailors just in time. We got "presented" at my formal and had to walk down a red carpet for all the parents and dates to see us. While I was waiting my turn my best guy friend was standing behind me in the line and asked where I ripped the dress... I showed him and he pointed out that the dress had ripped again and my ass was hanging out!

–Claire Jones, Facebook

10. The boob-spill:

Disney

I’m not so well-endowed in the chest area and my gown was strapless with a sweetheart neckline. It kind of puffed out in the chest area, so my mum bought me these silicone breast pads to enhance my boob size. I was feeling so confident with my date and the pads stayed in place all throughout the picture-taking and dancing. When dinner was served, my date accidentally knocked my napkin on the floor. Both of us bent down to pick it up, and to my horror, my boob pads slipped from my chest and fell out!

–kristinasantosb

11. The carrot sticks:

NBC

Everything was going great. I had the perfect dress, perfect date, and perfect shoes. Only one problem: My tan. I was looking a little pale the night before, so I put on some tanning lotion in hopes it would brighten me up. The next morning my legs were so streaky I had to get my mum to help. Her solution? Put more tan on! Long story short, it looked like I had carrot sticks for legs.

–meganc47af6124e

12. The accidental grind:

CityTV

Oh boy. I was dancing and accidentally grinded on a teacher. Later I accidentally flung my head into the glass trophy case, cracking it.

–Notaglassoflemonade

13. The awkward bleed:

FOX

I bought a gorgeous dress online and it fit like a glove. I got my period that week, but it was pretty manageable. Everything was going beautifully until close to the end of the night when my friend grabbed me and whispered in my ear that I had bled through and you could see blood on the back of my dress. I nearly died of embarrassment, and sat the rest of the evening until my mum picked me up.

–róisín

14. Lemme see you get low:

TVT

You know how seemingly at all dances the DJ plays the same songs that are usually rap and hip hop and everyone in the entire room dry humps each other into oblivion? So, one song that was completely ~acceptable~ was "Get Low" by Lil John, and I had the wonderful chance the next day to explain to my poor innocent 70-year-old Japanese teacher exactly what “Skeet Skeet” meant. We lied straight to her face.

–reveroph

15. The excited fail:

FOX

I was dancing on my guy friend and I started to feel something really wet on my butt... Turns out he “got excited” and then peed himself in embarrassment. My friends and I scrubbed at my dress in the bathroom immediately after.

–kellyf40ff8e7c9

16. The contouring no-no:

FOX

I thought I looked fierce, but my friend’s older brother kept snickering as he took our group photos. My friend had to pull him aside and I distinctly heard her say “don’t laugh at her!” I ignored it and had a good time, but when I looked at my pictures the next day I felt sick to my stomach. My braces at the time were dark blue and it looked like my teeth were rotten, I had applied WAY too much contour to my face, and my pulled-back-hair made me look a bit like a wet rat. That was a nice check for my ego.

–asierrat

17. The streaky spray tan:

NBC

I bought this gorgeous long gown with a slit going up the right leg. I decided a few days beforehand to get a spray tan so that my legs would look amazing underneath the dress. As soon as the spray tan booth began spraying me, it was so cold and unexpected that I accidentally peed myself. I had streaky white stripes going down my legs that wouldn’t come off no matter how hard I tried. Ended up having to buy a new dress that covered my legs just two days before.

–karlamarieg2

18. Welcome To The Black Parade:

Reprise Records

At my formal I needed to touch up my eyeliner and I ended up looking like I just joined the black parade.

–Isayidontcarebutido

19. The weird smell:

Bravo

Forgot deodorant. Cue the frantic airing out of my armpits in a bathroom stall when I realised, after dancing for a while, that the weird smell was actually me.

–abzilla

20. The high expectations:

CBS

The day of the formal was also my 18th birthday, so I was pretty certain that it was going to be the Best Night Ever. About two weeks before the formal, my boyfriend dumped me, and so I assumed I would now be going to the formal solo. Then he calls me the day before the formal to ask what time he should pick me up because he still planned on coming. I was ecstatic thinking this meant we were going to get back together. He ended up ignoring me the entire night, sat there sulking, and talked to everybody except me. I got really upset and starting drinking at the after-party, at which time I was drunk enough to think that making out with my best friend's date would be an awesome idea (they were "just friends" but she was madly in love with him, even though he was gay and had been out for quite a while). I ended up throwing up and crying my eyes out alone in the hotel all night. Easily the worst birthday I’ve ever had and worst night of my life so far.

–rachelm46b12cd5b

21. The ultimate fail:

Showtime

It was my first formal as a high school student. Seeing as though I’m not the most graceful person, I wore heels for the first time since breaking my leg the year before. My date, who was my boyfriend at the time, was over in the corner talking to his group of friends. I was walking towards him and I stepped into someone’s spilt water that nobody cleaned up, and I fell face first into the floor.

So then I’m looking around me, having a rather large puddle of blood in front of me from my now broken nose, and I look up and see my boyfriend and his female best friend making out against the wall.

–LeahSkyeOffi

Some entries have been edited for clarity.

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