Prom Night Pressures Mean Some Parents Shell Out Big Bucks

April 21, 2011 — -- Some things never change. Prom is still the hottest ticket in town.

For girls like Rebecca Sosa, it's like making a fairy tale come to life straight out of the pages of a magazine.

"I can't even put into words how great this day is going to be for me," Sosa said.

But the pressure to look like a glamorous "Gossip Girl" never has been more intense. The big night has some teens actually getting breast implants, dieting to extremes and glamming it up with unforgettable fashions.

Budget-Busting for Big Event

At Diane and Company, a formal wear retailer in Freehold, N.J., it seems that bigger is better.

Kimberly Gamcale is the co-owner of Diane and Company, one of the biggest prom dress retailers in the country. She recalled one girl's request.

"She drove here from Ohio and she said, basically, 'I want to look like I was dipped in Elmer's glue and rolled in glitter.'"

The average couple will spend $800 for prom night and in $4 billion industry. But the price tag on that eye-catching dress? About $6,000.

Fifteen-year-old Caroline Noce's parents have spared no expense for their prom princess.

The suburban New York sophomore got her teeth whitened, her nails done, eyebrows threaded, and a facial. She also got hair extensions and had her makeup done.

Her dress was $1,700. The grand total for Caroline's prom was more than $3,000.

Asked if spending that much for a 15-year-old was over the top, Lisa Noce, the girl's mother, said she wanted to give her daughter an experience she, herself, did not have.

"It's my baby; it is about me being the mom," Noce told "Good Morning America." "Certainly, I did not have the opportunity to wear this type of dress when I was younger. By far, I didn't. So I am happy to be able to do this for her. She is not demanding that, 'I want this dress.' You know, it wasn't that kind of a thing. But that I can, and I did -- I am happy that I did. It pleases me, I think, as much as it pleases her."