👗 Breaking the bank for prom | Morning Newsletter

We’ve got a warm, mostly sunny Wednesday, with a high near 80.

It’s prom season. Our lead story looks at how costs associated with the rite of passage have risen in the region.

If you see this 🔑 in today’s newsletter, that means we’re highlighting our exclusive journalism. You need to be a subscriber to read these stories.

— Paola Pérez (@pdesiperez , morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

Despite inflation tightening many families’ budgets, the 2023 prom season is as extravagant as ever.

Social media has made prom more than just a rite of passage. For many Philadelphia-area parents and teens, it’s often a daylong event that can include professional photographers and living room DJs. And that’s not to mention the lavish promposals that precede it.

Some current and recent prom attendees and parents in the Philadelphia area said they’ve spent between $300 and $1,000 per person, per dance. Double or triple that price tag if someone is attending more than one school’s prom.

Enter The Lisa Teagle Brown Foundation and its 2023 pop-up Butterfly Boutique, where girls can select from hundreds of donated second-hand prom dresses, free of charge.

In their own words: “Prom season is a culture. Social media has heightened this, where it’s more about the show, about the production, than it is in the actual prom.” That’s Michael Brown, who started the Lisa Teagle Brown Foundation in honor of his late wife.

Brown said he spent at least $3,000 to send his daughter to her junior and senior proms in 2017 and 2018. He took on a third job driving Uber at night to afford it.

Continue reading on the rising costs of the big dance.

As the numbers started to roll in on election night, Rebecca Rhynhart and her team could see where the Philadelphia mayor’s race was headed.

But strategists and observers believe she largely outperformed expectations.

Her campaign was not flashy, and had no institutional support. She was the only top candidate who didn’t have endorsements with money behind them, and didn’t have a super PAC running television advertising.

Rhynhart polled in the middle of the pack through much of the campaign, then surged by April, when she came out on top of the first public poll in the race.

By the numbers: An Inquirer analysis of six distinct voting blocs among Philadelphia Democrats found that wealthy white liberals delivered almost 50% of their vote to Rhynhart.

But Rhynhart’s base of support was nowhere near enough to catch Cherelle Parker, who won a plurality of votes in the city’s Black, Latino, and low-income divisions.

Keep reading to learn more from behind the scenes of Rhynhart’s campaign and learn what may be next for her. 🔑

Philadelphia songwriter, musician, and Bryn Mawr College graduate Michelle Zauner penned the best-selling memoir about food, grief and Korean identity, Crying in ______.

A) Acme

B) H Mart

C) Shop Rite

D) Whole Foods

Find out if you know the answer.

😋 Tasting: Vegan sandwiches, soups, wraps and salads at LUHV Bistro’s new South Philly spot.

🛋️ Wondering: Why do I keep seeing this blue couch on my feed? Let reporter Emily Bloch explain.

🗳️ Recapping: The race for Philly’s 100th mayor, hangover edition.

Hint: Syndicated Saturday TV staple of the 90′s, inspired by a Pennsylvania union.

ACROMIAL TRAGEDIANS

Think you got it? Email us if you know the answer. We’ll give a shoutout to a reader at random who answers correctly. Cheers to Rebecca Custer who guessed Monday’s answer: Gayborhood.

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