Most students are aware of the costly prices for prom, with one major factor: the hundreds of dollars that could be spent on prom dresses.
“Prom dresses can be expensive,” said junior Madeline Schnyder, who spent her Saturday afternoon on April 5 looking for a dress of her own. “It can be really bad.”
At Abby’s Closet, there’s no price tag.
A non-profit organization meant to uplift high school women by offering free, donated dresses, Abby’s Closet hosted their annual “Prom Dress Giveaway” at the Oregon Convention Center from the morning to the afternoon on both Saturday, April 5, and Sunday, April 6. Students had the option to sign up for different time slots, and then after a brief rundown of the rules, were allowed to browse the wide selection of dresses available without cost or registration fees.
Racks were separated by size spanning from 0-2 up to 13-14, and then organized by color.
Because of the organization, it reminded Schnyder of Goodwill, where despite the many options, the type of dress is often “unique,” meaning that going into the event with a certain dress in mind might be difficult to navigate.
Schnyder said that the dress she had in mind prior to going was potentially light green or made of a satin material, but she ended up picking a completely different one.
One of the volunteers put a dress back onto the racks and she suddenly decided to try it on.
She loved it as soon as she saw it, despite the color — orange — not being one she intended on choosing. “I just never would have expected to find that kind of dress there,” she said. “I never would have been out shopping for that.”
“It’s a way for teens to come together and be like, ‘look, we’re all in the same boat,’” Schnyder said.
Since starting 21 years ago, Abby’s Closet has given away over 40,000 dresses, according to co-founder Sally Egland, who shared the story of one of the two dresses displayed on a mannequin. It was the one she wore to prom, which was lilac and had spaghetti straps, with the subtlest accent of beads.
Outside of dresses, Abby’s Closet offered four scholarships — three of which apply to colleges and one that applies to a trade school — on Saturday, April 9, to women who were graduating from high schools in Oregon or southwest Washington, with a cumulative amount of $9,500 going toward the scholarships.
Junior Malia Crimin thought that “it was a super good opportunity for those who wanted to go to prom, but don’t have the money to buy a dress.”
Even with the selection, Crimin explained the difficulties in finding a dress that fit her, saying, “it was really hard to find dresses without someone helping me.”
In the end, she did end up finding a dress she likes and hopes to go next year, but is still considering additional dress shopping for prom regardless. Crimin recommended it as a fun activity, especially with friends, and even more for a free, beneficial experience.
“Even if you go alone, you’re not entirely alone,” she said. “People can help you find dresses.”
