Monday, Apr. 05, 2010
2,700 dresses
Prom Boutique offers girls free dresses
Emily Jarrett, Journal Staff
Julie Schiedegger, the Journal
Blue Springs High School teacher Pam Beck looks at a dress co-worker Pam Stucker found for her granddaughter at the Prom Boutique at Woods Chapel United Methodist Church.
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closeFor many area teenage girls, finding the perfect prom dress is an all-encompassing mission during the month of April.
Short or long? Sparkles or plain? Fluffy ball gowns or slim and strapless? Not to mention finding the perfect shoes, jewelry and other accessories to go with the dress. It can be a daunting task.
Equally daunting for some is figuring out how exactly to pay for all those things. Formal dresses can run anywhere from $50 to $300 and for many girls whose parents are feeling the financial strain of the current economy, luxuries such as a $200 prom dress are not available.
“Prom is a little like a rite of passage for teenagers,” said Anne Cannon, mission director at Woods Chapel United Methodist Church. “Every girl wants to find that perfect dress but with the economy, so many girls are struggling to come up with the money to buy those $150 dresses. That’s where we come in.”
In its sixth year, the annual Prom Boutique, hosted by Woods Chapel, allows local girls to “shop” for prom dresses, shoes, jewelry and evening bags. Everything in the boutique – which is set up like a store with clothing racks and changing rooms – is donated from the community and free to the girls.
Last Friday, Lee’s Summit resident Zoe Walls was scouring the racks, searching for the perfect prom dress. “I haven’t decided exactly what I’m looking for, but I’ll know it when I see it,” she said as she looked at a long, green dress. “I’m just really glad I heard about the boutique.”
For Fern Truschke, head of the Prom Boutique committee, the boutique is simply meant to ensure girls have a great time at prom, without worrying about their dress or how much it cost.
“You know, my prom was 42 years ago and I still remember it,” Truschke said. “We want to make sure these girls have those same great memories.”
For the past year, the church has been collecting formal dresses in every shape, color and size imaginable. But on Friday, some of the racks were looking thin.
“We have a hard time keeping the really small sizes, 0 to 2, and the bigger sizes, 14 and up,” Cannon explained. “But, we have more than 1,000 dresses and we’re holding some back for the second and third days so I think we’ll be OK.”
But finding the dress was just the first step in the boutique process, Truschke said. After finding a few and trying on possible dresses, when a girl found “the one” she could also have it altered and steamed. Tables covered in hand bags, jewelry and shoes were the last stop before taking the dress home.
“We’re just a one-stop shop,” Truschke said with a laugh. “A lot of times people just think of getting the dress. They forget about all the other things to go with it.”
“I think it’s great that everything is here,” Walls said. “It’s really convenient.”
Cannon said the boutique encourages girls to donate the dresses back, once they’ve been used this season.
“So many girls buy a formal dress and wear it once,” she said. “Sometimes girls will trade or borrow a friend’s dress, but you really always want your own. So we’ve had girls who came last year come back and donate the dress they already wore and found a new one.”
The church does not require proof of income, though they do limit one dress per girl.
“We have some girls who are in very tight financial situations while others may just be looking for a cheaper alternative,” Cannon said. “We’re not going to ask the girls what their financial situation is because, frankly, it doesn’t matter to us. We just want these girls to feel special.”
Blue Springs High School Family and Consumer Sciences teacher, Pam Beck, said the school held a similar program a few years ago.
“We did something similar to this at the high school where students brought in their old prom dresses,” Beck said. “But it was hard to do with only 100 dresses. I heard about the church’s program and I thought it’d be perfect to combine our efforts with theirs.”
Beck was one of many volunteers at the Boutique helping girls find a dress. As she stood talking with a mother and daughter, Denise and Courtney Smith, she suddenly took off, certain of a dress she saw that might work for the high school senior.
“This (boutique) is an absolute blessing,” said Denise, a Kansas City resident. “We’re pinching pennies right now and when Courtney heard about the boutique on the news I told her, “OK, baby we’ll find the perfect dress.’”
When Beck returned a few minutes later, she was holding a possible winner – a knee-length halter style black dress. At the sight of it, Courtney squealed and gave Beck a big hug.
“This looks perfect, this might be it,” she said with a huge smile.
“See, that’s the reaction we’re looking for here,” Beck said. “We just want girls to find their perfect dress to make them feel special for a night.”
The Prom Boutique will be open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., April 10 at Woods Chapel United Methodist, 4725 N.E. Lakewood Way, Lee’s Summit. Donations can be dropped off year round at the church. For more information, call 816-795-8848.
To reach Journal reporter Emily Jarrett, call 816-282-7018 or e-mail ejarrett@bluespringsjournal.com.
