Pop-up shop helps achieve a pain-free prom
School boutique sells affordable clothes, accessories to students
This boutique, draped in black and white curtains, with glamorous jewels, fancy shoes and beautiful dresses on display, doesn’t look like the inside of a high-school classroom.
But it is. At Bell High School, since 2015, students and teachers have collaborated to ensure students can afford to celebrate graduation the way they ’ve always dreamed.
On May 24 and 25, the Bell High School’s Pop-Up Prom Shop — a portable classroom converted into a fashion boutique — sells gowns, shoes, purses and other stylish accessories for students at affordable prices.
“This is such a celebration and it’s the biggest thing they’ve accomplished so far in their lives, really,” says Karen Kurlicki, an exercise-science and physical education teacher at the Bells Corners school. “It should feel that significant. And having an outfit like everybody else shouldn’t be the thing that’s holding them back.”
Kurlicki, the event’s founder and main organizer, came up with the idea after thinking about how many old prom dresses hang in closets, gathering dust, after being worn once, while many of her students couldn’t afford to buy one.
“We have kids who can’t afford to buy lunch,” Kurlicki says. “How on earth are they gonna pay for prom? They’re not. But I want everyone to be able to afford to go … these dresses are everywhere. Why can’t we get them to our kids?”
It started in a basement gym in Bell HS, with dresses hanging from pull-up bars, but it has come a long way. “This is the first year where students that help me overhear other kids saying, ‘I’m going to the prom shop to buy a dress this year,’ ” Kurlicki says.
Prices range from $10 to $40 (free for volunteers) among a wide assortment of high-end prom dresses, shoes and jewelry.
“If you want bling, we got bling — like a lot of it,” says Kurlicki. “And we have really elegantly simple dresses. Many of them are new, still with the tags on them, and some of them have been worn once and that’s OK, too. We just take everything that we can get.”
More than 40 volunteer students, helped by teachers, keep the shop up and running. Volunteers also build everything, from the clothing racks, to the change-rooms, to decorations, to mirror stands and even promotional posters, which are available in three languages (English, Arabic and Mandarin).
Donations come from local contributors, including With Love Bridal Boutique, All That Glitters Bridal Boutique, Fairy Godmother Program, The Frock Exchange, Bella Boutique as well as alumni and community members.
And for students looking for a fancy tuxedo, jacket or blazer, Bell HS has a partnership with Moores Clothing for Men in Lincoln Fields, where students can get either 40 per cent off a suit or $40 off a tuxedo by showing their student card.
The event helps foster relationships in the school and the community, by bringing people from different grades and backgrounds closer together, Kurlicki says.
“This is our community working for people in our community that need it.”
It gives students a chance to volunteer and see how good it feels to help someone, even when you don’t know who that person is, Kurlicki says.
“Because the students are doing it specifically for each other and by each other, it means a lot more to them,” she says.
On Thursday, Bell HS is hosting a fashion show where students will model the dresses onstage, giving students a sneak peek of what will be available once the store opens.
“I think it’s very powerful what we can do for them. Even if it’s just a dress — it’s not just a dress,” Kurlicki says.