Prom dress registry prevents teen nightmare: Duplicate gowns
CHICAGO—At Volle’s Bridal and Boutique in suburban Lake Zurich, Ill., manager Pamela Rowell has had the unenviable task of telling a teenage girl that she can’t buy a particular prom dress.
It may seem unusual to turn away business—and Rowell said the 44-year-old family-owned shop will avoid it whenever possible—but if a girl from the same high school has already “registered” a certain dress to wear to prom, it’s verboten for her classmates.
While girls may have always tried to avoid showing up for the big dance wearing—OMG!—the same dress as a classmate, those in the prom dress trenches say today’s teens favor stores that cater to their desire to avoid duplication. As a result, boutiques say they’re increasingly offering a “dress registry,” so no one else at a customer’s school can buy the same gown.
If the registry reveals a potential twinning situation, Rowell has a few solutions at the ready.
“There have been a couple of instances where the girls are really devastated that we can’t sell them a prom dress they want, but we have to keep it confidential who bought the dress before them,” Rowell said. “I don’t cave, and usually I can redirect them to another dress, or get them to consider buying the dress that’s already registered, but in a different color.”
At Vanessa’s Modern Bride in suburban Arlington Heights, employee Amanda Lindsell says many of the store’s shoppers immediately post pictures of their prom dress on Facebook to stake their claim.
“We record by hand in our prom dress registry the name of the girl, her high school and the style and description of the dress,” said Lindsell, who added that the store also offers custom-made frocks. “Typically, if a girl has made an appointment, we ask the name of her high school, and take the sample of the dresses that have already been purchased by other girls at her school off the rack.”
At Chicago’s Peaches Boutique, employees keep track of prom dress purchases on a database—a practice that lets shoppers know before they try a dress on if it’s still available to be worn at their school.
“We will not sell a girl a dress that has already been sold to a girl from their high school,” said store manager Jeff Surdej. “They can buy the dress in a different color, but everyone wants to have their own look.”
Picking out the right outfit can be a time-consuming process—perhaps more so than ever before.
“Buying a prom dress has become an obsession. … I think many of the girls try on more dresses than our brides,” Lindsell said.
At New Trier High School on the North Shore, junior Allie Hartman said she and her friends post pictures on social media of their prom dress selections months before the big night.
“Girls don’t want to be compared to someone else who is wearing the same prom dress,” said Allie, 17. “Everyone wants to look pretty and special in their own way.”
The desire to be unique sometimes sends would-be fashionistas to the sewing machines as well as to the shops. At Fremd High School in Palatine, Ill., junior Vicki Klanang, 17, spent months designing and sewing a one-of-a-kind, “Barbie pink” prom dress that she made in her fashion design class.
But Klanang’s passion for her handmade gown faded when she dropped by Vanessa’s in Arlington Heights over spring break, and spotted something she had to have: a pastel pink gown with gold-netting.
“I had been planning on wearing the dress I made, but I just fell in love with the dress from Vanessa’s,” Klanang explained, adding that at $297, “it was a real deal.”
While some retailers say the dress registries are necessary to keep teen shoppers happy, others say they abandoned record-keeping after it become too unwieldy.
“It just started to get too crazy. … It takes too much time, and it was exhausting for everyone involved,” said Jennie Velasco, a store manager at Camille La Vie in suburban Schaumburg.
The registries also have their limits. After months of shopping, Hartman, a Kenilworth resident, finally settled on a knee-length, jade green dress. At least, she thought she had.
But just hours before a “party bus” pulled up to take Hartman and her pals to the prom on April 25, she was back at Westfield Old Orchard Mall in Skokie, mom Karen in tow, buying a second gown—this time a fuchsia dress she said was a perfect match for her personal style.
Despite Bloomingdale’s not keeping a prom dress registry, Hartman happily reported that she lucked out.
“Nobody had the same dress as me at the prom … and there were a lot of repeats this year,” she said. “I think everyone looked great, and most important, everyone felt confident with their choices.”
“Buying a prom dress has become an obsession. … I think many of the girls try on more dresses than
our brides.”
—Amanda Lindsell