Homecoming Dress Shopping

As Homecoming dance season came to an end, high school students had to finish up their last-minute dress shopping.

Teens all around Iowa had to rush to stores to find their homecoming dresses, raising a question about the policies of some of these stores. Helpful or restrictive? I interviewed past dress store employees and students of Northwest on their opinions.

Some formal dress stores, such as Glam Prom, reserve dresses for certain schools once bought. This rule is implemented to stop accidental matching on the night of the big dance, but there is some pushback on whether or not this is fair.

Second-year Employee at Glam Prom and Senior Vivian Kramer commented, “Overall, I am very much for assigning dresses to schools, I don’t feel this rule is stopping personal style and creativity…As far as I’ve seen during my time working at a dress store, no girl wants to share her dress no matter where she goes to school. Girls get excited for homecoming and prom every year to dress up and feel amazing, but with all of that comes a lot of stress with planning, finding a date, and most of all, finding a dress by having the rule on assigning dresses it makes sure you are the only one in that dress which takes a lot of stress off of homecoming and makes it a more enjoyable experience.”

Sophomore Katelyn Reser stated, “I mean, if someone really wants a dress and they’re just like, give it to me, finders keepers I guess, yeah. I think it’ll be nice for creativity and just everyone doing what they want to do!” She emphasizes the pros of not having the rule. Especially for last-minute shoppers, this rule limits the options of dresses and stops girls from getting a dress they love. Who is to say that these girls would mind matching dresses? With over 1500 students, they may never even cross paths.

Sophomore Reagan Hansen commented, “No! If we are twinning that is so cute.” This shows that, for some, having the same dress as another person is not their biggest concern.

Does this rule give girls a sense of ownership over their specific dress? Styles and colors are often popular because they look good on a wide variety of bodies and personalities. Why does the first person to find the dress automatically become the only one allowed to wear a dress that makes them feel empowered and confident?

Retail and online dress store Princess Polly answers, “We’re always re-stocking our most popular styles based on customer demand! We’ll also be adding new arrivals regularly,” on their support page. Do opinions on this rule change if the dress is purchased online? On one hand, there is less of a chance of running into a person who is wearing your dress locally. On the other hand, anyone can buy from any of their popular styles at any time. When buying online, students are able to choose whether they want to risk accidental matching or not. Why is that choice taken away for many imperson stores? Is it worth it?