With prom season right around the corner, the biggest question on many students’ minds is what to wear?
Abby’s Closet is a nonprofit organization based in Oregon that accepts formal dress donations to be given away to others for free for prom, homecoming or other formal events. Their mission is to allow girls and others who wear dresses to feel confident and beautiful at formal events such as prom while eliminating the cost barrier. They carry dresses of every color, length, size and style.
This prom season, Abby’s Closet hosted a prom dress giveaway at the Oregon Convention Center on April 5 and 6 and gave away around 2000 dresses, compared to last year’s 1200.
Maddie Odegaard has been a board member at Abby’s Closet for three years and was on the student advisory board while she was in high school. One of her favorite parts of being a part of the organization is empowering girls to feel good in their dresses.
“It’s so special seeing [a student’s] eyes light up when they try on a dress, knowing that they feel beautiful,” said Odegaard.
Abby’s Closet also works to encourage sustainability during prom season. Auveen Shafaei is a junior at Lake Oswego High School and a member of the organization’s student advisory board. Part of her role is helping plan the giveaways and host dress drives at her school.
“Fast fashion is such a prevalent issue today,” said Shafaei. “By promoting people [donating and getting] dresses from Abby’s Closet, we are decreasing fast fashion consumption and consumption from brands that are so detrimental to the environment.”
Junior Eliza McCurdy attended the giveaway to find a prom dress. She had an overall positive experience and saved money by going.
“[People] spend a lot of money on prom dresses that you only wear once,” said McCurdy. “[Abby’s Closet] makes getting prom dresses really accessible.”
Abby’s Closet has expanded each year, especially post-pandemic, when formal dresses were not in high demand. They are hoping to grow even more.
“[Abby’s Closet] is still evolving, so in the future, we may hold more giveaways and opportunities for students to get dresses for other events, such as homecoming,” said Odegaard.
While Abby’s Closet can no longer provide dresses at this point for the 2025 prom season, dresses can be donated year-round. Another way to get involved is by joining the student advisory board. Applications are open until May 26 at 5:00 pm. Find a donation drop-off site near you and learn more about volunteer opportunities at abbyscloset.org.