MARYSVILLE — The Prom Dress Exchange of North Snohomish County is adopting a back-to-basics approach for its fifth year.
While previous years included extravagant fashion shows, planning committee member Jeanne Watanabe explained that the exchanges on the Saturdays of March 14 and April 11 would focus simply on outfitting young women for their proms.
“We just want to get as many girls dresses as we can,” Watanabe said. “We’ve changed the structure of the event so we can sustain it without all the hoopla.”
The Arlington Kids’ Kloset at 135 S. French Ave. will still host the exchanges, which will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. both Saturdays.
“We’ll have racks of free dresses, as well as dresses available for checkout,” Watanabe said.
In the meantime, those who wish to donate dresses may drop them off at either Kids’ Kloset or PaZazz! Hair Design at 517 N. Olympic Ave. in Arlington, or Trusty Threads at 1515 Third St. or the Living Room Coffee House at 1212 State Ave. in Marysville.
“We believe that every girl should get to go to prom and be beautiful,” Watanabe said. “Be a rock star for the night, and make wonderful memories.”
Watanabe’s belief is shared by Arlington High School senior Alexis Miller, as well as Jordan Reynolds and Emily Zimmerman, sophomores from Marysville-Pilchuck and Marysville Getchell high schools respectively. While Miller has modeled for the exchange for five years, Feb. 25 marked Reynolds’ and Zimmerman’s first time in front of the camera for this cause. Miller helped her fellow girls get dressed and train them as models, while Reynolds and Zimmerman learned quickly during their photo shoot with Brandon Wilson at the Living Room.
“A lot of dresses get purchased and worn only once,” Zimmerman said. “This way, they can get reused in new ways. Plus, they come in all sorts of sizes,” she added, noting her own taller height, “which is good if you can’t afford to have a dress fitted.”
Carol Kammerzell started a smaller version of the exchange close to a decade ago, and she’s thrilled to see it thrive.
“Kids’ Kloset was helping families in need get their kids outfitted for school, and we’d hear girls talk about prom,” Kammerzell said. “There wasn’t any program like this in the county to get them prom dresses. We went to this high schools with this, and counselors were thrilled and parents were teary-eyed.”
This year’s exchange boasts nearly 300 dresses, plus some outfits for boys supplied by the Tux Shop in Marysville.
“Even if you’re not shopping for prom, you can find dresses for little girls’ tea parties, dress-ups and costume parties, and Halloween,” Watanabe said.
