Ball gowns are hanging in closets across the country, unworn due to the pandemic-related shutdown of schools and cancellation of much-anticipated spring proms.

For many young women, a lot of time and expense goes into choosing the perfect dress for prom. Not being able to wear it can be both a disappointment and a hardship.

“It’s made me a little sad, because girls don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars for nothing, with times being tough right now,” says Dana Mazzarini, owner of Style Exchange Boutique, an upscale women’s resale shop in Brentwood.

But young people are nothing if not resilient, and a number of area students are making the best of a bad situation in finding other ways to show off their dream dresses.

“Most customers have been picking up their gowns,” says Jen Mason, manager of MB Bride & Special Occasion in Greensburg. “One mother called and said she didn’t want this to be the one gown her daughter didn’t get to wear.

“People have been doing some wonderful event planning for the girls to give them a prom moment, whether it’s a real prom, another dress-up event, a group photo shoot or whatever,” she says.

Flowers and photo shoots

Three MB Bride employees who are high school students were treated to a photo shoot at Twin Lakes Park.

“They put on their prom dresses and we bought flowers,” says Kaitlyn Nesbit, the store’s prom and social media manager.

One of those students was Sarah Hayden, a rising senior at Hempfield Area High School who chose a hot-pink Ellie Wilde gown.

“I was a member of the prom committee and involved in all the decision-making, so (cancellation) was pretty disappointing,” she says. “My friends and I are hoping to go on the Gateway Clipper and have dinner once it’s back open.”

Sarah Harvey, another MB Bride employee, says she was “super-scared” when it looked like her prom wouldn’t happen: “Senior prom is what you look forward to; it’s what you talk about growing up.”

Luckily, it looks like the Yough High School student will have a chance to show off the blue and white ball gown she bought in February.

“Yough is looking at having prom in July,” she says. “We have two date options at Stratigos (Banquet Centre in North Huntingdon).”

‘Quaran-Prom’

“Our prom was supposed to be May 15,” says Kristen Tetil, a graduating senior at Belle Vernon Area High School and another MB Bride employee. “Then it was rescheduled for July 31 at the Summit Inn (in Fayette County), but last week the venue told us we can’t use the dance floor (due to social distancing protocols). So we’re working on trying to figure it out, maybe a seniors-only prom or a parent-sponsored event.

“It was very disappointing. I worked all year, from September to May, to get my dress,” she says.

But a lot of that disappointment went away when her boyfriend, Belle Vernon junior Dakota Blevins, invited her over on a recent Friday night and told her to dress up.

Courtesy of Brenda Benyak Belle Vernon Area High School students Kristen Tetil and Dakota Blevins shared a “Quaran-Prom” evening at Blevins’ home.  

Tetil says she thought they were resuming the regular Friday pizza night the couple had shared prior to quarantine.

But she decided to wear the purple ball gown with flower and glitter that she’d worked so hard to buy — and it was a good thing, too.

With help from his parents, Blevins had planned an evening adopting the Roaring ’20s theme planned for the Belle Vernon prom, complete with grilled steak dinner and music on the deck.

“It certainly wasn’t a ‘real’ prom, but it was a ‘Quaran-Prom,’ and I’m sure they’ll both remember this for years to come,” Blevins’ mother, Tina Muzina Blevins, posted on Facebook.

‘Moments of tears’

Leslie Oldfield of Hempfield also organized a private prom for her daughter, Lainie Oldfield, and her date, Garrett Kostley, both Hempfield Area High School graduating seniors.

It was important to her that Lainie not lose yet one more hallmark of senior year.

“She shopped early to get the best dress for senior prom,” Oldfield says. “She wanted a Cinderella big ball gown for senior year. She planned a long time and spent a lot of money on that dress.”

Oldfield and her sister, Tracy Trotter, set up a prom-for-two in Trotter’s Hempfield backyard.

They strung a catering tent with Christmas lights, set up a table for two, served dinner from the couple’s choice of Texas Roadhouse and played music while the pair danced barefoot in the grass.

Trotter also fashioned crowns from wrapping paper and dubbed them prom king and queen.

Oldfield says that Lainie and her best friends, who call themselves the Fab Five, also plan to get together later for a prom dress photo shoot.

“The kids have missed all these things, and the two big things — senior prom and a graduation ceremony,” she says. “These seniors have had a hard year. There have been moments of tears and worry.

“Lainie was really upset about prom,” she adds. “I said, ‘There’s no way we’re not letting her have a prom.”

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