The Gift of Glam: Donating Prom Dresses

This is a tale of two dresses that started languishing in a closet in Puerto Rico and now are headed to Prom 2010 at a U.S. high school. It all started when "Bombshell", who lives in Puerto Rico, wanted to donate two pretty plus size formal dresses hanging in her closet since she was a teen.

We all know how painfully hard it is to give away evening dresses with loving memories attached to a once-in-a lifetime nights like Prom or graduation. But for Bombshell it was even emotionally tougher. Her mother was unemployed when she snagged the silver dress for 9th grade graduation where she danced all night under the moon with her boyfriend. Money was still tight when her mother scrapped together enough to buy fabric and pay the seamstress to make her green Prom dress with custom-designed appliques. Even though the dresses were near and dear to her heart, Bombshell knew she'd never wear them again.

So in these tough economic times, Bombshell decided to make a difference. Afterall, she knew firsthand the fashion plight of a teen-age girl on a tight budget trying to find an affordable prom dress. While she'd heard of charities that collect prom gowns for needy girls, Bombshell didn't know of any in Puerto Rico. Lucky for us, we caught her Tweet asking for a recommedation.

Every Spring Sydney's Closet gives the gift of glam to teen-age girls who can't afford to buy plus size Prom dresses by donating Prom gowns to charities across the U.S. that specialize in playing fairy godmothers.

We PROM-ised Bombshell we'd deliver her dresses to a charity that could get them to deserving teens. Within a week, her beautiful dresses arrived. The box decorated with colorful hearts clearly demonstrated Bombshell's love for helping others. With the donation, Bombshell sent a sweet, handwritten note saying she wants the dresses to bring joy to others as they did to her.

We only hope Bombshell's extraoridnary genorosity inspires more teens and women to send Sydney's Closet Prom dresses and evening gowns that they will never wear again. That way, we can continue to spread the joy one dress at a time.