By J1 reporter Natalie Bullock

Every little girl dreams of growing up and getting to dress up with their friends for prom. This year is no exception as the majority of Marian girls have already purchased their dress for the May 7 event. As soon as Christmas break ended, girls start planning and and searching for their perfect dress. Some girls spend hundreds of dollars on their dresses, while others take a sustainable approach and hand-make theirs. 

Audrey Ehlers is one junior that has made her high school dance dresses for the past couple years now. She finds a pattern of a dress that she wants to copy and then goes to the store to pick the texture and color of fabric she wants to work with. Ehlers finds inspiration from her grandmother and her mom who taught her how to sew. 

On the contrary, some students like junior Brielle Abboud enjoy making a day out of their shopping experience. Shopping is a bonding activity that brings Abboud and her mom closer together. Abboud looks forward to dress shopping with her mom every year, so this year was no different. She traveled to Fremont to visit Black Tie White Satin to find her dream dress. Abboud’s mom didn’t mind spending a little more on her dress because she sees it as an opportunity to share a bonding experience with her daughter. 

Ehlers and Abboud are able to showcase their interests through the making or buying of their prom dresses, which leads to an overall positive experience of their high school dances. 

With 16% of Marian’s juniors and seniors who answered the April Google survey spending $200+ Dollars on their dresses however, more girls seem to think to have a nice dress paying top dollar is a must. A new dress is nice, but not the most sustainable as most girls admit they will never rewear a dress.

In tune with Principal Sullivan’s joke at Field Week kick off, our Winter Formal dresses make for a cheap alternative to buying a new prom dress.