AnnaKubat

Homecoming can require a lot of time, effort, and money for almost all high school students. The biggest cost for girls? Homecoming dresses.

Prices can range, but most girls buy one, two or maybe even three brand-new dresses for the dances they attend. 

Junior Addison Bradley thinks that she has bought around 11 dresses total for homecoming and other formal dances. 

The issue with this is that the dresses aren’t worn again after the single use they were bought for. 

Rewearing an outfit is one of the most controversial fashion don’ts. It can be seen as shameful and basic to wear clothes that were built for multiple, even daily uses.

 “I just can’t bring myself to wear the same things together again,” said Bradley when asked about recycling outfits. This materialistic mindset applies in real life, but does it also apply to specialized events like homecoming?

“There definitely is a sense of overconsumption surrounding homecoming dresses because they are the type of dresses you wear once and never again,” senior Bridget Finnegan said.

 Reusing a homecoming dress for something other than a dance is almost unheard of and something most girls would never think of after burying their seventh dress in their closet, never to be seen again. 

Ways to combat this surplus of extremely specific items are quite simple. Bradley has sold a few of her dresses and Finnegan has let friends borrow hers to get multiple uses out of them. 

“I have reworn my homecoming dress for winter formal, and I’m also considering rewearing one again this year!” said Finnegan, who goes to multiple dances a year.  

Donating or buying used dresses can also help save money and save buyers from homecoming’s materialistic clutches.

Marian specifically used to host the Momentum show choir prom dress sale, selling gently used dresses as a way to reduce the amount of dresses bought. 

“We have done it the past two years, but it wasn’t very profitable. I would have loved for it to have been better, especially since I do think there is a sense of overconsumption with the dresses, because it is fun to get a new dress for every formal, however once you wear the dress for that formal, it never gets worn again,” junior and Momentum member Addie Golka said. 

“I would have loved to see more people donate the dresses they bought and wore once or maybe bought online and didn’t fit. I think it could have been really great as it could have helped give the dresses new lives and girls newer, in-style dresses at lower prices for less waste,” Golka said.

Just because this sale ended, that doesn’t mean others can’t be started. Even garage sales are options to hunt for a good dress.

Another option is buying from a thrift store or altering a dress from a previous year to use again. These options save money that can go towards other things, such as the fun dinner before the dance or savings not spent on the dress. 

Although it can be easy to get caught up in the glamour of it all, homecoming is an event that is quite simple to find ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle dresses.

In the ever changing world of fast fashion, homecoming dresses may seem to be a blip on the radar. 

But for some, even downsizing a little can help with their personal environmental impact.

“Even though homecoming is an extra special event that seems okay to have multiple dresses for, thinking about the extra materials associated with it has really opened my eyes to how I can make a small change to make a big difference,” Bradley said. 

Although it may go against societal norms, reusing or repurposing homecoming dresses is a small way to reduce fashion footprints. 

By limiting the amount of dresses owned, Marian girls can create a new environment focused on recycling rather than repurchasing!