Slideshow

Slide Show: Abby’s Closet

October 20, 2009

Y chromosomes aren’t allowed at Abby’s Closet’s annual April event at the Oregon Convention Center, where high school girls line up before dawn to find their free prom dress.

Photography by Mary Saunders

Abby’s Closet held a thousand dresses in its first year (2004); by 2009, the collection had grown to 4,500.

Photography by Mary Saunders

Left: Ciara Lynn, who graduated from Beaverton’s Southridge High School in 2009, shows off her gown—and her smile. Right: Wilson High School grad Becky Titchnell picked this green number to go with her hair.

Photography by Mary Saunders

So many dresses, so little time! Girls are let into the event in groups of about 50 and given about 30 minutes to shop. That was plenty of time for the 1,800 girls who walked away from the Convention Center with their dream dresses last April.

Photography by Mary Saunders

Priscilla Seiler, now a Clackamas High School graduate, found the perfect little black dress for her three (yes, three) proms in 2009.

Photography by Mary Saunders

More than 200 volunteers help to put on the annual event, including seamstresses who make minor alterations like adding hooks and buttons or fixing zippers.

Photography by Mary Saunders

In 2004, the Eglands established Abby’s Closet, an organization that collects new and gently used prom dresses and then gives them to students who may not be able to afford their own (including providing dresses to students at Salem’s schools for the deaf and blind). In April, 1,800 girls walked away from the Convention Center with their dream dresses (and 10 of last year’s 15 Rose Festival princesses wore Abby’s Closet gowns as well). Better than a glass slipper. Check out our web exclusi...

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