Free prom hire boutique set up for two schools

13 hours ago 2

Alex Pope,Northamptonshireand

Annabel Amos,in Daventry

Annabel Amos/BBC Five pupils, in a row, looking at the camera, in front of a row of clothes. The girl on the left is wearing a blue hoodie, glasses and long blonde hair, the next girl has long hair with red in it and a black jumper, school tie and white shirt. The next girl has a red hoodie on and long dark hair in a plait, the next girl has on a white shirt, tie and long hair and then a boy with short hair, glasses, blazer, jumper, white and burgundy tie and shirt.

A mother of twin girls who was left shocked by the price of prom dresses has started a boutique where outfits and suits can be hired for free.

Tia Kilby set up Prom ReStyle Daventry, Northamptonshire, for pupils at DSLV and The Parker Academy, in the town.

She said when she bought 10 cheap dresses on a resale site for her daughters to try on she wanted the unworn ones to be used again and not end up in landfill, so started the project.

Mia, a year 11 pupil, said it would "help lessen the stress and stop the burden of paying £300 for a dress".

Annabel Amos/BBC Mia and Tate, both in school uniform, in front of a rack of clothes in a room with a wooden door, windows and vents. Mia is wearing a white shirt, tie and jumper, with red in her hair and Tate has short hair, glasses and is wearing a black blazer, white shirt, tie and jumper.

Kilby said: "I was looking at outfits and saw how much they were and I went and bought 10 cheap dresses from Vinted.

"Then I thought what I am going to do with 10 dresses and I thought it would be good to start a project where these dresses don't just get chucked in landfill or in a wardrobe.

"That's where the idea started and lots of students are very excited about coming to try them on."

Mia said she hopes to pick a green dress and does not want "something big and puffy".

"I think this project can help lessen that stress and stop the burden of paying £300 for a dress."

Students are already busy preparing for a fashion show at DSLV on 15 April where models will wear three dresses or suits each.

Annabel Amos/BBC A large row of prom dresses on a rack. A blue dress is hung the other way on the rack, so it is straight on. The dresses are all in all different shapes and sizes

Tate, who is part of the planning committee, said it had been "eye opening".

"It's about not only making sure it's affordable and getting those boundaries removed for everyone, it's also making sure we mitigate our effect on the environment to make sure we have a very stylish and affordable initiative.

"It's making sure that everyone gets an equal opportunity to have a wonderful night.

Annabel Amos/BBC A row of suits on a rail in different colours from grey, black and blue. They all have different size number tags on them.

Since November Kilby has collected about 180 dresses and 70 suits from charity shops, from people raiding their wardrobes, online shopping and resale sites.

"We don't have anywhere near enough, we still need a lot more, we've got 350 students between the two schools."

She said pupils will make an appointment to come to the boutique, to try on as many outfits as they want, find something, get it reserved, then wear it at prom.

It will then be brought back "and we can use it again next year".

She said the project was for everyone as "some parents can afford it, some can't and some don't want to spend that sort of money on outfits."

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