Style, sparkle and support: Prom Closet removes financial barriers for some North Springs students

Senior Alexa Tamariz was one of the first to browse the racks after the Prom Closet opened about a month ago, and she struck gold.

“I was looking for [a specific two-piece outfit] for a long time,” Alexa said. “I couldn’t find it until I came here.” The look she had been eyeing on Pinterest was expensive online — but at the Prom Closet, it was $25.

Credit: Roni Robbins

Credit: Roni Robbins

The idea for the initiative came from Diahann Fulwider, North Springs’ coordinator of student and family engagement. It began with one student’s confession: He didn’t attend last year’s prom because he couldn’t afford it.

“That just broke my heart,” Fulwider said.

After talking with more students, Fulwider learned that others had skipped prom for the same reason. She made a promise: “We’ve got to do something different next year.”

This year, she turned to social media and the wider Sandy Springs community for help. The response was overwhelming.

Credit: Special to the AJC

Credit: Special to the AJC

“We rely heavily on our community to remove any barriers that exist in our school,” Fulwider said.

Associated Credit Union — already a partner through a student internship program — stepped up. So did Indochino, a Buckhead-based designer of men’s formalwear.

Heiwote Tadesse, executive vice president of member relations at ACU, said the credit union’s executive team didn’t hesitate.

“I put a rack in front of my office, thinking I might get maybe 50 dresses,” she said. “Within two weeks, we collected over 200 dresses. I didn’t even have to send an email to the rest of the staff.”

Donations poured in so quickly that the credit union had to temporarily store all the dresses in storage until they could be delivered to the school.

Fulwider wanted students to have a full boutique experience.

She transformed the school’s art gallery into a pop-up shop, complete with curated racks and adjustable lighting to give the space a polished, retail-like feel.

“We didn’t want them to have to dig through boxes trying to find dresses,” she said. “We wanted them to have the experience of going into a store, if you will — so they could really get into the nuances of being able to shop for prom.”

The Prom Closet was a hit with students across the board.

“It was so inviting and welcoming,” Fulwider said.

All students checked out the Prom Closet, whether they live in a million-dollar home or an apartment complex, she said.

Junior Hailey Pugh was an early visitor. She helped a friend find a dress and picked up a few surprise accessories for herself. She’d already scored a $4 vintage purple-and-black beaded gown at Goodwill but was thrilled to find “a lot of good accessories I didn’t know they were going to have.”

For Fulwider, the response confirmed the need — and the power of community.

Tadesse echoed that sentiment.

“I just did not realize how much need there was [for prom-wear] or how much the students worried about not going,” she said.

Fulwider said the school will offer a Prom Closet each year in advance of the big dance and will involve more school supporters next year. This year’s prom starts at 7 p.m. today.