Project prom dress

With area high school proms still many weeks away, the females aren't wasting any time.

The past few Saturdays, local formal dress shops have been filled with customers. The customers -- mostly teenage girls -- are on a mission to find the perfect prom dress.

Almost any senior girl will tell you selecting a prom dress isn't easy. The prom is probably the last time they will wear a formal dress until their wedding day. It's the final dance of their high school careers. And most importantly, they have to stand out from their fellow classmates.

Jackson High seniors Chelsea McDowell, left, and Shannon Felker took in the array of prom dresses at Weddings Complete in Jackson on Saturday. (Kit Doyle)

Despite the thunderstorms outside, dress stores in Jackson were filled with customers Feb. 24.

With Jackson High School's prom only two months away, seniors Chelsea McDowell, Kelsey Powell and Shannon Felker met at Precious Memories Bridal and Fashion Boutique on High Street in Jackson with their mothers.

Each girl went to prom last year, but this year's dance will be more meaningful.

"I think senior prom is so important because everyone makes it out to be such a big deal," Felker said. "And it's your last dance of high school, so you have to make it a big deal."

The girls began searching for dresses months ahead of time, and they knew what they were looking for.

McDowell said she doesn't look good in green.

Felker has worn purple, green and red dresses in the past, so this year she's looking for something different.

"I can't do the same color again," Felker said. "Maybe I'll go with something pink this year."

Powell said she's really picky.

"Last year, I went to about six different stores, each at least two or three times," she said. "I probably tried on at least 20 dresses."

During this year's hunt for the perfect dress, Powell plans to be even more selective.

"Senior prom is the last formal dance," she said. "It's the last time you get to show off to your classmates before you go to college."

At Precious Memories, the three girls sorted through dresses ranging in price from less than $200 up to more than $400.

Duplicating

McDowell pulled a yellow dress off the rack and held it up to her friends. "What do you guys think about this one?" she asked.

"I think someone else has that dress," Powell told her.

"What? How?" McDowell replied.

Felker told her friend she was almost positive one of their Jackson classmates had the same yellow dress.

McDowell tried on the dress anyway.

"This is a bad color on me," she said as she emerged from the dressing room.

The other two girls agreed the yellow dress didn't suit McDowell.

McDowell hung the dress back on the rack, probably best since another classmate already had the same dress.

"She would hate you if you got the same dress as her," Felker told McDowell.

The girls admit showing up to prom wearing the same dress as a fellow classmate would be devastating, but dress shop owners try to keep that from happening.

Precious Memories owner Tonya Landewee keeps a list of girls' purchases and the schools they attend. "We know it's important they don't show up wearing a dress that someone else has," she said.

Landewee, who has owned the bridal and prom dress shop about two years, said girls are getting a later start at shopping for dresses this year.

"I'm not really sure why that is," she said. "Last year, I sold my first prom dress the week before Christmas. We're just now really getting into the prom dress shopping time."

Expensive

As the three high school seniors tried on dresses, Felker's mother, Diane, and Powell's mother, Tammy Schabbing, discussed the expenses for prom.

Schabbing said she used to limit her daughter to $350 for a prom dress, but for senior year "there's no limit within reason."

"This is an exciting time for Kelsey, and we're looking forward to her having the perfect dress, hair and everything for prom," Schabbing said. "She's our only child, so we can go a little overboard with her."

Diane Felker said it's easy to spend at least $500 on prom preparation.

"It's not just the dress, it's the shoes, the jewels, the up-do, the nails and tanning," she said. "When it's all said and done, sure, you could easily spend that much."

But the expense is worth it, Diane Felker said.

"When Shannon's date picked her up for a formal dance last November and saw her, he was like 'whoa,'" Diane Felker said. "Just to see his face was priceless."

As Diane Felker spoke about her daughter, Shannon emerged from the dressing room wearing a pink satin two-piece dress.

"Oh Shannon, that's beautiful," her mother said.

The dress, with a lace-up corset top and a skirt with dozens of seashell patterns, is unique, Landewee said. "We've never had a dress that looked quite like that, and that's what girls want these days, something unique."

Diane Felker looked at the price tag -- the dress was $338.

"I'll save about $50 on alterations. You've never tried on a dress that fit that perfectly or looked that good," she told her daughter.

As Shannon admired herself in the three-way mirror, she questioned if this was the one.

"Do you like it?" she asked her friends. "It's different, and I don't think anyone will have anything else like it."

Even though Shannon, her friends and mother agreed the dress was perfect, it went back on the rack. After all, this was the first store she had searched and only the second prom dress she had tried on.

At The Andrew Jackson

The next spot was The Andrew Jackson dress shop several doors down from Precious Memories on High Street.

While the girls searched the racks of dresses, their mothers talked about their high school prom. A lot has changed since the mothers attended prom. For one, they never bought a prom dress. Schabbing's mother made her dress, and Diane Felker sewed her own.

As the mothers continued to talk, McDowell walked out of the dressing room wearing a plum-colored dress.

"I really like it," she said. "I think this is the one."

Unfortunately, McDowell's mother was at Chelsea's brother's basketball game. The dress went back on the rack because she couldn't purchase it without her mother's approval.

Later Saturday evening, McDowell arrived home after several hours of shopping. She described The Andrew Jackson prom dress to her mother, and even pulled a picture of it up on the Internet.

"My mom loved it, and I was so afraid another girl would fall in love with it before I could claim it," she said.

Since the dress store was closed Sunday, McDowell went by The Andrew Jackson after school the following Monday.

"I crossed my fingers, hoping that no one took it, and thankfully, there it was awaiting my arrival," she said.

The Jackson High School senior purchased the dress, and now her prom dress shopping is over.

jfreeze@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 246