Every spring, high school students all over the country get ready for that big event of the senior, and sometimes junior, year — the prom.
While off-Cape dress and tuxedo stores might attract some prom-goers, and others may shop online, business is still very good for a number of businesses on Cape Cod.
“With the prom it is often the first of maybe a handful of times when kids really get to get dressed up,” said Missy Jones, owner of Wicked Thrift in South Yarmouth.
On Cape Cod, some high schools have already had their proms but several are upcoming including Falmouth High School and Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School on Saturday.
At least 300 gowns purchased
At Seaside Bridal Couture in Hyannis, 300 or more girls purchased dresses this year for the prom, said Melane Wayburn, the store’s owner.
It is a part of the store’s business that has been growing every year, she said.
Dresses, on average, cost about $400 and can be as much a $700, but there are some on sale for around $150 to $250.
The customers come from local schools, said Wayburn, but they also come from off-Cape towns, such as Duxbury and Weymouth.
A good deal of the prom dress business occurs during school vacations in February and April.
“During school vacations we’re always busy,” Weyburn said.
The store also does business in tuxedos for the boys.
“They come in sometimes to match with the girls’ dresses,” she said. “We make custom ties to match with the dresses.”
In Sandwich, a niche market
Modern Vintage Bridal does more of a local business with students mostly from Sandwich and a few from Bourne, said Cara Crupi-Dulmaine, a co-owner along with Lisa Buckland.
Most of the business is for weddings, but the store sold 30 dresses for prom this year.
The business was established five years ago, and the owners recently opened a new space in the Sandwich Co-op building where it sells the prom dresses.
Since the move, the prom dress business has been “a lot better,” and Crupi-Dulmaine thinks that should continue in the future.
“So 30, for us, that’s good,” she said.
The cost of dresses ranges from $165 to $500 with the average at about $300. However, tuxedo rentals have been pretty good at 40 to 50 a season. Tuxedos go for about $250.
On the Outer Cape fewer customers
Coastal Bridal Boutique in Orleans does a comparatively small business, selling only about a dozen prom dresses each season.
“Being on the Outer Cape, there are not as many customers to cater to,” said store owner Jessica Kidd. “We focus mostly on bridal and formal wear, but we have a selection for prom dresses.”
With a mostly second-hand business for prom dresses, the prices are considerably less, starting at $100 and go up to about $200, said Kidd.
Growth in sales since the pandemic
Wicked Thrift, the small consignment store in South Yarmouth, has built up its prom dress business since the pandemic.
In 2019, Jones said the store did its best business, but for the next two years when there were either no proms or no traditional proms, business dropped. “I think the girls forgot about us,” said Jones.
Slowly, however, the customers came back and this year Wicked Thrift sold 150 prom dresses.
The customers have come in from schools all over Cape Cod, from Sturgis, Barnstable, Dennis-Yarmouth, Nauset, Monomoy, and even from New Hampshire and Rhode Island.
Jones said she likes to keep a lot of dresses in stock, and all dresses sell for under $200.
“Every year it’s a little different,” she said. This year it has been an uptick in styles from the ‘90s and early 2000s. The kids are always looking for something a little different. We sold a dress from the 1950s. Can you believe it?”
'Alternative prom style'
Plush and Plunder on Main Street in Hyannis has been offering what co-owner Chris Gardner calls “alternative prom attire.”
He and his wife, Ute, have been in operation for 43 years and over the years customers, most recently students from Sturgis schools, have been looking for something different for prom.
“It’s that five-to-10% who want to be dressed differently,” said Gardner.
Maybe something from the 1950s, or they want to look like Lucille Ball, or Doris Day. And now it’s even the 80s or 90s, he said.
Same with the boys but, Gardner says, with “more of an eclectic blend.” A cowboy theme, for example.
“Many people come in here on a budget," he said, adding they're looking to spend about $75 or $85.
A good deal on prom dresses
The best deal in town on prom dresses is at Barnstable High School in Hyannis, where donated dresses are provided to any student who needs a dress for free. The program has been in place for a long time, but few students take advantage of it.
Karen MacFarlane, registrar at the high school, who has been involved in this free dress program, along with Associate Principal Hope Taylor who started it, said about five or six students a year take advantage of it.
“The problem might be that we have older styles, or maybe the kids don’t want to wear somebody else’s gown,” said MacFarlane.
But the dresses are free. The students can get them altered and do whatever they want to do with them. Sometimes the students use them for homecoming, said MacFarlane.
A suit rather than a tuxedo
For the boys, Cape store owners said, the popular tuxedo color is still black. This year, the length of the pants requested was shorter than last year. Vests are still popular. Suspenders too. Cummerbunds are out.
One trend that might be changing, at least at Barnstable High School, is that more of the boys are opting to wear suits rather than rent a tuxedo. Six or eight years ago, almost all the boys rented tuxedos with only two or three wearing ordinary sits.
“But now, a lot more boys are wearing a nice suit and tie; it’s about 50-50,” said MacFarlane.
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