Santa Fe College held a $25 prom dress sale on Wednesday to make shopping for this special day more inclusive and to raise money for the school's Academy of Science and Technology.
The sale took place at Santa Fe’s Northwest Campus in Building S, near the college bookstore. Every dress could be purchased with cash, checks, Venmo, and Cash App.
The cost of a prom dress can reach as high $1,000 in 2025, making it difficult for a high school student to get the dress of their dreams.
“There's a big variety of dresses for people to pick from who can’t always go out to stores that might have like $600 dresses,” said Madison Fisher, a high school student and sale attendee.
Fisher said she was excited to look for gold and green gowns.
“I’ve never done green before, and I think it would look really good with my hair,” Fisher said while pointing at her red hair.
Fisher and her friend Lauren Bosier emphasized the importance of the college holding this event for the community.
“It gives people who want to give away their dresses an opportunity to give them away to somebody who is less fortunate than them,” Bosier said.
Heels, flats, and beaded necklaces were for sale at varying prices and placed to the right of the room. In addition to the accessories, paper plates, sandwiches and water bottles were left out for hungry shoppers to grab a snack.
Gracie White, another high school student at the event, explained how they were eager to find a dress that perfectly matched their school's unique prom themes.
“I saw one girl wearing a dress and I was like ‘wow she looks beautiful in it’ and if she puts it down my mom is taking it,” White said
“We have a weird theme for prom, it’s a gambling theme, and I thought the black would be perfect,” she added while holding onto her shimmering black and white dress her mother successfully grabbed for her.
According to Lisa Brosky, associate vice president of marketing and communications at Santa Fe College, the majority of donations were made by a single donor.
“A very generous donor came to us because she had a large collection of special occasion dresses,” Brosky said. “She used to own a special event company and she’s not doing that anymore, but she wanted them (the dresses) to benefit something.”
The rest of the donations were accepted from the public until Tuesday.
Thanks to the abundant donations, multiple racks were stationed across the room with blue sequined midi-dresses, bold, red-toned maxi-dresses, and Fisher’s glimmering green dress.
While the prices were intentionally low to ensure that the dresses were accessible to every budget, most of the proceeds from the sale will benefit local high school students.
“The proceeds are going to benefit the Academy of Science and Technology, a high school located on Santa Fe’s campus, and an employee service organization,” Brosky explained.
The Academy of Science and Technology allows students to earn an associate degree and other certificates while working toward a high school diploma, according to the Santa Fe College website.
Unfortunately, due to the majority of donations coming from a single donor, Brosky said it is unlikely the prom dress sale will be coming back.
“We’re having a lot of fun with it, and we still really want the community to take advantage of it,” Brosky said.