After two years off because of COVID, the Dream Boutique in Crookston is returning to help provide dresses for local girls looking to go to their prom. The Dream Boutique will hold several shopping and donation events throughout the spring, leading up to the day of prom, where people can donate items for the Boutique to be sold to girls hoping to look their best for prom.
Dream Boutique is going to be on the following days and times –
Sunday, March 6th from noon to 3:00 p.m.
Wednesday, March 9th from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Monday, March 14th from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, March 20th from noon to 3:00 p.m.
Erin LaPlante and Kim Dans are co-organizers of Dream Boutique, and other organizers are hoping to return to the scene to get back on track from the time they missed from the COVID pandemic to help girls be ready for prom and promote self-confidence and individual beauty by providing affordable prom dresses and accessories to local high school girls.
All of the Boutique’s items are donations donated by the general public to be sold at affordable prices for girls to go to prom in style. They accept more than just prom dresses. “Anything associated with prom, so prom dresses, shoes, accessories, we have purses, jewelry that was donated from my aunt, Patty Tiedemann, we still have some of that, a few garters are still here, so anything prom related, we would take donations, and at the events, they can come in and donate at that time, or they can come down to my office at Erin LaPlante State Farm and make those donations during our regular business hours,” explained LaPlante.
“What we are really needing are prom dresses, size 14 and up. There’s a huge need for that plus size. So if anybody out there has any prom dresses, size 14 and up, we would love to take them off your hands so you can make more room in your closet,” added Dans. The donated dresses and accessories can be bought at the Boutique for a much lower price than regular prom dress stores. “We price the dresses anywhere from $5 up to $100, which is a brand new dress that was donated from a bridal store, and what we have done in the past is we’ve taken the money and reinvested it into hangers and storage totes and things of that nature,” said Dans. “Now that we feel like we’ve got a nice amount of money, we will donate some of our proceeds to the Crookston Prom this year.”
The Dream Boutique originally was just planned to be a donation fund for ways to get girls their prom dresses at a much more affordable rate. “Back in 2018, Erin and I and a few others started Dream Boutique, we felt that there was a need for people that wanted to attend prom and a place for them to find affordable prom wear,” explained Dans. “So, we got together, and we decided that we were going to start a Boutique where people could donate prom dresses, and we could sell them to local teens that were going to prom and sell them at an affordable price.” After a great start of 180 dresses donated to the Boutique in 2018, they returned in 2019 for similar results and were set to begin again in 2020. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, proms were canceled all around the counties for two years, causing them to stop any donation events or sales. But now, with the schools returning to normal for events like prom, the Boutique is back and ready to receive donations and help girls get ready for prom.
Despite its location, the Dream Boutique is not limited to just local girls in Crookston. “By local, we don’t mean just Crookston, we mean Crookston, Climax, Fisher, Red Lake Falls, Fertile, East Grand Forks, local girls,” said LaPlante.
“We do ask where they are from when they come, but we’ve never turned anybody away,” added Dans.
The Dream Boutique is located at 323 North Main Street, in the old AT&T building. It will be open on Sunday, March 6th from noon to 3:00 p.m., Wednesday, March 9th from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., and Monday, March 14th from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., and Sunday, March 20th, noon to 3:00 p.m. Donations can be dropped anytime at Erin LaPlante’s State Farm building during their regular hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Monday to Friday, or you can call Erin at 218-289-1867 or Kim at 218-281-1700 to make arrangements to drop off donations or pick up any orders.
