Livingston County pop-up boutique lends helping hand this prom season
It's almost time for teens to head to prom, and they're in luck because a popular pop-up boutique is back in Livingston County.
La Casa's annual Cinderella's Closet is here, offering formalwear at an affordable price.
Gwendolynne Chaperon-DeWolf sat patiently in a chair while her daughter, Sommer, searched for the perfect dress.
"Hopefully, we'll find it. But you know, as it goes, you want to look a certain way. You want to have your friends see you; go take a couple selfies, get some opinions. So this can be a prolonged process," Chaperon-DeWolf said.
It's a process she's very familiar with, having raised three daughters.
Anytime there's a dance, the family makes a stop at Cinderella's Closet.
"If a girl walks in and she doesn't have the money, they will scholarship it. They will scholarship the alterations; shoes and accessories can be procured fairly easily. So now it makes something unattainable in that, well, quite frankly, that Cinderella moments very attainable for somebody," Chaperon-DeWolf said.
La Casa, a nonprofit organization that serves victims and survivors of child abuse, domestic violence, and sexual assault, hosts Cinderella's Closet.
"We really wanted to broaden our horizons with the youth and with my position and make sure that people are happy and that girls are able to get dresses, because dresses are expensive," Alayna Best, Youth Prevention Educator for La Casa, said.
High school students can shop and get any dress or suit for just $25.
"I just love it here, so that's why I came. Amazing dresses and decently priced. So I do like the pricing, and honestly, the people here are just so loving and caring and understand it's fantastic," Sommer Kendrick said.
This judgment-free zone helps young people feel beautiful.
"When I find the right dress, and it fits, and it makes me happy, and it just brings me joy, and when I get compliments from people, I'm the moon about it," Kendrick said.
Cinderella's Closet makes every teen's fairy tale dreams come true.
Cinderella's Closet is located at the Kensington Vallet Outlets in Howell.
Sunday is the final day of the pop-up. The store is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
