Students from every high school in Santa Barbara County are invited to find the perfect dress and accessories for prom night at a special seasonal boutique set up at the Assistance League of Santa Barbara through mid-May.

A student stands in front of a mirror trying on a royal blue strapless gown while someone else holds up a maroon strapless dress as another option. (Courtesy photo)
Boutique hours are 3-5 p.m. Wednesdays through May 15; and noon-3 p.m. Saturdays through May 18. (Courtesy photo)

The boutique boasts more than 800 dresses – long and short in all imaginable hues – that high school girls may try on and take home for free to wear to prom. Accessories include shoes, clutch purses, costume jewelry, shawls and scarves – even nail polish.

Afia Ehrman, a senior preparing for Dos Pueblos High School’s May 4 prom at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, found the perfect sky-blue gown after trying on several other options.

“This was great. There were lots of options and it was lots of fun [making choices],” Ehrman said as she signed out the dress and a clutch purse.

Dominique Sanders, 17, a student at Orcutt Academy, a public charter school, drove an hour with her mother Mathilda Sanders from their North County home to view dress selections at the Assistance League headquarters on Veronica Springs Road. Dominique found a black sequined gown for the May 11 dance at her school.

“We were like, ‘wow,’ when we saw the selection,” Mathilda Sanders said as Assistance League volunteers placed a protective bag around the gown.

Annette Robson, head of the committee that staffs the prom boutique, said 27 public and private high schools throughout the county – along with home schools – are invited to borrow dresses and accessories for prom at no cost.

“This year marks the most high schools we’ve had ever,” Robson said. So far, 62 dresses have been loaned out since the annual spring boutique opened in early April.

Boutique dates and hours are 3-5 p.m. Wednesdays through May 15; and noon-3 p.m. Saturdays through May 18.

Dresses and accessories are donated to the Assistance League. Each dress is dry cleaned after each use by Ablitt’s Fine Cleaners, which provides the service for free as a community benefit to the Assistance League of Santa Barbara. Wearers may alter the dresses as needed.

The Assistance League is national all-volunteer philanthropic nonprofit organization. The Santa Barbara chapter was started in 1948. It currently has about 160 active members and scores of sustaining members who volunteer more than 50,000 hours annually, serving in designated programs with the goal of enriching the lives of residents throughout the county.

The chapter’s thrift store at 1259 Veronica Springs Road is the primary funding source for the chapter’s 16 philanthropies — one of which is the prom dress boutique — and its auxiliary, Las Aletas.

For more information, visit assistanceleaguesb.org.