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April 15, 2022Capital Region BOCES Fashion Students Upcycle Dresses for a Good Cause
Used prom and bridesmaid dresses found a second life recently at Capital Region BOCES Career and Technical School and in the process helped students in need of food or nutrition.
Students in the Career and Technical School Global Fashion and Retail programs are running a Cinderella Prom Dress Event on the Albany Campus, selling more than 100 donated gowns—mostly prom and bridesmaid—to fellow students for $5.
Proceeds of the sale are being used to fund the Grab and Go program on campus that provides snack food and drinks free of charge to students.
“This is a fantastic way of providing scholars with low cost options for dresses while at the same time funding a fantastic program that ensures none of our scholars are hungry,” said Principal Shelette Pleat.
In some instances, the gowns were given to the students free of charge, but most of the students paid the nominal fee.
Fashion students spent the past couple of weeks preparing the dresses, ironing and steaming them and in a few cases, making minor repairs.
“It’s a great opportunity to provide people with affordable options and to get more experience working in the industry,” said Mahdia Mehr, a fashion student from Schenectady.
“It’s great to help people out with affordable options and to reduce the amount of waste in the environment,” added classmate Cody Lawrence of Schalmont.
Fashion Teacher Chloe Perazzelli said re-using the dresses is a fantastic means of helping the environment.
“Fashion is one of the biggest polluting industries and this is a fantastic way to upcycle garments that would otherwise end up in a landfill,” she said.
