Palmyra woman giving old prom dresses new life

When you look around you might think you’re in a prom store, but it isn’t a store, it’s is Barb Farup’s basement.

“I’ve got formal dresses for prom, I’ve got dresses for red carpet type events, dresses for teens, dresses for adults, and my sizes range from about 0 to 20 right now,” said Barp Farup, the owner of Redressed Formal.

After buying a prom dress for their daughter in 2017 Farup got the idea to share their daughter’s dress.

Soon she began collecting donations of prom and other formal dresses and Redressed Formal was born.

Today over 450 dresses fill her basement. Everything from short dresses to long dresses to vintage dresses, all affordably priced so any girl can rent a dress for their big event. 

“It’s just fun when they walk downstairs and they’re always just pleasantly surprised and that makes my heart happy.”

Each dress that’s donated is dry cleaned, any needed repairs are made, and then named after the girl who donated it.

Farup’s collection features several designer dresses that would retail for hundreds of dollars, and many have never been worn.

Rentals start as low as $15 and any money she makes she donates to charity or uses to expand her collection.

Farup says it’s never been about the money, but giving girls who otherwise couldn’t go to prom a chance to go.

“They came out later in the day and said they had been in Omaha and Lincoln searching the Goodwill’s trying to find a dress and couldn’t find anything. She came down here and just had tears in her eyes and I found her a beautiful dress and they were so happy.”

And making each girl feel like a princess for their big night is what it’s all about.

If you have a dress you would like to donate or if you’re interested in renting a dress you can contact Barb on her Redressed Formal Facebook page.