Pass Down The Gown

Pass Down The Gown was created to help defray the costs of attending formal events. We provide FREE dresses for every occasion.

Check out our Website!

How does it work?

People donate gently used formal dresses. Volunteers receive, inspect, clean, measure, and catalog the items. More volunteers model and photograph the dresses, which are then uploaded to the website for rental. Dresses are available for a two-week rental period and are reserved with a deposit of 25% of the original purchase price of the gown. Deposits are refunded upon the timely return of the dress, making the dress free!

Why do this?

Even though there are little formal events now, we are anticipating serving more people in 2021, when more people can gather and celebrate again safely.  According to a study done by Visa in 2015, the average cost of prom per couple is $919. Pass Down the Gown was created to lower this cost and make events like prom more financially accessible.  Another issue with formal dresses is the environmental damage it creates. Nearly 20% of global waste is from the fashion industry, and we hope to combat this. Often people wear their formal dresses once, and never wear it again. That is why our dresses are all donation based.  We want everyone to feel beautiful and confident at every event, without the financial stress or damage to the environment!

How would my donation be used?

This year Pass Down The Gown has created a pie chart to show the allocation of funds. Below is an explanation of each piece of the pie. Thank you for helping us grow and for helping people feel their best at every event!

Free Shipping 

Pass Down The Gown's goal is to lower the cost of formal events as much as possible. While there are less formal events now, we want to be ready to serve as many people and as well as we can when events like prom, weddings, and formal gatherings start occurring again. That is why we will now cover shipping costs for those who do not live close to our dropbox locations! While this cost will vary by dress and location, we have expected an order to cost around $35.  By investing in making the experience completely free, we hope to serve more people and grow as a company.

Website Hosting & Development

Our website is essential for us to provide dresses smoothly and effectively. The website is where people can see the dresses we have available and they can order the dresses. We have made our website easy to use and a great representation of who we are, but we hope to continue to develop and improve our website constantly. An example of this is investing in a more detailed checkout where renters can choose the dress receiving process instead of after placing a deposit.

Dry Cleaning

Keeping our dresses clean is something we can not only do by ourselves. While we have an in-depth cleaning procedure for most of our dresses, there are dresses with stains or intricate beading that need to be dry cleaned in order for others to have access to these wonderful dresses. Dry cleaning costs vary by dress, but on average is around $40. By donating you can help the next person feel great and beautiful in a clean dress!

Dress Repairs

Some of our dresses have received a lot of love over the years and are beginning to show wear and tear. Your donation will help repair loose sparkles, fix heming, and remove stains, allowing more women to enjoy these amazing dresses!

Usage Promotion

Pass Down The Gown is aiming to provide a holistic prom experience in the Twin Cities and beyond! We have historically been a midwestern company, but we hope to change that! We are aiming to grow in the Bay Area and New York City. We believe the service we offer is important and would love to expand and make it more available around the country.