The Tourist

Prom season incites exactly the same frenzy for teenage girls that a bride-to-be has when buzzing around town searching for an ideal wedding dress or some celebrities experience when gearing up to have an awards show ¡§C- what are they likely to wear and how amazing can they possibly look?

However for teens residing in the foster care system, a silk charmeuse dress or asymmetrical cocktail number a la Kim Kardashian is not an easy get and there aren’t any high-profile stylists to drag them runway dresses from the showroom rack that may be returned once the evening has ended.

But last Saturday’s Glamour Gowns event, placed on by CASA of La, was aimed at providing girls living in foster care with similar princess prom experience anyone else. ?¡ãWe try to give them the dream prom that most girls take for granted,?¡À said CASA Executive Director Dilys Tosteson Garcia, who expected more than 600 girls to attend the 10th annual event.

A sizable ballroom in the La Convention Center was changed into a one-stop prom boutique. Each girl was paired with an individual shopper who helped them pick out a dress and took them around to various stations where they might get shoes from Chinese Laundry, bras from Jenette Bras, striking up tables lined with jewelry and evening bags.

Dress styles ran the gamut, but details like sequins, bows and tulle were strong through the lineup of colorful frocks. ?¡ãI like the purple one. I like big bows!?¡À said 17-year-old Melissa Gamboa, who will be attending her junior prom at Workman High School in La Puente. Masquerade dress company donated around 600 dresses, that have been all arranged by size and arrived a range of colors.

Melissa decided on a frilly purple dress with a large bow about the front, silver strappy heels, purple chandelier earrings along with a group of deep purple beaded bracelets while her best friend, 16-year-old Laura Gastelum, focused on the accessories. ?¡ãThe best part was the jewellery,?¡À said Laura, who’s attending her junior prom at Walnut High. ?¡ãYou can never go wrong with jewelry.?¡À

Making sure girls had all of the proper special occasion dress accoutrement, Jenette Goldstein of Jenette Bras along with a team of volunteers were on hand to fit them and find the best underpinnings for their dress. ?¡ãAs soon as I heard there would be a lack of bras at Glamour Gowns, and especially in the larger cup sizes, I started holding fundraising events inside my store and hitting up my suppliers for IMG_8362 donations,?¡À said Goldstein. ?¡ãMy customers packed the shop on volunteer training day. This cause is close to our hearts, literally! All of them have prom horror stories involving the impossible visit a workable strapless bra above a D cup. Jenette Bras aims to supply not only the bra during the day, but additionally some bra smarts for a lifetime.?¡À

Chinese Laundry, participating for a fourth year, set up a boutique with more than 400 pairs of shoes. ?¡ãProm is such a significant milestone inside a young woman?¡¥s life and we are thrilled with the opportunity to do our part to make their night one that they won?¡¥t forget,?¡À said Executive V . p . Stewart Goldman.

Also available were four seamstresses to make sure each girl had a dress that fit perfect. And, obviously, girls were given beauty bags filled with skincare and cosmetic makeup products to perfect their prom pouts.

?¡ãThis event is really a self-esteem builder,?¡À said Tosteson Garcia ?¡ãYou want them to blossom once they see that, yes, they are doing actually look beautiful.?¡À