About Us

Ashleigh & Amy

If the Dress Fits was created in September of 2015 in Duluth, Minnesota. The idea came to a mother and daughter who were trying to figure out how to pay for prom. They wondered if young teens miss out on the opportunity of prom because they simply could not afford it. Ashleigh organized a dress drive to provide free prom dresses to underserved teens and others who cannot afford to purchase one.

They started by telling close friends and family about their dress drive and promoted it to local high schools. They quickly surpassed their donation goal of 50 dresses and decided they needed to have a local spot where prom dresses could be donated. With that they partnered with their first donation location: Bella Rose Bridal.

Spring 2016 marked their first free dress event at Bella Rose Bridal. Over 200 prom dresses were donated. A few close friends and family helped out at the event where just over 50 dresses found a new home. Not anticipating keeping the dress drive going for another year, the extra dresses were donated to Lifehouse in Duluth and Shriner's Children's Hospital in the Twin Cities.

After continued interest in donating and the need for dresses, in November of 2016 they turned this idea into an official 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Years later they have have an inventory in the high-hundreds and have brought their nonprofit on the road. To date, in addition to their main event in Duluth, MN, the mom and daughter have traveled with their dresses to Moorhead, Barnum, and Littlefork MN.

In late-winter 2020, a few dress giveaways were held before COVID-19 closed down the entire nation. With the pandemic still an underlying factor in 2021, no dress giveaway events were held. The mother-daughter duo spent the summer of 2021 re-evaluating the organization. Keeping the safety of teens, their families and our volunteers at the heart of everything they do, the format for teens receiving a free dress has changed to scheduled appointments vs. dress giveaway events with large crowds.