ReDressed Formals shoot

I had a vision. I wanted to do a styled shoot with girls or young women in formal dresses. After finding an area business called ReDressed Formals, my vision began to come alive.

I contacted Barb Farup, owner of ReDressed Formals of Palmyra, and told her about my vision. I traveled to her home and went to the basement, where she has nearly 350 formal dresses for people to rent. Her customers primarily are high school girls needing prom dresses, but there are many other uses for Barb’s business. Some rent them for weddings. Some rent them for cruises. During prom season Barb easily has 10 appointments a week.

Barb, a teacher at Lincoln Christian school, told me her initial plan was to have 40 to 45 dresses to rent. Dress donations started coming in — first from her daughter’s friends and then from others. Some of her dresses are what she calls “top shelf” — valued at between $400 and $900. She rents most of her dresses for $35 or less, while the top shelf gowns rent for more. Dress sizes range from 0 to 20. She also has a supply of vintage jewelry that can go with the dresses.

My styled shoot started with finding my models. A friend volunteered his daughter, Skylie, and she brought a friend, Zoe. They had a ball picking out their dresses. The each wore two different dresses, and all were gorgeous. I know if were me being the model, I would have had an extremely hard time deciding.

We took the photos right outside Barb’s acreage. She has lots of lovely foliage and scenery around her place that made for more than suitable backdrops for the photos. I photographed them together then each separately. I was very happy with the shots.

I suggest that if you ever need a formal gown for any purpose, give Barb a call. You can see her complete selection on Facebook under ReDressed Formals.