Chloe Chamberlain studied herself in the mirror last Saturday at the Creative ReUse Center, her cargo pants and crop top exchanged for a tall column of black and blue sequins that faded into dark green.
She found the evening gown at a thrift store and brought it to the center, where volunteers were making alterations on formal wear for Friday's Rainbow Prom in Norfolk.
Prom is a ubiquitous rite of passage for the American high schooler but often fraught for LGBTQ+ teens. The Rainbow Prom allows them to "show up as their authentic selves," organizers say.
While Chamberlain's gown was being fitted, her date Ash LeBlanc twirled in the dress she settled on, black combat boots peaking out beneath a long skirt of tulle and champagne-pink sparkles.
"I'm excited to see if I can make new friends at the prom," said Chamberlain, who is homeschooled. "That would be amazing."
Last week, volunteers set up sewing machines and work tables in the ReUse Center's Art Room in the MacArthur Center. Across the way, volunteers transformed a vacated J. Jill into a technicolor cross between a boutique thrift store and theater costume shop. Vintage garments lined racks and mannequins displayed emerald and pink ensembles inspired by Elphaba and Glinda to go with the prom's "Over the Wicked Rainbow" theme.
Attendees could pick out formal wear, try on outfits and get alterations for free.
Selena Carlson-Hagstrom, aka The Fairy Godmother, spearheaded the project, wanting every kid to feel welcome and ready for the prom.
"We're just making sure that the kids know that we're here for them and that we've got their backs and that they matter."
Carlson-Hagstrom runs the Hampton Roads LGBTQ+ homeschool group. Last Saturday, her teens helped out and crafted their outfits for the night.
The ReUse Center provided the space and Old Dominion University's Theater Department and Nomads resale shop in Norfolk donated formal wear. PFLAG Hampton Roads is hosting the Rainbow Prom.
In 1980, Aaron Fricke challenged his Rhode Island school's prohibition of his male prom date. The federal case made it illegal for public schools to ban same-sex couples at dances, but sanctions persisted nationwide. A 2010 ban in Mississippi against a lesbian couple inspired the 2018 Broadway musical "The Prom" about aging actors advocating for a student and her girlfriend to attend the school dance.
The first LGBTQ+ prom may have been in 1994, when a school district in Los Angeles hosted a fete for gay and lesbian students. They've since become a staple of the school dance season.
Hampton Roads' Rainbow Prom began in 2016, as a Girl Scouts project. This year, organizers expect 125 students from across the region to attend.
Last Saturday, ReUse Center director Beth Dryer chatted with Mel Cornelisse, a sewing teacher, about vintage dresses and what they would do to repair or refresh them.
One frock of soft blue lace and lilac crinoline overlaying a structured pink bodice and skirt dated from the 1950s, Cornelisse estimated. It was in mostly good shape, but descended into tatters around the hemline.
"I'd chop like the whole four bottom inches off," Dryer said. "I feel like it might be more modern if it was tea-length."
"Oh, that would be adorable, Cornelisse said, "yeah."
Andrew Bonet, a senior at Norview High in Norfolk, is going to the prom with two friends. He was hanging out with them at the back of the store, lounging in his gray suit and flip-flops while waiting for a fitting.
"I don't plan on going home until at least five in the morning."
He found a dove gray vest amid the racks of colorful dresses to go with his suit, but needed the fabric taken in on the sides.
"I'm going to have a ring on, silver piercings, and hopefully, silver-ish or grayish hair to match with everything," he said. And black formal shoes, he added.
In the Art Room, Dryer wove delicate white ribbon through an embroidered lace doily, recreating a wrist cuff in a picture Nicholas Hagstrom had saved to his iPad for inspiration.
Hagstrom's prom look will include baby's breath flowers in his hair and more ivory lace and seafoam green sequins in the dress and shoes, he said.
Dryer chatted while she worked.
"We get to think about our own proms," she said. "Being able to identify why those events weren't so great for us, and being able to make positive changes for the kids that are going to prom today, I think that's really where it's at."
She finished weaving the ribbon.
"All right, try to wiggle your hand into there," Dryer told Hagstrom. He slid his hand through the cuff and she tied off a bow with a flourish. "Excellent, that's so pretty."
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