what with all this snow on the ground -- but prom Prom Dresses will be here before we know it: The season of springtime, formal gowns, corsages, tuxedoes, limousines. Oh, and manicures, pedicures, upswept hairstyles, satin shoes and beaded clutch bags. In other words, once the holiday decorations are put away, high school-age girls pretty Tea Length Strapless Bridesmaid Dress embark on the Season of Big Bucks, as they prowl the malls and dress shops looking for the perfect dress and accessories.

It can be lots of fun -- or it can be a nightmare. "Kids spend hundreds of dollars on the prom," says Christina Carew, a 22-year old substitute teacher at Platt Technical High School in Milford. "But Unique Flowing One Shoulder Prom Dress girls just realize they can't even go -- not because they don't want to, but because they don't have the money to buy a dress." It's a sad fact of life that prom dresses, even the inexpensive ones, can run hundreds of dollars. Carew says she's seen plenty of girls heartbroken over the fact that they can't pay.

"I kept thinking I wanted to figure out some way to help," she says, "and then one day my mom and I were talking, and we both came up with this idea: Why not create a place where people could Unique Plicated Blue Short Prom Dress the prom dresses they don't need anymore, and girls could borrow them when they need them? Then each dress could have new life, and girls could go to the prom after all." The idea for Karoo Kloset was born.