Dress Shop Owner Attending A Funeral Harassed By A Mom Furious That She Sold The Same Prom Dress To Two Different Girls
Should moms really feed into the teen drama?
Pixel-Shot | Shutterstock A Chicago dress shop owner named Kasia is sharing a cautionary tale about how out of control prom dress shopping has become in recent years. She claimed to have been harassed by a mom who is irate that her daughter had to suffer through a prom wearing the same dress as another teen.
Sure, prom is like the Met Gala for kids, who are excited to get dolled up for the formal event. From evening gowns to tuxes, there is a lot of debate over what to wear to high school's biggest blowout. But it seems we may have reached a level of entitlement that is hard to grasp regarding an event meant for fun and frivolity. Perhaps more disturbing is how invested some parents have become. One thing is for sure: Kasia likely never thought she'd be in the middle of all this.
A dress shop owner said she was harassed by a mom at a funeral because she sold the same prom dress to two different teens.
Kaisa, owner of Kaisa's Bridal and Special Occasion Boutique, took to her TikTok to share an absolutely bonkers story of what happened when a mom found out that she sold the same dress to two different girls who ended up attending the same prom. I assure you, the story twists in more ways than you could imagine.
In mid-April, Kaisa had to close her boutique for 2 days when her mother-in-law passed away. Still, because it was the height of prom season, she set up calls to the store to be forwarded to her cell phone. During the day of her mother-in-law's service, Kaisa's phone was blowing up with calls from a specific number that never left a voicemail but called relentlessly. Eventually, Kaisa turned off her phone.
Upon returning to work, Kaisa began to go through any missed messages or voicemails. Since the person calling during the funeral never left a message and was calling so incessantly, she wondered if it was spam. She was just debating calling the number when, guess who called!
The shop owner's policy is not to sell the same dress to two girls going to the same prom, which is why the mom was so angry.
When Kasia was finally able to answer the serial caller, she got a, "Oh, I finally got you on the phone! The least you could do is call back" remark, setting the tone for what was certainly going to be some drama.
Kaisa, at the time, was getting her son ready for school and told the angry mom she would call her back within the hour. Despite this ask, the woman continued to call. Eventually, Kasia learned that the constant calling was all because the woman's daughter went to her prom, and lo and behold, another girl was wearing the same dress as her.
Aly Ramirez | Unsplash
Though this was certainly not an emergency, and I would argue not even a big deal, it turns out that Kasia has an unwritten policy that she doesn't sell the same dress to two people attending the same prom. In order to do this, she keeps a record of where every girl who buys a prom dress from her shop goes to school.
Upon looking into her records, Kaisa saw that only three girls from that school bought dresses from her, and she assured the mom that none of the three dresses were the same; they weren't even the same colors. Kasia said that she only sold that same dress to one other girl who went to school in Milwaukee, WI — not even the same state as this other girl.
In fact, she posted about selling the dress in January to the girl from Milwaukee, and it was that social media post that sparked the Chicago teen's interest in the dress! The first TikTok ended with Kaisa saying, "Hold on, the girl from Milwaukee's mom is calling me now."
The drama about the dress was fueled by jealousy about a prom date.
Kasia returned to TikTok to chronicle what the girl from Milwaukee's mom told her, saying, "This is like Fatal Attraction meets 2025." The mom started the phone call by saying, "You will not believe the tea I have for you."
It turned out that the girl from Milwaukee used to live in Chicago, and still returned often to attend her church's youth group. It was on one of these return trips that a boy from her youth group asked her to go to the prom with him. She already had a big crush on him and was excited to say yes. So, she got her dress in January, and the couple not only attended the girl's prom in Milwaukee, which was a few weeks prior, but also planned to attend his prom in Chicago as well. She wore the same dress she'd bought from Kasia's boutique to the Chicago prom.
What no one could've known is that the girl from Chicago knew and liked this same boy, and had been planning to go to prom in a big group with him and some other friends. When Kasia posted the TikTok about the girl from Milwaukee buying the dress in January, the girl from Chicago knew it was her, and she also knew that the boy she liked had asked her to prom. She even saw the photos they had posted from the Milwaukee prom.
nguyen quan | Unsplash
Apparently, the girl from Chicago did not know the girl from Milwaukee would be in attendance. When the girl from Milwaukee showed up, the Chicago girl gasped and said, "What is she doing here?" The rest of the night, she continued to take pictures of both her in the dress and the girl from Milwaukee, and even made TikTok and Instagram reels of the images, asking who wore it best.
It's hard to know what the girl from Chicago's motivations were. Kasia guessed that maybe she hoped to show up for prom in the same dress as the girl from Milwaukee, and the boy would think she looked better in it. Even that seemed like a far-fetched plan.
The girl from Chicago's mom continued to call Kasia and ask her what she was "going to do about it," but there was nothing to be done. Especially since the prom had already happened, and Kasia had already sold the dresses. Not to mention the girl from Chicago specifically got a dress that she knew the girl from Milwaukee had already bought.
The dress shop owner eventually got the school involved because she felt it had crossed the line into bullying.
Kasia returned to update her rapt TikTok audience that the girl from Chicago's mom continued to call her. "When the TikTok reached 1 million views, she was very upset," Kasia said. The mom told her, "I hope you got what you wanted out of this."
Eventually, Kasia decided to call the school and tell them what was going on, as she considered this an act of bullying. The school seemed to agree, and they went so far as to ban the Chicago teen from attending future dances.
Curious about the dress? Kasia showed it off in another TikTok. To end the saga, she thanked her supporters, stating that she still plans to sell prom dresses to all the non-mean girls who want them.
For most of us, the drama of prom dress shopping and the potential devastation of wearing the same dress as another student seems ridiculous, but it's a phenomenon that has been growing right along with social media.
Dr. Renee Engeln, a Northwestern University psychology professor and author, explained to Yahoo that it's just part and parcel with our comparison-driven culture. She explained, "When that happens, teens feel like they’re falling short and feel pressure to spend more time and money on their appearance in order to keep up. If what you see on Instagram suggests that all of your peers are heading toward perfect-looking, highly expensive prom experiences, it’s natural that you’ll feel pressure to meet that same standard.”
While every parent hopes that their child's prom is a wonderfully memorable experience, it's also important that they teach their kids that wearing the same dress as another student isn't the end of the world. In fact, it's really nothing to get that upset about at all.
Alexis Faible is a writer with a Bachelor's in fashion design and a Master's in journalism covering fashion, relationships, and human-interest stories.
