Calee Hagen could have a great time playing dress-up at her home currently. She is in possession of many prom and formal dresses of all styles and sizes. However, Hagen is not collecting dresses for her own enjoyment. Rather, she is doing it for a good cause: to provide affordable prom dresses to girls while benefitting a worthwhile charity.
Hagen is the owner of Blue Sky Boutique. She sells women’s clothing from an online boutique that operates out of her home near Eden. She also sells Mary Kay cosmetics and jewelry. Hagen has had her boutique since 2018 and enjoys providing women with a unique shopping experience.
The prom dress resale idea, however, just came along last year. “My mom and I were talking. She commented how expensive dresses are these days and they only get worn for about half a day. Plus, you have to pay for shoes, hair and flowers,” Hagen said.
That got the wheels turning for her. Hagen wondered if she could collect prom dresses and resell them at a greatly reduced price. She put the word out on the Blue Sky Boutique Facebook page in October to see if girls would donate and called it “Sweet Repeat.”
An important part of the idea was the fact that Hagen never had any intention of pocketing the dress revenue for herself. She planned to give all the proceeds to Safe Harbor in Aberdeen, a shelter for adults and children affected by physical, emotional and sexual abuse.
Hagen noted in her dress drive that girls could donate the dresses or consign them and get part of the sales. “I started to get dresses from all over the area. Britton, Langford, Webster and beyond. And all but a couple just gave the dress with a few consigning,” Hagen said. She ended up collecting so many dresses that she could barely fit them in the tiny cabin she sells her wares from.
At her own expense she had a few of the dresses cleaned at Uptown Cleaners in Watertown. When asked why she is spending her own time and money on Sweet Repeat, Hagen said, “I love giving back. When I started the boutique my goal never was to make a bunch of money, but rather have something to do as a stay at home mom. I also try to teach my kids that giving back is important. Every year, they choose a charity to donate part of the boutique’s sales to.”
Thanks to her efforts, Hagen now has a good stock of several fun dresses for prom or any formal events. There are silky elegant ones, flowy peasant dresses and some fun blingy options. She has many sizes, lengths and styles. And all of the dresses are $100 or less, with many $25 options. She would love people to come out and visit her and check out the dresses. She plans to keep them through the end of February before donating them.
To make an appointment to check out the dresses, Hagen can be contacted at 605-2685637 or through her Blue Sky Boutique Facebook page.
