Waukesha South Homecoming Dance Empties Local Formal-Wear Inventory By Saturday

WAUKESHA — Waukesha South High School's homecoming dance, set for Saturday night, has triggered a run on tuxedos, dresses and anything resembling formal wear across the city, with local shops reporting inventory down 62 percent since Tuesday afternoon.

Formal Affairs on North Street, the city's main rental counter for proms, weddings and homecomings alike, said black-tie rentals were 95 percent booked as of Tuesday at 4 p.m., with the remaining 5 percent consisting of a size 58 jacket and two mismatched bow ties.

"We had a kid try on the size 58 just to see. He looked like he was wearing a tent. He took it anyway."

— Shelly Rourke, manager, Formal Affairs

Thrift racks stripped

The scramble hasn't spared secondhand options. The Goodwill on Grand Avenue reported its formal-wear section, usually a modest rack of six to ten dresses in sizes 4 through 16, was down to a single turquoise bridesmaid gown and a men's sport coat with a missing button by Wednesday morning. Store staff said the section is typically picked over before prom in the spring but had never seen a homecoming run of this size.

Rourke said Formal Affairs has fielded 41 phone calls since Monday asking about last-minute availability, 9 more than the shop logged for the entirety of last year's homecoming season across all three Waukesha high schools.

Junior Kira Dempsey, 17, said she waited too long to check local options and ended up ordering a dress from an online retailer with overnight shipping for an extra $32. The dress was tracked as 'out for delivery' as of Wednesday evening, a status Dempsey said she has refreshed 14 times since 7 a.m.

"If it doesn't come I'm wearing my cousin's bridesmaid dress from 2024. It's green. I've made peace with it."

— Kira Dempsey, Waukesha South junior

Parking lot braces for backlog

With 347 students expected to attend Saturday's dance, the school's front parking lot is anticipated to see a 15-minute backlog during the 6:30 p.m. drop-off window, according to a staffer who has volunteered to direct traffic for the third homecoming in a row using a pair of orange foam batons left over from the marching band's pep rally.

The staffer, security aide Doug Pankratz, 48, said the batons were originally purchased for crowd control at football games but have become the unofficial symbol of homecoming traffic duty. He said this year's lot plan adds a second drop-off lane along the east curb, which he expects will cut the backlog from last year's 22 minutes.

"Last year a dad in a minivan tried to do a three-point turn in the middle of the lane. We were there till almost 7. This year nobody's turning around. I've made a sign."

— Doug Pankratz, security aide

Formal Affairs considers early-order policy

Rourke said the shop is weighing whether to open homecoming reservations earlier next fall, possibly by Labor Day, after this week's run left three students without any rental option at all. Two of the three said they planned to borrow suits from older siblings; the third was still deciding as of Wednesday between a cousin's confirmation suit and what he described as 'the nice flannel.'

For students still searching, Rourke recommended checking back Thursday morning, when the shop expects a small batch of returns from a wedding in Pewaukee to come back into rotation, cleaned and ready by noon.

Doors for Saturday's dance open at 7 p.m. in the Waukesha South gymnasium, with the Blackshirts' homecoming football game against a conference opponent kicking off earlier that afternoon.