Proms Go Hollywood

Her prom was nearly two years away, but the moment high-school senior Channel David saw Gwen Stefani rocking a chocolate silk dress in the music video for No Doubt's "It's My Life," she knew that's what she'd be wearing on her big night. "It was the most beautiful dress I'd ever seen," gushes the San Bernardino, Calif., teen. "I thought, 'I just have to have that dress.'"

David, 17, is part of a growing trend of teen girls desperate to look just like their celebrity idols for as little money as possible. So rather than spend thousands on a couture gown, they're turning to less-costly imitations of designer dresses worn by the rich and well dressed. It's a phenomenon fueled by women's magazines that devote an increasing number of pages to red carpet looks and television channels that spend hours scrutinizing each Oscar gown.

"It's huge!" gushes Allen Schwartz, who's been in the celebrity knockoff business for 30 years and runs the dress company ABS. "If Nicole Kidman or Hilary Duff or Johnny Depp's girlfriend, or anybody like that--Gwen Stefani--whoever's happening at the moment, looks great ... it has a huge effect on girls." While manufacturers have been offering designer knockoffs for years, the popularity of celeb-couture among teens has reached new heights. This is the first year New York-based Promgirl.com has offered custom fit copies of celebrity-inspired gowns to star-struck teens. They estimate that the new line of $200 to $600 dresses will increase sales by 10 percent. ABS, of Los Angeles, won't give exact figures, but Schwartz says that each year sales are at least 10 to 20 percent higher than the last. And when it comes to celebrity knockoffs, he says, "It's very much a prom situation."

The celeb-effect sold Sidene Ferguson of Rochester, N.Y. The 18-year-old was hunting around online for a cool look for her senior ball. At first, she was attracted to a cute strappy number, but then she noticed a white silk backless gown with a short train--and next to it, a photograph of Angelina Jolie wearing a similar gown at the Oscars. Ferguson was sold. "It looked almost exactly like hers," Ferguson raved. "I cried to my mom so I could get it," she says. "At first I figured it was too much, but I kept giving her puppy eyes." Ferguson got the dress.

Jolie is always a big hit--she's the woman every girl wants to be--but there have been several other stars that attracted promgoers this year. An ice-blue dress worn by Charlize Theron has been very popular, says David Wilkenfeld, owner of the online dressmaker PromGirl.com, as has a sexy pink Versace dress modeled by Paris Hilton. "It's really almost half naked," he says, with a laugh. "I'm looking at the dress right now--there's almost nothing to it." The request for a skimpy Paris Hilton dress surprised the company, says Promgirl Vice President Kimberly Broomall. "It's so revealing for a young girl to wear to a prom. ... It's shocking that their school would let them wear that." But, she adds, "A lot of young girls really want to be her."

The flirty black dress Eva Longoria of "Desperate Housewives" wore to the Golden Globe awards has been very popular, says Schwartz, as have gowns worn by Cameron Diaz and Halle Berry. "Beyonce has a huge effect on what these girls want to wear for prom," he says. "They want to look like their favorite celebrity, and that's the best showcase for it." And instead of paying $4,000 for the look, they only have to fork over $300 to $1,200.