Beechworth's dress library is in its infancy and in less than a week around 75 dresses have been offered up.
Old fashioned to some, a rite of passage to others, the debutante ball or "deb" remains popular in some regional communities, but price can prove an obstacle for those who want to join in.
Josie Cornish, the woman behind the dress library, does not have memories of her own debutante ball.
She said her family could not afford a dress, and it was an experience a lot of girls around her at the time shared.
"It would have been wonderful, but money didn't allow it," Ms Cornish said.
But she remembers her friends who did and attended their ball looking "absolutely beautiful".
"It's sad that some people can't go because their parents can't afford the dresses" Ms Cornish said, which was why she took her idea to start a local dress library to a Facebook Community Page.
It quickly became clear that other people felt the same way. Offers of debutant dresses have begun to threaten to overwhelm her.
Deb fashion largely stays the same
The north-east Victorian town of Beechworth has a perception as quite a wealthy area, but Ms Cornish said many families were struggling.
Experience at a local op shop meant she saw firsthand that there were some families scraping to meet day-to-day expenses, let alone the costs associated with a high school formal or debutante ball.
There will be not just debutante dresses on offer — formal dresses and men's suits are also being included as they are volunteered.
Ms Cornish said the advantage with debutante dresses was that the fashions tended to stay the same.
"The first one I got was seven years old and it's just amazing," she said.
Ms Cornish's vision has been bolstered by four volunteers who have put up their hands to help operate the mammoth communal wardrobe.
Already wrangling dozens of dresses, Ms Cornish said she was hopeful they would be able to offer a bigger range of sizes as more come in.
The plan is that "anyone can donate, and anyone can borrow," she said, and they plan to charge a small fee to offset dry cleaning costs.
"It's more a borrow. We're not going to charge too much, and if they can't afford it we'll charge them nothing," she said.
It is not yet clear when it will be up and running, but "we'll be ready soon", she said.
The next obstacle is space.
"The only problem is we're looking for somewhere to store them," Ms Cornish said.