Kate Kilmer

On Aug. 15, senior Kate Kilmer went to Mimi’s Prom dress shop to try on some dresses. The blue dress on the left is the dress Kilmer bought for Homecoming this year. As an influencer for the shop, Kilmer has a promo code and when people use that code, it gives her a discount on her dresses.

This year, senior Kate Kilmer decided to become an influencer for Mimi’s Prom St. Louis. It started out when her mom saw a notification that Mimi’s was looking for people to try on their dresses and be an influencer for Homecoming.

“I thought it was like a joke at first and I was like ‘Yeah, no I wouldn’t do that, I wouldn’t be good at that.’ and my mom was like ‘No you should, let’s just see if you’d get accepted,’” Kilmer said. 

So, Kilmer applied, thinking she wouldn’t get accepted.

“I applied really as a joke. But then I did [get accepted]. Everything worked out in my application, so I thought I’d try it out,” she said.

Kilmer went into the dress shop for the first time on Aug. 15. 

“It was a Barbie-themed night. [All the influencers] went in and tried on dresses. We got to know each other, the rules and expectations. It was really fun,” Kilmer said.

One of her jobs as an influence includes commenting on posts and letting everyone know about the store. 

Kilmer actually bought her Prom dress from the shop last year, which was how she found out about it. 

“So for prom last year, I went there to get my dress and I absolutely loved the experience. I loved all the people there. And so of course I followed them on Instagram and Tiktok,” Kilmer said.

As an influencer, Kilmer actually doesn’t get paid, and she does the gig for fun. Her favorite part is getting to try on dresses, and she has already bought her Homecoming dress for this year from Mimi’s.

“I think it’s a really cool experience and next year when they do it again, people should consider doing it,” Kilmer said.