Believing every girl deserves the opportunity to have a new, designer dress for a school formal or special occasion, a Sunshine Coast woman has opened a boutique with affordability in mind.

Emily Becker knows all too well the hardship of having to attend a school formal in a borrowed dress and is hoping to give every young girl the “chance to feel beautiful” at Ella and Pip.

“Because of the COVID and the financial situation a lot of people are in, we’ve had a lot more younger girls looking for dresses for school formals or parties or events, who are looking for that affordability,” she said.

“That’s why we decided to open up a store specifically for the younger girls. It is a party dress destination.

“Personally, I didn’t have the opportunity to have a new formal dress, so I borrowed shoes, borrowed my bag, did my own hair.

“I just believe everyone deserves to have a nice new dress.

“Everybody, no matter what your income is, no matter who you are, deserves to feel beautiful and pretty. We are so passionate about that.”

The store, at Kawana Shoppingworld, stocks a range of cocktail and formal dresses ranging from sizes 4 to 18, all priced below mid-$200, and a range of accessories $30 or less.

The affordability of $300 to $400 for a dress just isn’t fair, so it’s more giving everyone the opportunity to still be able to afford something if they were going out, or something new,” she said.

“With the long formal dresses, we do have them at a 7/8 length rather than a full length to avoid the cost of having to have it altered.”

The name Ella and Pip is a sweet nod to Ms Becker’s two-year-old granddaughter.

“I’ve actually started the store for my granddaughter. Her name is Ella and she has a mini dachshund called Pippa.”

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To further help young girls attend their school formals, the store donates a portion of its profit to a community dress program.

“Ten per cent of all the sales at Ella and Pip go towards sponsoring girls to attend school formals through local schools,” Ms Becker said.

“We had a girl last year –  we paid for the hair, the makeup, the outfit, the shoes, everything.

“It’s all about helping each other.”

Ella and Pip is located in Kawana Shoppingworld, opposite Aldi.