'Mom guilt' stopped her from buying an expensive green dress — the internet had other plans

Many parents sacrifice the things they like for their children or put their child's needs before themselves. A mom who was about to go to a corporate award gala felt that too. She really liked a "green dress with pockets" worth $300 but couldn't justify spending that amount of money on herself. In a series of videos, the woman, Kari, who goes by @kkamp on TikTok, shared how she ended up with the green dress of her dreams without having to spend any money.

The woman posted a video where she was trying on dresses to wear at a corporate awards gala. She tried on a bunch of dresses at Macy's but liked a green dress with pockets the most. However, she realized that it was worth $300, and she didn't want to spend that much on a dress. In the end, she didn't get anything at the store and decided to continue searching for more options. The caption read, "Well, the search continues…struck out at Macy’s, sadly." The video received more than 5 million views. Many people in the comments section of the video urged the woman to get that dress for herself. Many people even offered to contribute small amounts so she could get it.

@vegetablewillow wrote, "The $300 one looks amazing on you! The color and the style is SO flattering! I get it though, hard to pay that much for a one-night dress." @adrianna_lee commented, "Spend the $300! I bought my dress for my sister in law's wedding for $298 thinking no one would ever rebuy it and I got $250 for it! Regret selling it now as I’ve been too many weddings since and nothing I’ve purchased has ever compared to that dress." @k_s_228 remarked, "We're all gonna send you $1 for #2!"

But instead of accepting the money, Kari decided to make a video longer than a minute and asked people to view it and share it to help her buy that dress. In the video, she shared that she was going to buy that dress for her husband's corporate gala in Mexico.

In an update, she shared how people from all around the world, from Singapore, Australia, Kuwait, and many other countries, had come together to help her, and she felt very grateful for that. "All of these people are coming together for a random person they do not know because they saw me wear a dress I clearly loved," the woman expressed. "You could see it on my face and everybody has made me feel like a million bucks."

Kari shared another update where the owner of the company that designed the dress reached out to her. "I saw a comment on the dress video saying that they were the owner of Betsy & Adam, the designer of that dress." She did a little digging and found out that it was actually the owner, Stacy Sklar. The person had written, "We would love to send you this dress or any other one that you would like. I want to have my team reach out to you, please send me your email address." She added, "You looked amazing in it and we really want you to have it." Someone had sent that video to Sklar, and she felt that the woman "rocked" the dress.

In yet another update, the woman revealed, "Not only did they want to send me the green dress, but they also told me to pick out two more dresses from their website. Just a few days later, I opened a box worth $1000 of beautiful dresses." Even Macy's offered her a shopping spree worth $1000 at one of their outlets so she could get accessories to go with the dress. "And now, I guess I'll proudly wear the title, 'The green dress girl.' Thank you, from the bottom of my heart to everyone who played a part in this whole experience."

Now, because Betsy & Adam had paid for the woman's dress, she decided to pay it forward, as per a video. Kari decided to use the money that her videos for the dress generated for girls and boys who can't afford prom outfits. She had around $650 to $700 through the video and Venmo donations she had received. \Around 20 people in need of formal wear for various occasions like weddings and proms had messaged the woman and she planned to draw names and get dresses/tuxedos for the winners. 

You can follow Kari (@kkamp) on TikTok for more lifestyle content.