This year, Cary Towne Center’s The Deb Shop has sold hot pink, lime green and yellow dresses for prom.

“The full, poofy skirt is really in,” said Shonte Gibson, assistant manager. “Girls are also buying short skirts. Long and straight isn’t as popular this year.” She also said strapless dresses remain in demand.

Guys get to be the icing on the cake. To coordinate with the girls’ flashy colors, Tyrone Crandle, manager at VIP Formal Wear at Crabtree Valley Mall, said boys are choosing pinks, greens, reds and yellows.

“They’re really diversifying; mixing it up,” he said. As far as the tuxes themselves, students have picked cream, khaki, brown and white. Even colored shirts under the tuxedo jacket make the cut.”

To help their classmates make some decisions about what to wear for prom, the Division 9 Key Clubs held a fashion show on Feb. 16. When local high school students signed up for Key Club, an international service organization, modeling in prom dresses and tuxedos was most likely not on the top of their minds. But for a good cause 23 students from Athens Drive, Apex, Cary, Green Hope, Middle Creek and Panther Creek paraded, posed and hip-hopped across Cary High School’s new auditorium for the Fourth Annual Key Club Prom Fashion Show.

There were bright colors: Sarah Phillips twirled in her hot pink pleated skirt with black lace accents and Jessica Conley heated up the stage in an ice blue lacy number. But there were plenty of creams, whites and blacks, too.

“I think the classics will always be in style; they’re not going anywhere,” Gibson said.

A junior couple, senior couple and “wild card” couple from each school could participate in the show, but each individual had to raise at least $200.

The $5,000 raised will be donated to the Boys and Girls Home at Lake Waccamaw; Horse & Buddy, a therapeutic riding program located in Apex; March of Dimes; Children’s Miracle Network and UNICEF.

Apex senior Matthew Floyd, 17, flashed a grin as he and his partner, Monika Markley, 17, waited backstage before the show. He had modeled before, even flying to Boston first class for a photo shoot. But could he still have fun walking on Cary High School’s stage? “I’m really excited,” he said.

Most of the models echoed Green Hope High School juniors Adrienne Scott and Tony Dao. “This is the perfect excuse to wear a pretty dress,” said Scott. “I got to meet people from other schools. …”

“… And we were able to give back,” said Dao.

“The fashion show gives kids a sense of community spirit,” said Kiwanis Club youth service coordinator Stacy Lyerly. She has worked as a liaison between the Cary Kiwanis Club and the Division 9 Key Clubs for several years, watching many of the students grow up. “It gives them the opportunity to do something nice for the community and have fun at the same time.”

As the students showed off their duds provided for the event by The Deb Shop at Cary Towne Center and VIP Formal Wear at Crabtree Valley Mall, the audience learned that a white-jacketed Sio Moore from Apex would take his date to a spa, then a movie and “get her home by 11 to keep her dad happy.” Panther Creek’s Kelsey Young spun around in a pearl-colored dress and white flip-flops (her own). And Carolina fan Tulsi Patel from Green Hope rocked the house in a striking, orange knee-length cocktail dress. Local high school band Set-Kay provided music during the intermission.

For the winners of the fashion show, not only did they help local charities, they get an all-expense-paid trip to prom. Middle Creek’s Rob Benson and Panther Creek’s Kelsey Young receive tickets, dinner, dress or tux rental and flowers courtesy of the event. Second place winners David Howard and Jessica Conley get dinner, tickets and flowers, and third place winners Matthew Floyd and Monika Markley will enjoy dinner and flowers because of their participation.

The winners can rest easy now while their fellow classmates shop diligently to put their best prom fashion foot forward. Prom dresses can set a girl back from $60 to about $120, while guys can expect to pay $80 to $120 for tuxedo rental, retailers say.