Pompano Beach, Fla. -- Like girls sifting through dresses at Macy's, the teens milled through aisles of sparkling pastel- and florescent-hued homecoming gowns, stepping into dressing rooms to try them on and then modeling them before their mothers.

But it wasn't Macy's. The girls were at a South Florida flea market, where the charity Becca's Closet gives used and new gowns to high school students unable to afford one. One mom said her hours as a nurse's aide had been cut. Another whose mortgage payment had increased said she felt humiliated to ask for help.

"I heard money was really tight, especially in our household," said Desiree Banton, a 16-year-old who attends a technical school and was trying on peach, lime green and bright blue gowns. "And my birthday is around the same week, so I knew it was gonna be really difficult to get everything done for homecoming."

Because of the economic downturn, the homecoming dance, that rite of passage that has become increasingly extravagant in recent years, is being scaled back at many high schools nationwide.

Teens accustomed to spending hundreds on dresses and suits, a pricey dinner and limousine ride are now making their own decorations, soliciting donations for food and gowns and, in some cases, reconsidering the ritzy ballroom in favor of the gym.

Emily Petway, a high school band director who runs a Becca's Closet chapter outside Atlanta, said she's been visited by students she didn't know were struggling. Their parents whisper, "I've never done anything like this before."

"That story I've heard a lot," she said. "When a dress costs $150 and you're having to choose between sending your senior daughter to prom and groceries, it's really hard."