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There was a time when county teens could get away with wearing the same dress to different events. That, some say, was before the advent of a certain social networking site.

"My daughter's in high school, and she can't wear the same thing twice because of Facebook," said Rockville resident Roxanne David. Photos uploaded to the popular site document which outfit her daughter is wearing to homecoming dances or parties, she said, rendering them useless for future occasions. "If you go to three homecoming [dances,] you're in trouble."

David, who also has 12-year-old twin girls, attended a grand opening on Nov. 12 for a new clothing swap business launched by Potomac residents Cheryl Rhodes and Susan Olan. Both moms of three teen and tween daughters, they knew the problem all too well.

"We learned that they wear it once and they don't want to see it again," Rhodes said.

But the two also two noticed their girls' solution to a conundrum that leaves many with piles of unwanted clothing, driving back and forth on expensive trips to the mall. Prior to a party, Rhodes said, her daughters' friends would come over to raid their closets in search of fresh looks.

"If we had an event coming up and we knew what dresses our friends had, we'd say ‘Can I have them?'" said Natalie Abrams, 15, a friend of Alyssa Rhodes, 15, Cheryl Rhodes' daughter. The problem was especially evident when their friends were celebrating their bar or bat mitzvahs in seventh and eighth grades. During that time, the girls would attend at least one or two each weekend, they said.

With that in mind, Rhodes and Olan dubbed their new company "My Best Friend's Closet." Several weeks ago, they began contacting friends and family, offering to pay for unwanted party dresses for teens and tweens. Soon, though, they were inundated with everything from jackets to jeans to jewelry. By the time their Nov. 12 launch rolled around, Rhodes' Potomac home resembled a downtown Washington boutique, complete with sleek jewelry cases and stylishly modeled mannequins.

"Our goal is to keep it upscale," Rhodes said. "When people walk in here and look around they can't believe that it's a fraction of the price."

Dresses that once retailed for $150-$200 were sold for $30-$60, many of them with designer labels. "It's just a lot of choices," said Rockville resident Beverly Peng, who attended the launch with her daughters, 14 and 10. "The dresses are beautiful and it's right within a very good price range."

"It's a recession," David agreed. "You can't buy the $100 jeans for your kids. But you can buy the $30 jeans."

The "dress swap" concept isn't new, but it does seem to be catching on. In 2007, Chevy Chase mom Ann Kayrish launched a pre-teen dress swap she dubbed "Drestiny." And St. Anthony's Bridal, a Bethesda nonprofit group that allows women to borrow wedding gowns or buy them at a discount, last year launched a prom gown giveaway event.

Word of the launch spread quickly through e-mail and word of mouth, and many teens and tweens showed up after attending a shortened school day. "It was crazy this afternoon with the middle school kids," Olan said. "When it hit 12:30, I'm telling you the girls started flocking in the door."

Judging by the positive response, Olan and Rhodes say they are considering looking for retail space to further the business. They hope to raise their profile among more county moms with daughters facing similar fashion dilemmas.

"We have moms giving us dresses who say, ‘Oh my God, I spent $150 and my daughter wore it once, it was so cute!'" Rhodes said. "Every dress has a story."