Don't let this happen to you or someone you know. Photo: Getty Images

Picture it, pussycat.

2001. The Lincoln High senior prom. You, feeling pretty foxy in your off-the-rack Jessica McClintock gown. Sequins never looked so good.

Suddenly, the hairs on your neck prick up and you feel a sudden compulsion to turn around... which is when you see Chrissy Franzetti grinding away on the dance floor... in YOUR dress.

Oh. No. She. Didn't.

Just think of all the tears you could have spared (not to mention that hefty bill for Chrissy's facial reconstruction surgery), had Don't Steal My Prom Dress been around back then.

Perhaps the best thing to happen to prom since the Electric Slide and Humvee limos, the Don't Steal My Prom Dress Facebook group concept ensures that high schoolers avoid the social trauma of rolling up to the big event with a clone in tow, the New York Times reports.

"The group is basically for seniors to put their dresses up and underclassmen to look, so they know what dresses not to get," 18-year-old Colette Dong explains to the paper.

Within the group, prom-bound gals can reportedly post photos of their dress selections, coo over each other's picks, and scope out which frocks have been claimed to avoid any double trouble -- if the dress you like is already posted, the etiquette is that you keep looking, honey.

At least, in theory.

Dong tells the paper that after posting her white BCBG gown, an underclassman informed her that she had the same dress but hadn't (OMG!) gone to the trouble of making it public online.

"My friends are flipping out like, 'Oh my God, you have to be so mean to her, she can't do that,'" the disgraced teen told the Times.

Neither will back down, which means the group doesn't guarantee that you won't have a fashion double... though that's nothing a trip to the punch bowl and a "slippery floor" can't take care of.

"I know a girl who spent $700 on her dress," senior Christine Shaffer told the source.

"It's really crazy. People get their hair and nails done, and prom tickets are $50 to begin with. But wearing the same dress is definitely the biggest issue."

Wow. We thought our biggest issue was fending off Chad Kazinsky's roving hands.

Anyway, kudos for dreaming up this prom-saving idea, girls. It almost makes up for that whole Justin Bieber thing. Almost.

In the meantime, get tips on picking the perfect prom dress.