Cinderella's Closet event in Aurora sees teens turn out for dresses

With nine daughters, Debra Terrell knows well that prom is expensive.

To bring formal costs down, she said, the family does much of their own sewing.

She and daughter Chelcea, a West Aurora High School senior, learned of Cinderella's Closet, an event put on by the Junior League of Kane and DuPage counties, providing underprivileged girls with prom dresses for free.

"She asked me, 'Mom, can we go?'" I told her absolutely, if she could get up early enough," Debra Terrell laughed. "I had a feeling some people would be sleeping outside in tents for this."

She wasn't far off.

At 7:15 a.m. Saturday morning, the Terrells were standing in a line that wrapped around the block at Aurora's Fred Rodgers Community Center.

The event was scheduled to open at 9 a.m., event chair Allison Cagle said, but with some girls arriving as early as 5 a.m., it opened an hour early.

Cagle said the service group collected approximately 4,000 dresses in all colors, sizes and styles for the event through several donation drives in the spring and the fall.

Now in its sixth year, 375 girls were helped last year, a number Cagle expected to beat Saturday.

Though Cinderella's Closet aims to serve girls whose families have financial difficulties, Cagle said the only qualification to shop is a student ID card.

"We don't want to judge who's in financial need," she said. "Just because a family can afford to pay their phone bill every month doesn't mean they can afford prom."

More than 100 volunteers worked as "fairy godmothers" - serving as personal shoppers, helping teens find their perfect dress, as well as purses and accessories to match. A seamstress was on hand to make minor alterations.

As Chelcea Terrell headed toward the dressing room with a hot pink strapless, floor-length gown to try on, Shannon Root and Viridiana Gonzalez, both East Aurora High School seniors, walked out of the sale, dresses in hand.

Root beamed as she showed off her midnight blue dress with spaghetti straps and beading.

"I found it pretty fast," she said. "This is my second year coming here. It's just amazing. I brought a lot of friends with me this time."

At the end of the sale, remaining dresses were brought to the Elgin YWCA, which, along with the city's Junior Service Board, will be taking over the program next year.