BELFAST - On a recent Friday afternoon, a few women worked behind a curtain of sorts — storefront windows papered over in a regal shade of purple.

"What's the style this year?" someone said from behind a rack jammed with formal dresses. "Does anybody know what the girls are into?"

No one answered. All were some years beyond the bustle of high school dances, and the question was conversational more than anything. For the next few weeks, they would be here, setting the stage for the Cinderella Project of Maine, a massive one-day prom dress giveaway. If past years were any indication, there would be something for just about everyone.

The Cinderella Project of Maine is now in its 10th year. The deal is simple. High school girls can browse racks of hundreds of prom dresses. If they find one they like, they can take one home for free, in exchange for a promise to pay the kindness forward in some way.

"We're doing something nice and we want them to do something nice in return," said Jess Woods, one of the event organizers.

The dresses are all donated — bridesmaid's attire discovered in the backs of closets and the like. They arrive from around the state, collected at designated drop-off spots and funneled to a storefront in Reny's Plaza in Belfast.

Some of the dresses stick around from year to year, and among these, all the repeat volunteers have pet favorites — ones they know would look good on someone. 

Heather Bryant, a returning volunteer, pulled a dress off the rack on Friday and held it up for the others to see. It was olive green, with enough relief in the pattern to suggest upholstery fabric. Bryant said she liked it because it reminded her of the snow queen from Narnia. A few girls had tried it on in past years and looked great, she said, but no one had been quite ready to own it.

Classic dresses tend to be less popular, but Woods said sometimes a group of girls will go in together on a vintage look.

Leaving aside the odd summer dress, the consensus among the volunteers seemed to be that just about any of the pieces would look good on someone. Even a set of very short sequined pink tubes that at first elicited knowing groans got the benefit of the doubt in the end. The right group of underclasswomen might be able to pull them off, someone said, if they had some white go-go boots to match.

One of the first dresses ever collected for the Cinderella Proect was a simple purple gown that caught the eye of the event’s founder Mandie Sawyer. The color was used in promotional materials, and the dress appears in the Cinderella Project of Maine logo. Since then, thousands of dresses have passed through the storefront in Reny's Plaza. Around 200 to 300 per year.

"Which is great," Woods said. "We'd like to give away 800. Especially this year."

The dresses for Cinderella Project used to occupy the 5,000 square foot space that is now home to Sweet Frog frozen yogurt. The Reny family, who have donated the space for the dresses and annual event, let Cinderella Project organizers move the inventory into a much smaller section a space next door. Woods was quick to say that the Renys have been very generous, even holding off on renovations to the current space until after this year's giveaway. But the accommodations are clearly tight this year, and Woods said organizers are looking for a new home.

Last year, the Project branched out to Gardiner, where an event is held in conjunction with the local high school. Woods said similar types of giveaways exist in other parts of the state, but Cinderella Project of Maine is still the only one in this region.

The event is popular enough that girls come from around the state. Some camp outside the store overnight for a chance to get in early. But the some of the fiercest competition has turned out to be among adult women offering to volunteer on the day of the event.

"We had to shut it down, we had so many people," Woods said, "because it's such a cool experience for the adults to see the girls so happy."

If the idea of older women lining up to witness young women picking out dresses seems oppressively sentimental, Woods said it doesn't play out that way.

"Girls tend to want to share that experience when it's a positive one," she said.

Some of the girls arrive alone or with no prior experience shopping for a formal dress. Here, Woods said, the volunteers can serve as personal shoppers or just offer an objective eye. Those who don't want any help are left alone.

Before the big giveaway each year, Cinderella Project of Maine holds an essay contest. The winner is named "Cinderella for a Day" and treated to hair styling, nails and other pre-prom pampering. In spirit of "paying it forward," entrants are asked to touch on their own community service in their essays. The girls are also asked to talk about themselves, which is where the Cinderella part sometimes comes in.

"We were completely blown away by that," Woods said. "The things they were sharing about their lives. It was inspiring that they were doing as well as they were doing."

Before the volunteers left on Friday, Woods cut some windows into the purple paper across the storefront, affording views of the dresses inside. There was some talk of the openings as mirrors. They were simple rectangles, but ones in which a young woman might see herself transformed.

The Cinderella Project of Maine essay contest deadline is March 20. The prom dress giveaway will be held on April 4, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Reny’s Plaza, Belfast. Organizers are looking for volunteers to help on Mondays and Fridays from 4-6 p.m. in the weeks leading up to the event. Find more information here.

Related articles:

Gardiner student named ‘Cinderella for a Day’ in free prom dress giveaway

She’s ‘Cinderella for a Day’

Contact Ethan Andrews at: news@penbaypilot.com