Metro St. Louis Cinderella Project Dresses Go On Sale to the Public

The Metro St. Louis Cinderella Project has dresses that are long and slinky, poofy and glittered. There are little black dresses and designer gowns. Some were once worn by beauty queens, and others still have the price tags attached.

This Saturday, the gowns are $25 each.

“Saturday is our big push to the public,” said Diane Wolferding, the director of Community Relations and Development for the Community Council of St. Charles County. The council runs the Metro St. Louis Cinderella Project. “Any girl can come in and buy a dress for $25. It will be insanity.”

The Metro St. Louis Cinderella Project collects dresses from the public and then offers girls who would not otherwise be able to afford a prom dress a chance to pick one out for free. This year, more than 150 girls referred by 40 area high schools had first pick of the dresses, said Wolferding.

“The dresses are dry cleaned and altered, and then we had salon services and extras (for the girls),” said Wolferding.

The boutique inside Mid Rivers Mall will open to the general public starting Saturday at 8 a.m. and will be open through March 27, or until the dresses are sold.

Wolferding said last year, women lined up two hours before the store opened to have the first look at the dresses. This year, there are more than 2,000 dresses that range in size from 0 to 26.

The sale attracts women of all ages because of the variety of dresses offered. There are girls that come in and shop because a $25 dress is all that they can afford, Wolferding said. Other people come in and buy several dresses because it’s a good deal.

“We have little girls who come in and get dresses for their eighth-grade graduations,” Wolferding said. “We have women in here last year in their 30s and 40s. We get lots of college-age girls who come in and get stuff for formals. We even have bridal parties come through.”

Wolferding said she’s expecting more people to come out this year, so she’ll have line tickets available and people there to help with crowd control.

A limited number of people will be allowed in the shop at one time, she said. The first 1,000 women in the store will get a gift.

The funds raised through the sales of the dresses will go toward the Community Council of St. Charles County, which sponsors the Metro St. Louis Cinderella Project. The Community Council an organization of nonprofits that focuses on issues around hunger, homelessness and affordable housing, said Wolferding.

Last year, the dress sales generated $10,000 in net proceeds, she said. This year, she expects to raise more money because they have better dresses that were collected by area shops, salons and colleges.

“Last year, probably the average priced dress in the store was (worth) maybe $125 or $150 retail, and this year they are at least $200 to $300 dresses on average,” she said. “We’ve got amazing stuff.”

In addition to better dresses, the group was also able to collect more plus-sized gowns, which were a particular need. According to the Metro St. Louis Cinderella website, half of the girls who are referred to the program wear size 14 or larger.

“Of the girls who have been referred, we haven’t had any that couldn’t get a dress because of size,” said Wolferding. 

Metro St. Louis Cinderella Project $25 sale

Opening day: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. March 12. The store is located on the upper level of near J.C. Penney.

Hours of operation March 13 to 27

Tuesday to Friday, 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. 

The store accepts cash and credit cards, but not checks. 

Learn more about the project here.