Prom gown recycling a win-win

EXETER, N.H. -- Jenna Conner spun around in front of a full-length mirror, checking out the effect of the coral prom gown she had just tried on. She struck a pose beneath a basketball hoop, and a half-dozen girls ''oohed" and ''aahed."

Conscious of the crowd she was drawing in the Exeter High School gym, Conner warmed up to the task and danced a few steps to the rock music blaring from a boom box in the bleachers. ''Go Jenna. You work it, girl," shouted one of the girls.

At the other end of the court, another half-dozen teens and their mothers were oblivious to Conner's vamping as they shuffled intently through racks of ''lightly used" prom dresses at the Project Cinderella sale sponsored by the Exeter High student senate.

More than 80 gowns hung from pipe racks on rollers. The dresses ranged in style from a vintage black disco number to rainbow-hued, floor-length fashions of more recent times.

''It's an opportunity for those who can't afford a new dress to buy one that is just about new," said junior Hannah Caporello, vice president of the student senate.

''Retro is in, and it's also recycling," said Nancy Decker of Stratham, another student at the regional high school.

The student group charged $10 for the gowns, with the intention that any profit would go to charity.

As the sale progressed on a recent weekend afternoon, Caporello and several other students sat behind a folding table that held a plate of chocolate-chip cookies and a roll of plastic wrap to encase the gowns they sold.

Judy Holmes, a local seamstress who volunteered to perform alterations for free, was also on hand. She proudly pointed out that she is an Exeter High graduate, and her prom was held right there in the Talbot Gym decades ago.

As Holmes fussed over Conner's hemline with a handful of girls as an audience, a line began to form at the dressing room (which on game nights serves as the gym's concession stand). Anxious moms slipped in and out, flipping the handwritten ''Occupied" sign as they consulted with their daughters.

Maria Pelkey of Salisbury, Mass., pored through a rack of dresses and held up a pastel blue gown with spaghetti straps for closer examination. She brought her daughter and a friend to the sale. ''Her girlfriend can't afford a prom gown, and we thought we'd take a look," Pelkey said. ''You can't beat the price."

Hangers clicked as Kathy Campbell and her daughter, Lauren, of Raymond, riffled through formal dresses with practiced eyes. ''Lauren competes in beauty pageants, and she needs a lot of gowns. It can get pricey," said the elder Campbell. ''We just saw one that was the same as a dress we bought last year for $130, but a different color."

The duo shopped with determination and quickly selected and purchased two.

Caporello said their sale was inspired by the Cinderella Project of New Hampshire but was not affiliated with it.

The Cinderella Project of New Hampshire was founded in 2001 by Paula Aube and Joanne Sowa, who recently estimated that the group has recycled about 1,200 gowns in the last five years. ''We don't charge though. We give them away," Sowa said.

The nonprofit group distributes donated gowns through ''boutiques" held at New Hampshire schools and community centers, and school field trips to the group's headquarters in Hooksett, where hundreds of donated gowns, shoes, and accessories are on display. Students in need of a little help are often recommended by school guidance counselors.

The Project Cinderella sale at Exeter High was a more makeshift affair. Caporello and company advertised for donations in the student newspaper and local publications, and shopped for bargains at local malls using $260 of student senate funds.

With the expert approval of the seamstress and the teens who attended her, Conner finally decided to purchase the coral gown.

After making the final decision, the president of the student senate was accompanied by her mother as she strode across the basketball court, her new (old) gown on a hanger.

''I can't resist a good deal," she said. ''I've always been a bargain hunter."