Becoming Belle

Alison Skirtboston

Skirt! Boston editor

Skirt! is evidence that the universe is paying attention: I spent the last six years at mach speed, whether finishing college (Emerson) while writing full time for Boston Globe West (2001-2004) or editing the Boston Parents’ Paper during the day while holding down the steady gig writing for Globe ...

Alison, editor

Monday, April, 28, 2008

Know that feeling when you’re in the midst of something truly life-altering? The hair on the back of your hand stands up, words get caught in your throat.

And it’s not just another day driving on the expressway.

That happened to us at the Belle of the Ball event on Saturday. Sponsored by Anton’s Cleaners and skirt (among others), the event at Simmons College collected prom dresses for inner-city girls. The dresses – a veritable rainbow of styles and colors – were separated by size and set out on racks in the Simmons College gym.

400 girls signed up to get a dress. Dozens of women volunteered (some through our April skirt Alert) ... we were prepped by Mary Lou Andre, wardrobe consultant and author of Ready to Wear ...and the fun began...

We were running up and down stairs, carrying armloads of gowns ... our fingers ached from pulling up zippers and we only relaxed our smiles when we dug into the great sandwiches donated by local businesses.

LaWanda (right) found one she loves!

Watch this Fox News segment on the event to get an idea of how it went:
http://www.myfoxboston.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=15F34EF7F0...

The girls I “shopped” for included teen mothers from Dorchester. Mary Lou was absolutely right when she said all of them want the dress that will give them that Disney princess feeling... one of my clients tested each dress with a quick samba step in front of the mirrors in the dressing room.

My skirt colleague, Stephanie Pearl, hit the nail on the head when she said “It was so amazing that I can’t stop talking about it.”

Thank you, Arthur. Can’t wait for next year’s event.