The path to accessing affordable formal wear for students graduating in Williams Lake remains unclear after the disappearance of the Glass Slipper Boutique lending program.
This is one month after dresses donated to the Glass Slipper Boutique by the community appeared on a Marketplace post for sale in Quesnel. The stock of dresses for the program, donated to the program mostly via BGC Club Williams Lake, had up until then been in the care of School District 27.
Dresses from the lending program were visible in the post, as the person selling them used photos from the Glass Slipper Boutique itself.
At least some of the dresses are now owned by a Quesnel shop selling dresses on Marketplace and which hosted a "pop-up" sale in February.
School District 27 had been storing the program’s stock since 2020 while the BGC Williams Lake Club was helping support the program, something which the school district superintendent later explained was no longer feasible.
“Management of inventory, cleaning, storage, and set up locations have been challenges. Inventory has been aging, in varying states of wear and tear, and in and out of storage," Lenardon said.
“Neither BGC nor the district had the capacity to continue and a new sponsor had not been found."
Those helping with the program estimate there were about 500 grad dresses in the Glass Slipper stock and said over 60 still had tags on them after a dress shop donated some stock in 2019 when the owners closed their store.
A volunteer said the only dresses which were not in good repair were ones boxed up prior to being cleaned due to rushing items into storage.
One parent has since confirmed she attended the pop up sale in Quesnel with her daughter to find a grad dress after seeing it posted on Marketplace. The parent sent photos of half a dozen dresses her daughter tried on which were being sold for prices ranging from $400 to $1,000. Her daughter chose a dress and they reported paying $600. The extended family had been fundraising since November of 2024 to be able to purchase a dress for her daughter.
Lenardon assured the Tribune the district could support students in accessing “appropriate attire for their special day.”
However, there have been multiple reports of students requesting this support and finding no plan has been put in place to respond to their requests. Upon its own attempts to determine whether a solution was in place, the Tribune found school staff had not been informed and had to seek out instructions to direct students.
In the end, students and parents were directed to Rick Magnell, a local business owner who stepped up to start a new affordable formal wear program after hearing the Glass Slipper had been dismantled. Magnell's Ever After Attire program, however, is still in its early stages, with only about a dozen dresses secured so far. Magnell did confirm he has some tuxedos and suits, which were reportedly stored elsewhere and were from the Glass Slipper Boutique.
In two separate emails sent to Lenardon, Efteen asked for clarifications around why and how the Glass Slipper was dismantled, and what processes are in place to help students access affordable formal wear.
Lenardon replied by again assuring students would receive the support they needed in a private and dignified manner.
“Any student who needs it can work directly with their administration, who they trust and have built relationships with, to access various forms of funding for a dress or dress rental or arrange transportation to access a dress,” Lenardon wrote.
“Principals are communicating with their staff so if they receive requests, they know where to direct them. No student who needs support will be left without.”
She said the Glass Slipper Boutique was an important part of the support which the district provided to students.
"However, over the years, the flood of students who accessed the program slowed to a trickle,” Lenardon wrote.
In 2018-19, the last year they had records for program usage pre-Covid, BGC said they reported 49 students using the program.
Lendardon also said when inventory was showing wear from their repeated use, dresses were donated to local thrift stores.
“We did this to ensure that our graduates would feel comfortable walking across the stage in their chosen dress.”
The superintendent said the program no longer had a stable ‘home’ and was reviewed by staff who determined it was not serving students as intended.
“With that in mind, a new system to offer this support was decided upon...I fully recognize that the communication about this change caused confusion and did not honour the program that served our students in the past. For that, I apologize and promise we will do better.”
Students hoping to access formal wear for graduation this year are encouraged to reach out to a trusted administrator or counsellor in order to be connected to support.
Rick Magnell said Ever After will potentially be starting to host pop ups with the small amount of stock they have, though the plan is still in development for how it will look. Check the Ever After Attire website or Facebook page for updates on when pop ups will take place.
