updated 9:55 a.m. ET May 21, 2008

CHICAGO - Maya Thomas and her mother arrived at 6 a.m. on a recent Saturday to wait in a school gym with hundreds of other young women. They were there on a mission — to find a free dress so Maya, whose mother is unemployed, could attend her senior prom.

“It’s hard, especially with my mother being a single parent and her doing this all by herself,” said the soft-spoken 18-year-old, who rested her head on her mother’s shoulder as they waited. “So this really means a lot to me.”

These days, it’s not unusual for teens to spend several hundred or even a thousand dollars on prom. But as more families struggle financially — and others simply find it distasteful or unnecessary to spend so much — the low-cost prom is becoming more common, and in some cases, socially acceptable.

“The prom certainly carries tremendous cultural weight and is, in many ways, the epitome of high school,” says Amy Best, an associate professor of sociology at George Mason University in Virginia and author of “Prom Night: Youth, Schools and Popular Culture.”

“So yes, the pressure is very significant to spend. But there are a lot of kids who are opting out and who are unwilling to spend.”

Or they simply can’t afford it.

Organizers at the Chicago-based Glass Slipper Project, where Maya got her dress, say they are hearing from more families who’ve been hit hard in this latest economic downturn.

“The parents will tell you, ‘If this hadn’t been available, I wouldn’t have been able to do it because I don’t have a job, or I lost my job, or my house foreclosed,’” says Carolyn Johnson, a Glass Slipper board member and an administrator with Chicago Public Schools. “You hear all kinds of stories.”

It’s been much the same this year at San Francisco’s Princess Project, one of several groups across the country that help young women find donated dresses. Since launching in 2002, the group has added locations in Silicon Valley and Oakland, Calif. — and is now considering other parts of California because of the demand.

“Girls are traveling two hours, just to come and find a dress,” says Yvette Nichols, the Princess Project board president.

Some of the young women just want a glamorous look to fit in. But even some students who can afford to buy their own dresses have made a conscious decision to get inexpensive ones and spend less on prom.

“It is kind of a bragging thing — you know, to spend $300 on a dress,” says Emily Maas, a senior at University High School in Tucson, Ariz. “But for me, it’s almost embarrassing to spend that much.”

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