Nearly two thousand dresses. That is the figure Always & Forever gives for its prom floor at the peak of the season, with more than a thousand in the building through homecoming. The shop sits behind Central Mall, next door to the Malco theatre, and it pulls girls from Fort Smith, the River Valley towns and the eastern Oklahoma communities across the line. A mother-daughter team founded it close to twenty years ago, and in 2013 the business moved into the 12,000-square-foot showroom it still uses.
Prom and homecoming carry most of the year here. Wedding gowns have their own side of the store, but the prom racks are where the volume is, and the policies on the shop's formalwear FAQ are written with teenagers and their parents in mind. The prom process is spelled out step by step for families across western Arkansas and over the Oklahoma line.
One stylist, one fitting room, one hour
Every shopper is paired with a personal stylist for a 60-minute appointment.
How the stylist hour runs (a guide)
First
The stylist asks about the event and the budget
Then
Dresses are pulled, with the stylist handling the zippers and lace-up backs
Throughout
The stylist stays in the fitting room for the whole try-on
Appointments are free to book. A card holds the slot, and the only charge is a $25 fee for a no-call, no-show.
Booking is strongly encouraged rather than required. Walk-ins are served, and the shop warns that they can wait during the busy weeks, while booked guests get priority. Two friends who want to shop together should reserve two side-by-side slots, since each appointment covers one girl trying on dresses with her own stylist and room.
The detail that sets this store apart is its event tracking. While a girl shops, her stylist checks each dress against a record of what has already sold to her school's dance, matched by designer, style number and color.
Once we sell a specific dress and color to your event, we will not sell that same designer style number in that same color to another girl attending your event.
If a gown is already claimed for that prom in that color, the stylist will not have her try it on, and will look for the same style in a color that is still open. At Northside High School or Southside, where hundreds of students head to the same prom, that check can matter as much as the fit. The store is clear that it can only track dresses bought at Always & Forever, and that different designers sometimes make similar-looking gowns.
Labels, sizes and prices
The formalwear FAQ lays out the numbers, and they are worth having before the first visit.
- Designers
- Sherri Hill, Amarra, Ellie Wilde, Ava Presley and Kate Parker, with Jessica Angel also listed on the site.
- Sizes
- 000 through 28 in store, with plus-size prom dresses across several designers and styles.
- Price range
- Roughly $299 to $899, with most gowns between $398 and $798. Sale styles have averaged near $299.
- Special orders
- Possible when a designer can deliver the right size and color in time, though never guaranteed.
Regular-priced gowns qualify for an interest-free payment plan. A $32 deluxe gown bag is required, and clearance dresses are excluded.
At purchase
A third down
Within 30 days
A second third
By day 60
The balance, while the dress stays at the shop
Paid off
The store's advice on timing is simple: earlier is better. Shopping early means more sizes and colors on the racks and fewer styles already tracked to a given prom. Girls coming from Greenwood High School or crossing the river from Van Buren High School tend to find the widest choice before the spring rush sets in.
Two policies deserve a careful read. All formalwear sales are final, with no returns, refunds or exchanges, and that includes deposits and payment-plan balances. And the shop has no in-house seamstress. Stylists hand out a list of recommended seamstresses across western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma, and the alteration work is arranged and paid for directly with whoever the family chooses. The FAQ suggests planning on at least a strap adjustment or a hem.
The store also points to recognition from The Knot, including its "Best of Weddings Hall of Fame," and local "Best of Bridal and Formal in the River Valley" honors. On the prom side, that recognition comes down to the stylist, the tracking check and a very large rack.
Always & Forever prom questions
Can a dress from this shop show up twice at the same prom?
Not in the same style and color, as long as both were bought here. The tracking system blocks a second sale of that combination to anyone attending the same event, and stylists check it during the appointment.
Are short dresses only for homecoming?
No. The store stocks hundreds of short styles in sizes 000 to 24, and it lists freshman formals, winter formals, court, parades and pep rallies among the events they cover.