The Royal We is not about blending in. It is about standing apart.
Those two lines come from the store, and they describe its prom racks better than any list of labels could. The Royal We is a downtown Conway boutique built around the work of its founder, designer Laine Berry, whose name is on the business itself. The prom gowns carry the shop's own RW style numbers.
2003
Berry founds the business as a small salon
2008
Moves into a brick-and-mortar showroom
2019
Grown from 600 square feet to more than 6,000
The owners write that the business has returned to its founder's full creative direction, with a renewed focus on custom design and one-of-a-kind pieces.
What a prom shopper finds on Front Street
The range runs to long gowns, two-piece sets and fitted silhouettes. Prices have run mostly between roughly $310 and $500, with a few pieces from about $600 to near $800. Colors and sizes turn over quickly, which is part of the appeal for a girl who does not want to see her dress on anyone else at Conway High School's prom.
Berry's background runs across couture, bridal, prom and pageant design, and her gowns have been worn by pageant winners and clients well beyond Arkansas. The boutique credits her with intricate detailing, couture construction and an intuitive understanding of form, and it describes each design as a collaboration between artist and client.
RW style numbers
Limited-run prom gowns
- Custom made in limited quantities, the store says
- New styles arriving every week
Commission
Custom design
- Closer to an original than a catalog number
The store has a long local history with prom shoppers. In a 501 LIFE Magazine profile from its early years, Berry described the stock as "special occasion clothing, including everything high school and college-age girls need for prom and formal." That still sums up the core of the business. Conway is also a college town, home to the University of Central Arkansas and Hendrix College, so formal season here reaches past the high school calendar.
Every appointment, the store says, is meant to be personal, thoughtful and memorable.
Visiting The Royal We
The boutique sits in the block of Front Street that runs through downtown Conway, within reach of shoppers from Conway High School, Vilonia High School and Greenbrier High School across Faulkner County, as well as families driving in from elsewhere in central Arkansas. The staff will also help by phone with questions about sizing, fit and availability for anyone who cannot get to the store.
Sales are final, and the store's terms note that formal gowns often need professional tailoring for a perfect fit, so budget for a seamstress after the purchase. Wedding gowns are part of Berry's design work too, but prom is the department the store leads with.
The Royal We in Conway, a quick answer
Are the prom gowns made by The Royal We?
The prom gowns carry the boutique's own style numbers, are custom made in limited quantities, and the boutique also accepts custom design commissions.