If your Saturdays already run through Town Center, prom shopping can ride along. Clelia's Party Dresses keeps its second store inside The Markets at Town Center, the shopping center at Gate and Town Center parkways, which puts a wall of designer prom gowns a few miles down the road from Sandalwood High, one of the biggest high schools in Duval County.
This is the sister shop to Clelia's Party Dresses at The Avenues, the shop's other location, inside the mall on Southside Boulevard. Same owner, same website, same designer menu. What changes is the drive. For families who live closer to Butler and the Town Center side of the Southside than to the mall, this one is the easier stop.
What's on the racks for prom
Clelia's lists its prom labels right on its designer page, and the lineup leans hard toward the names girls already have saved on their phones:
- Sherri Hill, the label most seniors ask for first
- Jovani, for sequins, beading and serious red-carpet energy
- Portia & Scarlett and Jasz, the more fashion-forward end of the floor
- Rachel Allan and Johnathan Kayne, which cross over nicely into pageant
- Ariana Vara and Lara, two more labels from the same menu worth pulling if you want a dress your group hasn't seen yet
Prom is the headline, but the shop's collections run wider than one night in spring. Homecoming, evening, pageant and quinceañera gowns all have their own sections on the site. That range matters more than it sounds. A sophomore who finds her homecoming dress here already knows where she's going junior and senior year.
And if the right dress isn't hanging in the store? The shop's About page lays out the backup plan:
If you don't find what you are looking for, we can easily order your dream dress from the designer and have it sent to our store within days.
That designer pipeline means the choice doesn't stop at what fits on the floor. Bring screenshots. If a gown is on a label's site but not on the floor, it's worth asking.
The registry, and the woman who set it up
Here's the part parents tend to appreciate most. When you buy a dress at Clelia's, the shop registers that gown along with your event, so none of its other customers ends up wearing the same dress to the same prom. It's a simple promise, and it saves a lot of anxious group-chat checking in the weeks before the dance.
The idea makes more sense once you know who runs the place. According to the store's site, Clelia spent several years as a social event and wedding planner at a prominent hotel in Boston, and she has more than 30 years of fashion experience. She picks the gowns herself from designers around the world, and the shop's whole approach is built around the complete look: dress, shoes and jewelry together, so you walk out ready rather than half-finished.
Her ties to local schools are on the record, too. The site says Clelia's is partnered with Bartram Trail and Nease high schools in St. Johns County and is a member of the St. Johns and Hispanic/Puerto Rican chambers of commerce. From the Town Center store, though, the Duval schools are the nearer crowd. Sandalwood students are practically neighbors, Atlantic Coast families are a short hop south, and Englewood shoppers have an easy run across the Southside. For a broader look at prom shopping across northeast Florida, the state page is a good place to compare.
A word on timing. Prom season in Jacksonville builds fast after the holidays, and the best gowns in popular sizes go early. Pick early, register early, and the registry has room to work for you. Waiting until a week before the dance means choosing from what's left, and possibly from what someone else already claimed.
The store also carries bridal gowns, so a family that finds its prom dress here may be back for a very different reason down the line.
Questions shoppers ask about the Town Center store
Is this the same business as Clelia's at The Avenues?
Yes. Both stores belong to Clelia's Party Dresses and share one website, one designer list and the same collections. Each location has its own phone line, and both numbers are posted at the top of the shop's site.
How does the dress registry work?
When you buy your gown, tell the staff which event you're wearing it to. The shop registers the dress with that event so none of its other customers duplicates it there.
Do I need an appointment?
No. The shop keeps regular shopping hours, and its website lets you book a time online if you would rather have one set aside.