A family shop at Sugar Beach
Elly Ewbank started Elly's Formal Wear in 1994, and it is still a family business. Elly has retired, and her daughter Terri now runs the shop, which the site says is staying "within the family name." It sits inside Sugar Beach Resort on North Kīhei Road at the north end of town, and it is a place in South Maui, Hawaii where a student can try on a prom gown and rent a tuxedo for a date at the same counter.
The prom side of the store is bigger than its bridal reputation suggests. The online prom collection runs past 80 pages of styles, and the size filter goes from 000 up to 32, with a separate run of 14W through 28W. The designers it lists for prom are these:
- Jovani
- Alyce Paris
- Tiffany Designs, which has its own prom collection page on the site
- Amelia Couture
- Panoply and Studio 17
Dresses are sold, not rented, and the FAQ is clear that all sales on formal wear are final. Payment plans are available on approval. Custom changes are possible on some designers' gowns, but the store warns that those orders run about five to six months, so a junior thinking about a customized neckline should start in the fall.
Tuxedos, fittings and neighbor islands
The menswear half of the shop matters as much to prom as the gowns do. Elly's rents and sells suits and tuxedos, and it keeps a dedicated prom tuxedo page.
From the FAQ
Prom tuxedo rental
Full ensemble
Coat, pants, shirt, tie, vest and shoes, about $200 on average
Partial rental
Almost everything in the men's collection, so a date who owns black pants can rent just the coat and vest
Rental length
Usually three days: pick up the day before, wear it, return it the day after
Fitting
Alterations on rentals done on site while you wait, at no added charge
Alterations on gowns happen in the building too. The FAQ says the shop works with experienced seamstresses who do in-house alterations, and the alterations page adds that they take on bridesmaid and other formal dresses as well as bridal.
The store also works with customers who don't live on Maui. Out-of-town shoppers can submit measurements and order a tuxedo online, and Hawaii News Now reported in March 2026 that Ewbank planned to send a staffer to Molokaʻi with tuxedos and gowns for that island's spring prom, during a stretch she called the busiest since her mother opened the store, with four proms falling on one night.
Appointments can be booked online, by phone or in the store, with walk-ins taken as space allows and after-hours private appointments offered. For a non-bridal appointment, the FAQ asks that shoppers bring no more than two guests. Elly's also hosts trunk shows, sample sales, fashion shows and pageants through the year, which are worth watching for if your budget is tight.
Prom for Lahainaluna after the fire
In August 2023, after the Lahaina wildfire, Terri Ewbank posted a video asking for prom dress donations. Maui Now reported that donated outfits came in from Washington, New York, New Mexico and beyond. The same story noted that Ewbank and her mother had quietly sponsored Maui County students for about ten years before that.
The effort became a nonprofit, Angel Hands Maui. In December 2024 it ran a Prom Pop-Up Store at the Royal Lahaina Resort & Bungalows, with the Rotary District 5000 Foundation fire relief fund covering new dresses and tuxedo rentals and Southwest Airlines shipping Morilee prom dresses from Las Vegas at no cost, according to Maui Now. Students booked free shopping appointments with fitters, then attended junior and senior proms at the Westin Maui in Kāʻanapali.
Nearly 200 outfits
Given away by Elly's and Queen Kaʻahumanu Center by the end of 2023
Lahainaluna juniors
A second shopping event in January 2024
A South Kīhei Road space
Donated to the program by Azeka Shopping Center in November 2025, Hawaii News Now reported
This event allowed students to choose the prom attire of their dreams without burdening their families with the costs.
That is how the Angel Hands page on Elly's website describes that first pop-up for Lahainaluna students in 2023.
For South Maui students, the nearest campus is Kūlanihākoʻi High School, which opened in Kīhei in 2023 and graduated its first senior class in 2026. Maui High in Kahului, Baldwin in Wailuku, King Kekaulike in Pukalani and Lahainaluna on the west side round out the island's big public high schools.
Elly's in Kīhei, briefly answered
Which sizes does the Elly's prom collection cover?
The site's prom filter lists sizes from 000 to 32, plus 14W through 28W. Stock changes through the season, so ask what is in the store in your size before you set aside a day.
Can my prom dress be altered at Elly's?
Yes. Its seamstresses do alterations in-house, and the shop takes work on formal dresses beyond wedding gowns.