Ducky’s Formal Wear works at 250 E. Lincoln Hwy, in the middle of downtown DeKalb, and it handles the dress side and the tuxedo side of the same night. On the dress side, it appears on the official retailer lists for Alyce Paris, Amarra, Clarisse, Dave & Johnny and Faviana. On the tuxedo side, it makes a claim most rental counters in northern Illinois cannot: the tuxes are physically in the building. The shop’s own materials and its local business listings both stress that rentals are stocked in the store rather than shipped in from a warehouse, which means a fitting puts you in the actual jacket you will wear, and same-day rental is possible when the size is on the rack.
Practically, that is the difference between a solvable problem and a ruined Saturday. If a suit ordered online arrives on the Thursday before prom with sleeves two inches short, there is a place ten minutes from DeKalb High School that can put a coat on you that afternoon.
The address, and what surrounds it
Lincoln Highway through DeKalb is Illinois Route 38, the old transcontinental route, and downtown is the stretch of brick storefronts either side of Second Street. The Egyptian Theatre, built in 1929, is around the corner at 135 N. Second St. Northern Illinois University’s campus starts roughly a mile west along the same road. This is street parking and a walkable block, not a mall parking deck — you can do a dress appointment and lunch downtown in the same trip.
Head east on that same Lincoln Highway and you are in St. Charles in about 24 miles, roughly 36 minutes, where the Fox Valley prom stores are. Rockford is the other direction. Ducky’s exists so that DeKalb County shopping does not have to be a two-county round trip in the first place.
The schools in its range
DeKalb High School, out on Dresser Road on the city’s north side, enrolled about 2,070 students in 2023–24 — big enough that a popular dress will show up twice at prom. The rest of the trade area is the opposite problem. Sycamore District 427 draws from Sycamore, Cortland, Clare and parts of Maple Park and Genoa. Genoa-Kingston High School had roughly 470 students. Hiawatha in Kirkland runs fewer than 500 across the entire district, kindergarten through twelfth. Indian Creek in Shabbona and Hinckley-Big Rock are the same scale.
In a graduating class of sixty, everyone will see every dress up close and remember it. That is what makes the special-order option worth asking about early rather than in April, and worth asking about specifically for a small school.
Hours are the thing to check first
The posted schedule is uneven, and a wasted drive from Shabbona is a real cost:
- Monday: noon–6
- Tuesday: closed
- Wednesday: 10–3
- Thursday: 10–6
- Friday: 10–5
- Saturday: 10–4
- Sunday: seasonal — call and ask
Wednesday closes at three, which rules out most after-school visits, and Tuesday is dark entirely. The shop lists a text line as well as the phone number, which is usually the faster way to confirm before you leave. Hours shift during prom and wedding season, so treat the list above as a starting point.
How a visit works
Appointments are recommended and walk-ins are taken when there is time; bridal and group fittings get the dedicated slots. The shop asks you to bring inspiration photos and any color swatches you have, and says it will match a color from a swatch regardless of where the fabric came from — relevant if a vest or tie has to line up with a dress bought elsewhere. Alterations are done for both dresses and tuxedos. Out-of-town members of a wedding or group can submit measurements remotely instead of coming in, which is useful in a college town where half a party may be scattered.
Where the name comes from
The DeKalb County Convention and Visitors Bureau traces Ducky’s to George “Ducky” Anthony, who opened the first store in Peoria in 1946 selling custom-tailored clothing and children’s shoes before moving into tuxedo rentals. His son Steve took over in 1972, and the business later reached the Quad Cities, Galesburg and DeKalb. The DeKalb store today describes itself as locally owned, family operated and woman-led, and its local business listing credits it with a Retailer of the Year award from the International Formalwear Association.