When Britni Knable opened House of K in 2018, she told the New Albany News and Tribune she would not sell the same dress to two girls attending the same school. That single rule tells you most of what you need to know about the shop. It is a small downtown boutique that tracks what it sells and to whom, not a floor where four hundred identical styles move through in a season. Gowns at opening ran from about $170 to $1,500, and the store still lists itself in the $$$ range.
The shop sits at 121 E Market St in downtown New Albany, in the older commercial blocks a few streets up from the Ohio River. Downtown New Albany is a walkable district of nineteenth-century storefronts with the Mansion Row historic district running east along Main and Market. It is a shopping trip you can park once for, which matters if a fitting turns into an afternoon.
Who shops here
Floyd County is served by New Albany Floyd County Schools, which runs New Albany High School and Floyd Central in Floyds Knobs. Those two feed most of the store’s prom traffic, along with students from the neighboring Clark County towns. The other half of the trade area is across the water: downtown Louisville is roughly five miles away over the Sherman Minton Bridge, which carries I-64 and US 150 across the Ohio. The store’s phone number is a 502 Louisville area code. For a family on the Kentucky side, this is a short cross-river errand, not a trip to another state.
Sizing is stocked from 0 to 24, per Indiana’s state tourism listing for the shop, and the store describes itself as size-inclusive.
The brands on the racks
House of K appears on the official retailer locators for five prom and evening labels:
- Sherri Hill
- Jovani
- Terani
- Ashley Lauren
- Colette
That is a designer-gown lineup rather than a value one. If the budget is under $200, the more realistic first stop is the Cinderella Shop inside New Albany High School, which rents donated dresses, suits and accessories to students for a $10 fee.
Prom season and Derby season are the same season
Knable is the milliner behind Headcandi, a Derby hat line she started in 2003 after studying hat design in Chicago and working for a New York milliner. In the Louisville metro that is not a side note. Indiana proms and the first Saturday in May land within a few weeks of each other, and the same shop that fits a junior for prom is also selling fascinators and hats to women going to the track. Some of the Headcandi work is carried in the store.
Walking in versus booking
Prom, special occasion, mother’s, first communion, flower girl, Headcandi and accessory shopping need no appointment — the store says so on its own site. Bridal is different: that is a booked appointment with a dedicated stylist, ninety minutes, and the booking page caps it at the bride plus four guests, with an after-hours option for larger groups. If you are coming for prom on a Saturday in March with three friends, you can simply arrive; if a mother of the bride wants time and attention, call ahead.
The store also handles bridal, bridesmaids, galas and pageants out of the same space, so the racks are not all prom, all year. Call before you drive if you want to know what is on the floor in a given week.