Lake Central High School and White Iris Dress share a stretch of Wicker Avenue in St. John, the US 41 strip that carries most of the town's traffic north toward Schererville and south toward Cedar Lake. That makes the shop a natural after-school stop for Lake Central students and their friends from across northwest Indiana, and its weekday hours start in the afternoon, which suits anyone coming straight from class.
WHITE IRIS provides a layaway program for Homecoming, Prom, Turnabout, Winter Formal, and all Special Occasion dresses.
The store's orders page spells the policy out in capital letters, and the list of dances in it is pure Region. Turnabout, the girls-ask winter dance common across Chicagoland, sits right beside prom and homecoming, which shows who White Iris is built for. The site's own banner names it Chicagoland's premier dress style store, and its list of recommended tailors reaches into the Illinois suburbs.
Racks, labels and layaway
The designers on the homepage are Jovani, Faviana, Primavera and Alyce Paris, and the shop sorts its stock into prom, homecoming, formal, special occasion and mother and guest dresses. A sale section takes up to 60 percent off clearance gowns, both online and in the store. Sale pieces are sold as is.
For a family spreading out the cost of a prom gown, the layaway terms are clear.
In the store
Choose the dress: homecoming, prom, turnabout, winter formal or another special occasion style
To hold it
Pay the $100 layaway fee. A simple hold without layaway takes a nonrefundable deposit that becomes store credit.
Within 90 days
Pay off the balance with no interest. Anything longer needs the owners' approval.
Until it is paid off, the dress waits in a free garment bag
Special orders are another option for a style that is not on the floor. White Iris orders directly from its designers with half down, and the dress must be picked up within seven days of arriving. In-store purchases are final sale, so try everything on before committing.
One color per style, per school
The detail that stands out in the store's own testimonials is the way it handles duplicates.
For a school the size of Lake Central, that system carries real weight. White Iris draws from well beyond its home school, too. Crown Point High School and Hanover Central in Cedar Lake are a few miles south, Highland and Munster high schools sit to the north, and Lowell is farther down US 41 in the south county. The online store ships across the country at a flat rate on full-priced dresses within the continental United States, and international shipping is available.
The shop also continues in memory of its owner, Angie Spencer, whose tribute appears on the homepage. The tribute promises that the team will keep growing the White Iris name, because that is what she would have wanted, and the shop's styled photo shoots with photographers Pat + Cassie carry that work forward online.
White Iris questions from St. John families
Does White Iris alter dresses?
Alterations are handled outside the shop. Its alterations page lists recommended seamstresses and tailors in St. John, Highland and Crown Point, plus a few in Illinois for shoppers coming from that side of the line.
Can I exchange a dress bought online?
Online orders can be exchanged for a different size or color, if available, when the request comes within four days of delivery and the dress is unworn with its tags on.