Jill Webb started Dream Dress as a mother, not as a retailer. She understood how frustrating the search for a prom dress could get, and she thought it could be calmer and more fun than it was. The shop she built is inside Lindale Mall on First Avenue Northeast in Cedar Rapids, and it runs on a simple premise: put a very large number of prom gowns in one room, staff it with consultants and seamstresses, and keep the prices in line with what a family in eastern Iowa can manage.
It is a woman-owned and family-owned business, and the store leans into that. Its site asks shoppers to buy local because the money and the jobs stay in Cedar Rapids. When the store held its grand opening in the mall, Webb told CBS2 Iowa that she had tried to buy dresses across a wide spread of price ranges so there would be something most people could afford.
How big the floor is, and when to show up
The FAQ puts the count at around 1,300 dresses, which is a lot of dresses for one mall storefront. During January and February, new dresses land every week. From March on, the store carries fewer gowns, so the shoppers who come in early see the deepest racks. Weekends get busy; the store's own suggestion for a calmer visit is a weekday. Dream Dress is seasonal. It closes for the year in mid-April, so a plan to start shopping over spring break is cutting it close.
Two house rules are worth knowing before you go. The shop does not hold dresses, because it wants the racks full for whoever walks in next. And every sale is final, including special orders and layaways. That second rule is common in formal wear, but it means the fitting room is where the decision really happens. Bring a parent or friend whose opinion you trust.
Layaway is available. The store asks for half the cost of the dress up front and the rest within 30 days. Special orders, on the other hand, have to be paid in full before the store places them.
The store's collection list names Amarra, Sherri Hill, Clarisse, Alyce Paris, La Femme, Primavera Couture, Sydney's Closet and 2 Cute, and the site says it carries more than ten designers in all.
Colors and sizes
Most dresses can be ordered in other colors and sizes at no extra cost. If a style is not available to order, staff will look for something close, or see whether an alteration can get the shopper there.
Shipping
The store will ship a dress to shoppers who live out of town. Ground shipping is free on a full-price dress of $300 or more.
Checking stock
The website shows everything the store can order, not only what is hanging in the mall. Call or text during business hours to ask whether a specific style is in the building.
The ambassador program and the donated gowns
Dream Dress runs a student ambassador program, and the roster on its site doubles as a map of where its customers come from. Most of the big Cedar Rapids schools are on it: Prairie, Washington and Jefferson, plus Linn-Mar and Marion High School from the Marion side of the metro. So is a wide ring of towns further out, with ambassadors from Clear Creek Amana, Mount Vernon, Lisbon, Solon, Iowa City High, Benton Community, Center Point-Urbana and Tipton, and some as far away as Cedar Falls, Waterloo West and Dubuque's Hempstead. Kennedy, the city's other big public high school, is on the same northeast side of town as the mall.
The other program on the site is quieter. Webb's shop gives dresses away.
We're not just about fashion; we're about making a difference. To date, we've donated over 300 dresses to underprivileged girls in our community, helping them experience the magic of prom.
CBS2 reported the same figure at the grand opening, along with Webb's plan to keep passing along dresses left over after prom season.
The store also spends a surprising amount of its FAQ warning shoppers about online knockoffs. Its point is that the designers it carries require their dresses to be listed at the suggested retail price, so a much cheaper listing of the same style on another site is usually a counterfeit. The store's offer is to order the real thing at the same price an online retailer would charge. If a deal looks too good to be true, the FAQ says, it probably is.
Dream Dress questions from Cedar Rapids shoppers
Can Dream Dress handle alterations on a gown bought there?
The store lists skilled seamstresses as part of its team, and it will sometimes suggest an alteration when a special order is not possible. Alterations are not included in the price of stock dresses, so ask for a quote when you buy.
Is everything on the website actually in the Lindale Mall store?
No. The site shows every style the store can order from each designer. Inventory changes constantly, so a quick call or text before the trip is the way to confirm a particular dress.