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. The store 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 store puts the count at around 1,300 dresses, which is a lot of dresses for one mall storefront. 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, so a plan to start shopping over spring break is cutting it close.
January and February
New dresses land every week
March
The store carries fewer gowns from here on
Mid-April
Closes for the year
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.
Pay over time
Layaway
- Half the cost of the dress up front
- The rest within 30 days
Another color or size
Special order
- Most dresses can be ordered in other colors and sizes at no extra cost
- If a style is not available, staff will look for something close or see whether an alteration can get you there
- Paid in full before the store places it
The store's labels include Amarra, Sherri Hill, Clarisse, Alyce Paris, La Femme, Primavera Couture, Sydney's Closet and 2 Cute, and it says it carries more than ten designers in all.
The ambassador program and the donated gowns
Dream Dress runs a student ambassador program, and the ambassador roster 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 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 warns 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. If a deal looks too good to be true, the store 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.
How do I know a particular dress is in the Lindale Mall store?
Inventory changes constantly, so a quick call or text before the trip is the way to confirm a particular dress.