Rhonda Dezarn's store began with a stack of dresses her daughter had never worn. She had about 25 of Rachel's pageant gowns to sell, tried the Facebook pageant groups first, and then opened a shop in Russellville to move them. The plan was consignment only. It did not stay that way for long: Dezarn started ordering new gowns, picked up designers, and moved into a bigger space, and when WBKO visited in February 2025 she was heading into the store's third prom season. That puts The Queen's Closet in business since at least 2023, and prom is now the busiest stretch of its year.
Rachel Dezarn co-manages the shop with her mother, and she competed in pageants herself. That background still shows in the mix: the same racks serve a junior shopping for the Russellville prom and a contestant getting ready for the Logan County Festival Pageant.
What hangs on the racks
The shop's own website calls it a one stop shop for event wear, carrying prom, pageant, semi-formal and boutique pieces, and says it keeps its products as affordable as possible. The Instagram feed embedded on that site fills in the names. Recent posts show new arrivals from these labels:
- Ashley Lauren, including short formals for homecoming and a demi couture gown
- Ava Presley, with new 2027 prom styles already in
- Jovani long gowns for prom and pageant
- Johnathan Kayne organza overskirts and chokers to pair with a gown
- Nox Anabel and Juliet short formals for homecoming
Those overskirts are a pageant trick that carries over well to prom. A detachable layer of organza turns a fitted gown into a fuller silhouette for photos and walks, then comes off when it is time to dance, and the shop's posts show them paired with Ashley Lauren and Ava Presley gowns in matching sizes.
Dezarn told WBKO how she settled on a price ceiling for those racks, and it has more to do with Logan County than with any designer's wholesale sheet.
"We don't have any gowns that are over $500 in the store," she said. "We've just learned by different seasons that that's kind of what works in our area."
Some pageant gowns run higher. The typical customer, Dezarn said, especially in late winter, is a prom customer who wants something fabulous, though a few other lines of business round out the shop.
Consignment
Still taken, which is how the shop started
Gala dresses
A growing part of the business, since the area hosts more galas than it used to
Photo-shoot rentals
Three private-label gowns made in Greece specifically to rent to photographers
Jewelry
Kos Couture earrings and jewelry to finish a homecoming or prom look
A voucher program for girls who need help
The least visible part of the business is also the most generous. The Queen's Closet runs a voucher program for students who cannot afford a formal dress. It works through the family resource centers at local schools: a coordinator calls or texts Dezarn, and the student comes in and shops like anyone else. Nobody on the floor can tell who is paying with a voucher. By February 2025, four local businesses had funded it, two of them anonymously, and seven girls had found dresses through it.
Alterations are handled off site. The store does not do them in-house but keeps recommendations for local seamstresses, and at the time of the WBKO story those were in Bowling Green and Morgantown. Plan the fitting as soon as the dress is bought, since good seamstresses book up before prom.
Russellville and the towns around it
Russellville High School and Logan County High School are the two home schools, and the shop's posts show pageant and homecoming customers from well beyond them. Franklin-Simpson High in Franklin, Todd County Central in Elkton, Butler County High in Morgantown and South Warren High in Bowling Green all sit within the store's reach in Logan County, Kentucky and the counties next door. Dezarn told WBKO that her biggest challenge has been convincing people to shop in a small town instead of heading to a bigger city, and a sales associate added that many shoppers found the store through TikTok, including girls who live in Logan County and had not known it was there.
The designer list grew the same way. Dezarn told WBKO she has relied on word of mouth and on connections with other boutique owners to find lines that suit the store, and she described the rest of her stock, apart from the photo-shoot rentals, as top prom designers. The shop also posts its weekly opening times on Instagram, and that feed is the easiest way to see what just arrived.
Before a trip to The Queen's Closet
How much do prom dresses cost at The Queen's Closet?
The owner told WBKO that no gown in the store is priced over $500, with the exception of some pageant gowns. Consignment pieces are available too.
Does the shop alter dresses?
No. Alterations are not done in-house, but the staff will recommend local seamstresses.