ASHLEYlauren is an evening wear house founded in 2011 by Ashley Lauren Kerr, who still designs the collections. The company is based in Saco, Maine, and keeps a showroom at AmericasMart in Atlanta. It says it sells through more than 250 retail partners worldwide, and in our listings the map leans south: Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky and North Carolina have the most shops.
Sizing an Ashley Lauren gown, 00 to 30
Let the shop call it
Skip your usual size. Prom Headquarters, which calls itself an authorized retailer, says the label has "its own unique sizing," and the brand sends fit questions to your nearest ASHLEYlauren shop. Take that literally. Try it on there, and let the shop tell you which size to order.
The main line is sized 00 to 30. Evening runs 0 to 26, and kids run 2 to 16.
No style covers that whole range, though. In one large prom retailer's listings, about half the styles stop at 16, about a quarter go to 18, and roughly one in five reaches 24 or 26.
There is no plus line with its own name; larger sizes sit inside the main collection. Above a 16, ask the shop which styles go that high and whether it stocks them or orders them in.
Built-in corsets and hand beading
The brand describes its look as classic silhouettes with modern accents, made in "lux fabrics with hand beaded details." It also promises a "couture feel and fit," and many of the gowns are built over internal corseting. On the rack that means fitted, curve-focused gowns in mikado, satin, sequins, glitter tulle and metallic jersey, many listed as "Fully Hand Beaded." There are jumpsuits as well, including a pageant group.
On the pageant stage
Seven of the 51 gowns at Miss USA
Miss USA, 2011
51 evening gowns in Las Vegas
Pageants are the label's strongest credential. The story starts at the 2011 Miss USA pageant in Las Vegas, and its 51 evening gowns.
Portland Monthly, 2012
Seven were Kerr's designs
Portland Monthly reported in 2012 that seven of the 51 evening gowns at that pageant were Kerr's designs. She founded ASHLEYlauren in 2011 and still designs the collections.
National American Miss
A National Sponsor
The brand says it was a National Sponsor of the National American Miss pageant.
NAM Nationals, 2019
The opening-number dresses
It also says it custom designed the opening-number dresses for NAM Nationals in 2019.
Today
Pageant and prom under one name
Pageant, kids and toddler dresses carry the same name as the prom line. Coastal Camellia in Foley, Alabama, for one, stocks both Ashley Lauren Pageant and Ashley Lauren Kids.
What Ashley Lauren costs, and the beaded top tier
On price, Ashley Lauren sits a step above the middle of the prom market. One large prom retailer that the brand names as a seller carries a deep run of full-price Ashley Lauren prom gowns. The median sits near $598, and the middle half runs $498 to $838. Prom Headquarters keeps a smaller edit, priced from $298 to $738.
- 11457 $1,798
- 11497 $1,998
- 12282 $2,498
- 12440 $2,498
- 11405 $2,598
- 12438 $3,998
The low end is style 12213, a taffeta gown with a structured corset bodice, at $298 at both shops. The range runs long because of a small beaded tier above $1,500: 11457 at $1,798, 11497 at $1,998, 12282 and 12440 at $2,498, 11405 at $2,598 and 12438, a backless beaded column with an overskirt, at $3,998. Those are rare. Most families will shop the shaded band.
Calling ahead, special orders and returns
Call before you drive. The brand's own advice is to phone the shop and check its inventory if you want to try a particular style, since stock differs from store to store. Shops quote the price, and the brand notes that it can shift with shipping and taxes.
Special orders
Get a firm date
Nobody publishes a special-order lead time for this label: not the brand, not that large retailer, not Prom Headquarters. If your size has to be ordered, get a firm arrival date from the shop before any deposit changes hands.
Returns
Get it in writing
Returns follow the shop too, and the brand says policies vary by retailer, so get the terms in writing.
When new Ashley Lauren styles go up
The brand doesn't announce release dates. The publish dates in its prom catalog fill the gap.
September 2024
A big drop
December 2024
A big drop
December 2025 into January 2026
About 120 styles went up
July 2026
A smaller summer drop of 32 styles, the $3,998 gown among them
For a spring prom, shopping from December on puts the newest styles in reach, as long as your shop ordered them. Wear above a 16? Fewer styles reach those sizes, and the one you want may have to be ordered.
Making sure it's a real Ashley Lauren
Buying new
Use the locator
Buy from a store on the brand's locator. That is the brand's rule, and a good one. A seller you can't find there is a seller to skip.
Buying secondhand
Ask two things
The style number and the name of the shop the dress came from, then compare it with the brand's photos of that style. Try it on before you pay rather than trusting the size on the tag, since this label runs to its own sizing.
The designer behind National Dress Day
Kerr gave the dress its own holiday. In October 2016, the registrar at National Day Calendar, which tracks official national days, declared National Dress Day and named ASHLEYlauren as its founder.
- 2016
- National Day Calendar declares National Dress Day, with ASHLEYlauren named as its founder
- March 6
- Every year, and the brand still promotes it each March
- 74 million
- Social impressions by the third annual Dress Day in 2019, Stetson University reported
It lands on March 6 every year, which for many families falls right in the thick of prom shopping. It caught on fast.