The prom wall, label by label
Fourteen designers share Charisma's prom page. The list mixes houses every senior has already seen on social media with smaller lines that turn up less often: Morilee, Mary's, 2 Cute, Scala, Primavera Couture, Studio 17, Elizabeth K, Sparkle, Alyce Paris, Romance Couture, Zoey Grey, Val Stefani, Clarisse and Rachel Allan. Some of those are names every prom group chat already knows. Others are lines a Lafayette senior is less likely to see on a classmate, which is half the appeal of a list this long.
Prom is only one tab of the formal side, though. The same menu lists homecoming, cocktail and party dresses, evening gowns, quinceañera dresses and a separate category for Mardi Gras ball gowns. In a city where krewe balls run through January and February, a store that stocks for Carnival is effectively open for formal season from early fall all the way to May. A girl who bought a homecoming dress here in October may be back for a ball gown and again for prom.
The homepage makes the store's pitch in one breath.
Locally owned and operated successfully since 1973, we have an extensive inventory of award-winning designers, carry a vast array of sizes, and offer in-salon experienced alterations.
Two parts of that sentence matter to a prom shopper. The first is sizing. Charisma promises a vast array of sizes, and the special order policy spells out how fit works when a gown has to be ordered, with alterations expected afterward. Ordering early gives that process room to breathe.
The second is the alterations clause. Charisma alters gowns in its own salon, so the dress you buy and the hem you need can be handled by the same people. Its site goes further, naming Charisma "the South's definitive destination for the largest selection of Bridal and Special Occasion formals." A bridal floor is part of the store, but the special-occasion side is what most local families know it for.
How paying for a gown works here
Charisma posts its paperwork openly on a Forms page, which makes budgeting simple. Families who have never put a dress on layaway before can read the terms at home before deciding. The key points, in the store's own documents:
Layaway
A one-third deposit (half on sale merchandise), payments every month, and the balance paid in full on or before the wear date you give at signing.
Long-distance orders
A printable special order form for customers who cannot come into the store.
Pick-up consent
A form that lets someone else collect a finished gown.
For prom, the wear-date rule on layaway is the detail to plan around. Put a dress on layaway in January and the monthly payments line up neatly with an April or May prom. Wait until March and the window gets tight. A special order runs on a separate schedule, and alterations are charged separately.
At ordering
Staff take measurements, order the closest size from each manufacturer's chart and take a nonrefundable half deposit
Within ten business days of arrival
Pay the balance on the gown
At least two weeks before the date of use
If Charisma is altering the dress, the gown and the alteration charges must be paid
Wear date
Appointments are booked by calling or emailing the store. They are offered for every department, prom included, though the site does not say they are required.
Where it sits and who it serves
The store's current address is on Treehaven Boulevard, a short street just off Johnston Street. Johnston is the road most Lafayette families already use to get across town, and Lafayette itself is where much of south-central Louisiana comes to shop for anything formal.
Prom shoppers come from across the parish's public high schools: Lafayette High, Comeaux, Acadiana, Northside, Carencro, David Thibodaux STEM Magnet and Southside out in Youngsville. Teurlings Catholic and St. Thomas More send their share too. Families from Vermilion, St. Martin, Iberia and Acadia parishes make the drive in as well.
Dates get sorted on Treehaven too. A tuxedo and suit department carries Allure Men and Larr Brio, so a couple can match a vest or tie to a gown without a second stop.
Charisma questions from Lafayette families
Can a prom dress go on layaway at Charisma?
The layaway policy applies to the store's merchandise generally, not just bridal. It needs a one-third deposit, monthly payments and payment in full by the wear date.
Who alters a prom gown bought here?
Charisma handles that in its own salon. The homepage advertises in-salon alterations, and the special order policy explains that alteration charges are separate and due before the work starts.
Is there a separate section for Mardi Gras ball gowns?
The formal menu gives Mardi Gras ball gowns their own category next to prom, homecoming, evening and quinceañera dresses, so krewe court shoppers and prom shoppers browse different racks.