The store’s own category list, as it appears on its Facebook page, runs: prom, homecoming, pageant, interview, Mardi Gras, cocktail, accessories, bridal. Two of those items are specific to this part of southwest Louisiana. “Interview” is pageant shorthand for what a contestant wears in the closed judging room. “Mardi Gras” is a buying season: the Southwest Louisiana celebration is the state’s second largest after New Orleans by number of krewes, with more than 50 of them, and krewe royalty parades in full costume at the Lundi Gras gala at the Lake Charles Event Center. That means gowns go out the door here in January and February, weeks before a store in a non-krewe town sees its first prom customer.
Three names, one address
The 601 West Prien Lake Road storefront has carried more than one sign, which matters if you are searching for it. The prom and pageant business operated as Rhinestone Runway; the bridal business, Vows by Victoria, was its partner and shows up in older directory listings at 2517 Ryan Street. They now run together as Rhinestone & Vows, with a separate bridal page and the domain rhinestoneandvows.com — not vowsbyvictoria.com, which still floats around in listings. The current site posts (337) 244-9557 for calls and texts in addition to the older (337) 436-8697.
What they stock
These labels list the store on their official retailer locators:
- Sherri Hill
- Jovani
- Alyce Paris
- Amarra
- Ashley Lauren
- Ava Presley
- Dave & Johnny
The shop’s own site also features Portia & Scarlett, Rachel Allan and Sydney’s Closet, a plus-size label, and it keeps separate collections for pageant, kids pageant, semi-formals, women’s suits, bridesmaids and mothers. Its collection pages have an in-store view, so it is possible to see what is actually hanging in Lake Charles before making the drive. The business description carried on its Yelp listing under the Rhinestone Runway name puts the size range at 00–30W with no upcharge for plus sizes; a customer testimonial on the store site mentions layaway.
Walk in for prom, book for bridal
The site states the rule at the top of every page: bridal and bridesmaids appointments are required, prom and special occasion are walk-in, no appointment. Practically, a Saturday drive-in with three friends works for prom and does not work for a wedding gown.
The road, the mall, the schools
West Prien Lake Road is the retail spine of south Lake Charles. Prien Lake Mall sits on the same road at 496, with Dillard’s, JCPenney, Kohl’s, DICK’S and a Cinemark 14, and it is reached from I-210, the loop that swings south off I-10. Shoes, jewelry and a movie are on the same trip as the gown.
Calcasieu Parish runs 14 public high schools. The in-town ones — Barbe, LaGrange, Washington-Marion, Sam Houston — are minutes away; Barbe alone enrolled about 2,000 students in 2023–24. Sulphur and Westlake are across the river, and the parish list keeps going out to Iowa, Bell City, DeQuincy, Vinton, Starks and Grand Lake, where this is the nearest street of full-price designer prom stock in any direction. The store’s vendor listing on The Knot notes how close it sits to the Texas line and that it dresses customers from both states.