From three fitting rooms in Andover to Broad Street
Marissa Tilley started Lady Black Tie in Andover. Two months after the shop opened, the website went live, and online orders took off so quickly that the shop needed a separate warehouse for boxes and shipping.
2018
Opens in November as a small dress shop in Andover with three fitting rooms
2021
Showroom and main operations move to Hudson in August
2023
Named to the Inc. 5000 list of fast-growing private companies
2024
Profiled by WBZ’s CBS News Boston in February
In Hudson the showroom fills the second floor of The Landing at Hudson Mills, a converted mill building on Broad Street, with more warehouse space elsewhere supporting the online side. The WBZ profile reported that the business sold 66,000 dresses in 2022 and had grown into a 12,000-square-foot warehouse operation. Tilley told the station that customers drive one to two hours each way to shop in person, from every direction, because Hudson sits near the middle of the state.
For a prom shopper, the size of the web operation matters in one specific way. The Hudson showroom is real and stocked, but it is a slice of a much larger catalog, and the store is clear about that. Inventory on the floor turns over constantly with new arrivals, sales and demand, so a dress you saw online may not be hanging in Hudson that week. The fix is easy: email the store before the drive and ask.
Hudson showroom
Walk in only, no appointments
- Sizes 00 to 24, varying by style and week
- Many in-stock dresses go home today
- All in-store sales and special orders final
Online store
Shipped, no appointment needed
- Full catalog by size, color and designer
- Returns for store credit within 14 days of delivery
How the fitting rooms run in prom season
There is no appointment system at all. You climb to the second floor, follow the signs and put your name on the fitting room list. Each shopper can take up to four dresses into the room at once and swap them out while she is in there. Between February and May, when prom traffic peaks, fitting room time may be capped, and a shopper who needs longer simply goes back on the list.
The racks carry gowns, maxis, midis and minis for prom and homecoming. Designers on the store’s list include Amarra, Ashley Lauren, Ava Presley, Ellie Wilde, Jovani, Portia and Scarlett and Primavera Couture, along with Andrea and Leo Couture, Atria Couture, Nox Anabel, Starielle and Velvi. A large share of the floor can be bought and carried out the same day. Floor-length wedding gowns are mostly sold online rather than stocked in the showroom.
A few house rules are worth settling before the trip.
Alterations
Not done in-house. The store publishes a list of seamstresses near Hudson and suggests buying early enough to leave time for a fitting.
Layaway and rentals
Not offered.
School dress registry
Not kept; the store notes that many schools now track prom dresses through their own social media groups.
Food and drinks
Kept in a designated spot outside the sales area.
The store gives back to the same students it sells to. It reports donating thousands of dresses worth more than $70,000 to programs that help make prom affordable, including Belle of the Ball from Caring Partners, The Prom Closet, and the GFWC Marlborough Junior Woman’s Club’s Metrowest Princess Boutique.
Hudson High School is the hometown school, and Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School in Marlborough draws from Hudson and a ring of nearby towns. Marlborough High School, Algonquin Regional High School in Northborough, Nashoba Regional High School in Bolton, Maynard High School and Shrewsbury High School are all within the regular shopping area, and Tilley’s own account of one- and two-hour drives means families from well outside central Massachusetts make the trip too. For them, one fitting room policy shapes how a spring Saturday goes.
During prom season (February-May), fitting room time may be limited to 40 minutes. If you need additional time, you're welcome to add your name back to the waitlist.
Lady Black Tie in Hudson, briefly
Can I find out whether a dress from the website is in the Hudson showroom?
Yes. Email the store with the style before you visit and the team will check whether it is on the floor in your size.
Does Lady Black Tie track which students bought which dress?
No. The store does not keep a school registry and points shoppers to the prom groups many schools run on social media.