Plus-size prom shoppers in Fall River do not get a single rack at Party Dress Express. They get four labels of their own. The store splits its prom catalog in two, with Clarisse, Colette for Mon Cheri, Morilee, Studio 17 and Tiffany Designs on one side, and Faviana Plus Sizes, Sydney’s Closet, Tease Prom and Tiffany Plus Size Prom on the other. Size filters on its site run to 32 and through 32W, and a separate filter shows only what is in the building. Above its prom listings the store posts a pricing promise.
We won't be beat on price - We will match all authorized online and local competitor pricing!
That promise, combined with a 15,000-square-foot showroom holding more than 10,000 dresses by the store’s own count, is the core of the pitch. The owners describe it as the affordability and selection of a big box store paired with the personal service of a boutique, and they say their customers travel from all corners of New England.
Two sisters who grew up on the sales floor
Party Dress Express has been part of Fall River since 1984, and the people running it now started as employees. Jessica Cordeiro took her first job there as a cashier at 16, studied dental work in college, then came back and spent about fifteen years as the store’s special occasion buyer and manager. Her sister Adrianna worked on the team for a decade. In July 2017 the two of them took over the business together. When the Fall River Mirror covered the grand reopening of the store on Pleasant Street in 2022, it noted how fast the move had come together, about two months from start to finish, and how widely the shop draws, with customers from Boston, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey.
The team around them has deep roots too. Two stylists on the staff page have been with the store for a decade or more, and another comes from dance and theater choreography, where costumes and special events were part of her work for over twenty years.
What the prom side looks like
The prom racks share the building with a long list of other occasions. The categories it stocks, at a glance:
- Prom and homecoming, including short styles and two-piece looks
- Extended-size prom from four dedicated labels
- Quinceañera gowns from Vizcaya and Valencia by Morilee and Fiesta by House of Wu, plus damas dresses
- Sweet 16, communion, girls’ pageant and red carpet dresses
- Party dresses from Faviana
- Wedding gowns, bridesmaids and dresses for the families of the couple
Prom designers with pages on this site include Clarisse, Colette, Morilee, Tiffany Designs and Faviana. Many Clarisse styles carry a quick-delivery tag in the catalog, which helps when the dress has to come in before a fixed date.
Wedding and bridesmaid shopping here is by appointment, booked through the store’s online scheduler. Prom is not on that list, so a shopper can come in during regular hours, and Sundays are set aside for appointment shopping. Alterations are handled outside the store: the shop keeps a referral list built from customer recommendations, with seamstresses in Fall River, Somerset, Raynham, Dartmouth and over the line in Rhode Island.
The shop sits on Pleasant Street east of downtown. B.M.C. Durfee High School is the city’s largest school by a wide margin, and Diman Regional Vocational Technical High School students come from Fall River and the surrounding district towns. From Somerset Berkley Regional High School, Joseph Case High School in Swansea and Westport High School, Pleasant Street is close, and New Bedford High School and Dartmouth High School families come in on I-195. Tiverton High School families come from just across the Rhode Island line. Put together, that is a trade area reaching well past the city into southeastern Massachusetts and beyond.
Party Dress Express questions from Fall River families
Which prom labels cover extended sizes at Party Dress Express?
Faviana Plus Sizes, Sydney’s Closet, Tease Prom and Tiffany Plus Size Prom, with size filters running through 32W.
Will the store beat a price I found online?
The store matches authorized online and local pricing on the same dress. Bring the listing with you.