A mother, a daughter and a yellow Faviana gown
Arlette Stobbe and her daughter Sarah Stobbe Shmyr opened their first shop in 2003, a 500-square-foot boutique selling everyday bohemian clothing and accessories. A few years later Sarah went shopping for her own prom dress, and the search was rough. At store after store the two were either left alone with racks of choices and no help, or hovered over and made to feel unwelcome for trying on a gown without committing to it. Sarah did get the dress she wanted, a yellow silk look-alike of the famous gown from How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, made by Faviana, a label the shop still carries.
Looking back, she wished someone had pushed her toward other silhouettes and talked through how each one felt. Dressed Up by Bella Mia, on Forest Avenue in downtown Plymouth, was built around fixing that. The family name for the business came from even further back.
Bella Mia is Italian for "My beauty" which is something my great grandmother said whenever her grandchildren got dressed up.
Today the store reports matching more than 1,000 special occasion gowns a year with shoppers, and prom is the center of that work. Plymouth, Canton and Salem high schools share the Plymouth-Canton Educational Park campus in Canton, so three senior classes go dress shopping on the same calendar. Northville High, Novi High and the Livonia high schools are all nearby as well, and the shop's testimonials include families who drove in from Ohio, so the reach goes well past western Wayne County and southeast Michigan.
What an appointment includes
The shop is appointment only, and its booking page lays out the whole visit in advance. Each one is a one-hour consultation with a single consultant, with two guests at most, and every person trying on gowns needs her own appointment.
How a Dressed Up consultation runs (a guide)
First
Book at least 24 hours ahead so the store can staff for it
Then
Arrive ten to fifteen minutes early to check in and start browsing
Then
Mark the gowns you like with color-coded clips; the consultant moves them to a private fitting area
Last
The consultant does all the zipping, tying and lacing, asks how each dress makes you feel, and pulls more options based on the answers
That hands-on approach is deliberate. The consultants have much of the inventory memorized, which speeds up the second round.
On the floor
Bought and taken home that day
- Every gown on the floor qualifies
A different size
Special order
- Usually about ten business days
- The store inspects and steams the dress and sends a text when it is ready
Either way, each purchase leaves in a keepsake logo garment bag.
Designers, sizes and prices
The designer roster is short and prom-heavy: Sherri Hill, Faviana, Ellie Wilde and Jovani. Gowns generally run $350 to $850. Most styles can be ordered in sizes 00 to 24, and a handful come in W sizes cut for a curvier figure. The bulk of each new prom season lands by the end of January, which the store names as a good time to begin. Homecoming and social dresses fill the racks outside prom season, along with a small mothers collection.
Three store policies come up often, and alterations and sales have terms of their own.
Layaway
Free: pay half up front, then clear the balance within 30 days in as many payments as you like.
Price match
The exact same gown from a reputable seller, minus the signature dress bag and complimentary steaming.
Registry
Every gown sold is registered to one event, so the shop can tell you which styles have already gone to your school. The FAQ is candid that it cannot stop someone from buying the same style elsewhere.
Alterations
Handled off-site; the FAQ advises building tailoring costs into the budget before buying, since nearly every formal gown needs some.
Sales
Final, so the try-on hour is the place to be sure.
The 2020 season showed how seriously the shop takes prom. When dances were cancelled that spring, Dressed Up offered free photo shoots to customers whose events fell through, so the gowns still got their moment.
Planning a Dressed Up visit in Plymouth
When should a Plymouth-Canton student start prom shopping?
Late January. That is when most of the new season's prom stock has arrived, and the store carries gowns year round after that.
Will Dressed Up by Bella Mia match an online price?
Yes, for the exact gown from a reputable source. The match does not include the signature bag or the complimentary steaming.