South Lyon Community Schools runs two high schools inside one district that covers 83 square miles across three counties: South Lyon High, the Lions, at 1000 N. Lafayette, and South Lyon East, the Cougars, out on Ten Mile Road. They are cross-town rivals, and together they enroll roughly 2,500 students. That splits the local prom problem in an unusual way, and Color It In’s registry is written to match it. The boutique logs one color of each dress style per grade, per school, and once a combination is registered it will not be sold again to another student in the same grade at the same school. The same gown in a different color, or the same gown to a junior at the other high school, is fair game. The registry is free with a formalwear purchase and covers prom and homecoming dresses only. It cannot account for dresses bought online or from other shops, and the store says so plainly.
The address is 131 N. Lafayette, in the beige brick building on the corner downtown. That is the same street as South Lyon High, less than a mile north — close enough that a girl can walk from class to the fitting room. South Lyon East sits on the other side of town. For a shopper in this part of western Oakland County, the alternative is driving to the malls in Novi, about ten miles east, and shopping racks that keep no record of who bought what.
Hours are short, and formalwear is by appointment
The store’s own hours page lists a weekday-afternoon schedule rather than a retail-standard one:
- Monday: closed
- Tuesday: 2–5
- Wednesday through Friday: 12–5
- Saturday: 11–4
- Sunday: closed
Appointments are required for formalwear shopping. Walk-ins are welcome for the casual collection at the front of the boutique. Homecoming stock is advertised as arriving in mid-July, months ahead of the fall dances, which is when the selection is deepest and the registry is emptiest.
Labels and orders
Verified brands here are Jovani and Ashley Lauren, and Faviana lists the shop on its own retailer pages. If a size or color is not on the floor, the boutique will special order it when the designer has it: a $15 shipping and processing fee, most arrivals in seven to ten business days, and full payment or a 35 percent first installment up front. Special orders are final. So is every other formalwear sale, including layaway — no returns, refunds, or exchanges. The casual side runs on a 10-day window for store credit only. The site also lists a team shopping and fundraiser program for groups.
Who runs it
Color It In is a mother-daughter trio: Sarah, who lives in Milford, and her daughters Karson and Keaton. The business is the second one they have run together. It started more than 15 years ago as a home-based children’s clothing boutique, with the girls unpacking boxes and modeling arrivals; they closed that in 2022 and opened Color It In the following year. The family moved to Michigan from West Virginia, and by their own account they kept driving back south to find the sparkle they wanted for the girls’ own homecoming dresses. The store’s listed phone number still carries a West Virginia area code. The name comes from a colored-pen ledger Keaton kept in fourth grade, renting pens to classmates at a dime apiece.