First-time visitors tend to walk into Gateway Mall and start looking for a storefront that is not in there. The boutique's homepage heads that off in one line.
Lincoln Formal is at Gateway Mall in Lincoln, NE, but is NOT inside the mall.
The shop has its own entrance on the outside of the building, under the covered parking area on the west side of the lot. Park under the roof and the door is right there, which is a relief in a Nebraska February with a gown in a garment bag. Inside, the store bills itself as the Lincoln area's largest selection of formal dresses, with hundreds of short and long styles for prom, homecoming, balls, galas and weddings.
What a prom dress costs here
Owner Lori Black and her team answer the money question before anyone has to ask it. The FAQ lays out the numbers, and they are worth having in hand before a family sets a budget.
Long gowns
About $200 to $600 or more.
Over $700
Not stocked on purpose, but ordered for a customer who wants one.
Short dresses
Usually $75 to $200 for homecoming and winter formals.
Sizes
00 through 24 in stock, with Sydney's Closet styles cut for curvier figures running larger.
Missing size
If the vendor has it, usually in about a week, which helps anyone shopping late.
All sales are final, with no returns or exchanges, and every dress is bought new from vendors; the store does not buy used gowns from the public.
The prom menu names the designers by line, and homecoming brings in a set of its own.
On the prom menu
- Amarra
- Clarisse
- Colors Dress
- Ellie Wilde
- Faviana
- Jovani
- Jessica Angel
- Ladivine by Cinderella Divine
- Primavera Couture
- Sydney's Closet
Homecoming lines
- Amelia Couture
- Juliet
- Lovesome
- Nox Anabel
- PolyUSA
Johnathan Kayne is among the featured labels on the homepage. Off-the-rack bridal gowns hang in the store as well, but the store does not carry traditional mother-of-the-bride dresses.
The schools behind the racks
Lincoln Formal runs a student ambassador program, and its roster doubles as a map of the city's south and east sides plus the towns around them. The current ambassadors come from Lincoln East, Lincoln Southeast, Lincoln Southwest, Lincoln High, Standing Bear, Lincoln Lutheran, Norris, Seward and Palmyra. Those students promote the boutique at school and earn perks in return, and the list shows where the shoppers come from: the big Lincoln Public Schools campuses, plus families from Firth, Seward just off Interstate 80 and Palmyra along Highway 2 who treat Lincoln as their shopping city.
The prom calendar in Nebraska's capital city stretches across several spring weekends rather than one, since each high school sets its own date. For a dress shop on O Street, that makes for a long spring.
Lori Black is from Lincoln and has been an entrepreneur for years. By her own account the dress business was not part of the plan; when a friend who ran a dress shop in the area moved away, she decided to fill the gap. Her manager, Chris, is a retired teacher who says she watched the business grow and wanted to be part of it.
Prom dates follow a separate path.
Generation Tux partnership
Tux and suit rentals
Fitting
A short in-store appointment
Prom discount
25% off rentals
Delivery
To the house 14 days before the dance
Returns
Through any UPS store afterward
Visiting Lincoln Formal
Do I need an appointment to shop for a prom dress?
No. Dress shopping is walk-in. Appointments are only requested for tux and suit rental fittings.
Do the store's hours stay the same all year?
No. Hours change by month and by season, and the store posts the current schedule on its homepage, so check it before you go, especially outside prom season.