Onyx & Ivory runs out of a downtown storefront on Sims Street, and it works both sides of a prom date. The gown racks include Alyce Paris, Clarisse and Jessica Angel. The menswear side is a Jim’s Formal Wear affiliate, so tuxedo and suit rentals are measured and ordered in the same building. In western North Dakota, where a shopping trip can take most of a Saturday, doing both errands at one counter is the practical argument for the place.
What the store handles, per its own site and its Jim’s Formal Wear listing:
- Prom gowns, including Alyce Paris, Clarisse and Jessica Angel
- Tux and suit rental and sales through Jim’s Formal Wear, plus suit separates
- Alterations
- Bridal, bridesmaid and mother’s dresses
- Shoes, undergarments and accessories
Who drives in
Dickinson is the Stark County seat, about 25,400 people, and it is the retail center for a long stretch of I-94. Bismarck is 97 miles east, roughly an hour and a half. The Dickinson micropolitan area also takes in Belfield, Killdeer, Medora and Richardton, and Belfield is where US 85 meets the interstate, which puts the shop on the natural route down from the oil-patch towns to the north. One thing to plan around: Dickinson keeps Mountain time, so anyone driving west from Bismarck picks up an hour on the way over and loses it going home.
Two high schools sit in town. Dickinson High, on 4th Street West, is the big public school and plays as the Midgets. Trinity is the Catholic 7–12 school on Empire Road, established in 1961, with the Titans on its jerseys. Between them they account for most of the prom traffic here, with the smaller schools in the surrounding towns filling in the rest of the season.
The building has been selling gowns for a while
Before Onyx & Ivory, 24 Sims held Special Occasions, which The Dickinson Press covered when it moved there from First Avenue for more room and better accessibility. That shop traced its own line back to Kessel’s Bridal Shoppe in 1977 and passed through six owners. The phone number Onyx & Ivory answers, (701) 483-0876, is the same number Special Occasions used.
Before you drive
The store asks prom shoppers to book ahead, by phone or by stopping in, so a fitting room is open when they arrive; it schedules prom appointments in one-hour blocks. Because the same floor covers bridal, bridesmaid and mother’s dresses, a spring Saturday is not only prom traffic, which is a reason to call rather than take a chance on a walk-in. The same company also operates a store on Main Street in Miles City, Montana, west along I-94, under the same name and a separate phone line.