Prom, plus sizes and a pageant habit
Andrea's gives its plus-size prom gowns a full menu of their own, where many shops bury them in a filter. On the site, the prom section has a twin called Prom-Plus, in which Blush Too, Colors Dress Plus, Ellie Wilde Plus, Madison James Plus, Rachel Allan Plus and Tiffany Plus each get their own category. A Jackson County junior who wants to try on gowns cut for her size, instead of ordering blind, has real options here.
The regular prom racks run deep too. The site's prom menu names Ava Presley, Blush, Colors Dress, Ellie Wilde, Jovani, Madison James, Panoply, Rachel Allan and Tiffany Designs, and its prom and pageant page adds Amarra, Jessica Angel, Clarisse and Stella Couture. The homepage banner strings its headliners together the way a shopkeeper would say them out loud: Ellie Wilde, Jovani, Amarra, Rachel Allan, Ava Presley, Alyce.
- Prom
- Jovani, Ellie Wilde, Rachel Allan, Amarra, Jessica Angel, Ava Presley, Blush, Tiffany Designs, Alyce, Colors Dress, Madison James, Panoply, Stella Couture
- Plus-size prom
- Blush Too, Colors Dress Plus, Ellie Wilde Plus, Madison James Plus, Rachel Allan Plus, Tiffany Plus
- Homecoming
- Jessica Angel, Jovani, Amarra, Rachel Allan, Clarisse, Tiffany Designs
- Little girls' pageant
- Rachel Allan, Tiffany Princess, Ava Presley Little Girl, Mary's Angels
- Men's formal wear
- Geno's Formal Affair, Jim's Formalwear, Tip Top Kids
That last row matters on prom weekend. Andrea's handles tuxedo rentals, so a couple from Oak Hill or Wellston can handle the gown and the tux at Andrea's, and the color match happens at one counter instead of two.
Why the pageant line belongs in a prom review
Around here, formal season doesn't end in May. Jackson County crowns festival royalty, the Jackson Apple Festival being the best known, and pageant gowns get shopped in the same months as prom gowns. Andrea's leans into that overlap.
PROM, HOMECOMING, COCKTAIL, PAGEANTS, FESTIVALS & ANY OTHER FORMAL EVENT….. WE’VE GOT THE GOWNS!
That all-caps line comes straight from the store's prom page. Several of the prom lines, Rachel Allan and Colors Dress in particular, are listed on the site as prom and pageant styles. That gives a contestant one place to look for a gown that works for both, which is the kind of overlap a small-county shop is built for.
The store also runs a deep clearance section. There's a category for prom and pageant clearance, a separate one for homecoming clearance, and a bracket for gowns at $100 and under. If a family is buying a dress for a dance and another for a fair pageant in the same year, that section is where the second one comes from.
Ordering, sizing and timing
Andrea's spells out how ordering works, so read the rules before you fall for a style online. In-stock gowns ship within three days. Special orders take anywhere from 2 to 20 weeks, depending on the company. Many of the gowns on the site can be special ordered in other sizes and colors, which is great for choice and less great for a student who starts looking in March.
The safe move for a spring prom is to shop in the winter. If the dress you want is in stock, timing is easy. If it has to come from Jovani or Ellie Wilde in a different color, the calendar fills up fast.
On sizing, the store's advice is simple: every company has its own chart, measurements often land between sizes, and the recommendation is to choose the larger of the options. Staff will help by phone if you're unsure. One policy to know going in is that sales are final, so getting the size conversation right up front saves a headache.
The bridal side, with gowns from Maggie Sottero, Rebecca Ingram, Christina Wu and others in sizes running well past the usual range, keeps the store busy year round. But the shop's name puts prom first, and the racks do too.
The customer base is the whole county and then some. Jackson High School students are the home base. Oak Hill and Wellston round out Jackson County. Vinton County High School families come down from McArthur, and Waverly High School shoppers come over from Pike County. For this stretch of Appalachian Ohio, a Main Street store that carries a dozen prom lines, a full plus-size section and the tux rental is about as complete a prom stop as you'll find.
Andrea's Prom FAQ
Where do the plus-size prom gowns live at Andrea's?
In Prom-Plus, a menu of its own, with Blush Too, Colors Dress Plus, Ellie Wilde Plus, Madison James Plus, Rachel Allan Plus and Tiffany Plus.
How long does a special-order prom dress take?
The store says special orders ship in 2 to 20 weeks depending on the company, while in-stock gowns ship within three days.
Can we rent a tux at Andrea's?
Yes. Men's formal wear and tuxedo rental run through Geno's Formal Affair and Jim's Formalwear, with Tip Top Kids for younger boys.