You do not need a reservation. Club Dress, the prom and homecoming department inside Bridal and Formal, takes walk-ins, and the store's answer to "Do you require appointments?" is a cheerful no. It sits in the Reading Bridal District, the cluster of wedding and formalwear shops along Benson Street just north of Cincinnati.
The store calls Club Dress its go-to retailer for prom, homecoming and social occasion dresses, with over 1,000 dresses in stock in sizes 00 through 18W.
Layaway
An interest-free plan.
Holds
A paid hold keeps a gown off the floor for one week, and the payment goes toward the dress.
Alterations
Not in house; the store keeps a list of referred seamstresses.
The prom labels at Club Dress
Club Dress carries nine of what it calls the leading designers in the industry. The store names seven of them: Sherri Hill, Ashley Lauren, Rachel Allan, Primavera, La Femme, Paparazzi by Mori Lee and Dave & Johnny. If you have a question about a specific style, the store invites a phone call.
A big store with a long memory
Bridal and Formal has been in business since 1969. It began as a corner store in Cincinnati, and its building now spans an entire city block on the corner of Benson and Jefferson.
2
Employees at the Cincinnati corner store where it began
Almost 50
Staff it has grown to
60+
Designers across the whole store
Bridal and Formal says it has over 3,000 dresses across the whole store. Most of them are wedding gowns and bridesmaids, but Club Dress has its own social occasions manager and its own floor of party dresses.
Reading High School and Mount Notre Dame High School are both in town. Wyoming High School, Princeton High School in Sharonville and Sycamore High School are nearby. The Reading Bridal District, in southwest Ohio, puts several formalwear shops within a short walk of each other.
No school registry, by design
No, we don't track dresses by school. If you love it, make it yours!
That answer comes from Club Dress, and it means there is no school registry here.
Fifteen fitting rooms and a veil room on the bridal side
Bridal and Formal calls itself one of the largest bridal salons in the country and counts its selection as the largest in the Midwest. The salon has 15 fitting rooms, a veil and accessory room and seating areas for friends and family, with gowns from more than 35 bridal collections. Sample sizes run from 6 to 30, with plus-size samples from 18 to 30, and the store says its bridal gowns range from about $1,500 to $10,000.
The classic bridal appointment is a free one-on-one visit with a bridal stylist, with no charge to cancel and room for up to six guests. For more than six guests, the store recommends a Luxe Appointment. The store highly recommends booking, especially on weekends, since walk-in availability depends on the stylists' schedules. A wedding gown generally takes 5 to 8 months to arrive. Bridesmaid dresses come from over 20 bridesmaid and special occasion collections, and the store advises ordering them at least six months ahead.
Holding a Club Dress gown, and getting it hemmed
Can I hold a prom dress while I decide?
Yes. A paid hold keeps a gown off the floor for one week, and the payment goes toward the dress if you come back for it.
Where can I get a Club Dress gown altered?
With a referred seamstress. Club Dress does not alter in house, and the store keeps a list of referred seamstresses.