Roxane Denton was in ninth grade when she needed her first formal, and there was no boutique close to home. Her mother, Edie, drove her to Oklahoma City to find one. That trip is the reason Frocks & Fashions exists. Edie opened the shop in downtown Blackwell in 1985 so local girls would not have to make the same drive, and she ran it for 25 years before retiring.
Roxane took over next and moved the business south to downtown Ponca City. The move itself has become part of the shop's story: more than 2,000 dresses, a rented moving truck, and neighboring businesses that lent their dressing rooms so fittings could keep going in the meantime. The shop spent about 11 years in the 400 block of Grand Avenue, then moved a short way down the street to its current spot around 2020. Same family, same downtown, a newer front sign.
Edie still shows up in the way Roxane talks about the place. In a 2025 Ponca City Monthly profile, she described her mother simply: "My mom has great taste. She's very dynamic. She has a youthful spirit." The same piece counted more than 40 years of family experience in the dress business, a span that now reaches from Blackwell's downtown to Ponca City's.
Prom is the deepest part of the stock
Frocks & Fashions covers prom, homecoming and other formal events for students across north-central Oklahoma, and the racks are built for volume. If the right dress is not on the floor, the store keeps catalogs from more than 15 designers for special orders, and those often arrive in about five days. That is a real advantage in a small market, where a shopper who falls for a color that is not in stock does not have to give up on the style.
Shopping is simple. Walk-ins are always welcome, and the appointments page notes that booking a time ensures a staff member is set aside just for you. With three employees and Roxane on the floor, a reserved slot helps on the busy spring weekends before Ponca City High School and its neighbors hold their dances.
A typical prom trip here can be handled start to finish in the shop.
A prom trip, start to finish (a guide)
First
Pull dresses from the in-stock racks, or browse the designer catalogs for a special order
Next
Add accessories such as jewelry, tiaras and handbags from the counter
Then
Get measured for a date's tuxedo
Last
Have basic alterations done in house: quick hems and simple adjustments for dresses and tuxedos bought there
The store also has a sale section that started in the summer of 2024 and grows each season with hundreds of marked-down dresses, a good first stop for families watching the budget.
Tuxedos
Rentals for teens and men
Included
Shirt, tie and shoes
Arrival
Typically within three days of ordering
Younger boys
Sold outright instead of rented, which the store says is often more affordable
Timing works in a shopper's favor here. Homecoming fills the fall and prom fills the spring, so an early look in January gives the most choice while a late March scramble can still lean on that five-day special-order window. Being on Grand Avenue downtown also makes a quick stop between school and practice realistic for local students.
Father/daughter dances and the wedding side
Prom is not the only dance season here. Father/daughter dances are a specialty, with more than 600 dresses in stock for younger girls, so a family can come back years before that girl reaches high school. Roxane and her team change the window displays weekly, which makes the storefront an easy way to see what has just come in.
The bridal room holds more than 200 gowns from Allure Bridal, Morilee, Dave & Johnny and Nox Anabel, along with bridesmaid, mother-of-the-bride, flower girl and ring bearer looks. Bridal appointments run about two hours.
The store's reach follows the highways out of Kay County. Blackwell, where it all began, is about 20 minutes north, so Blackwell High School students still count it as their shop. Tonkawa High School families come in from the west, and Newkirk High School is a quick trip from the north side of the county. Ponca City High School, the largest in Kay County, supplies the biggest share of shoppers.
With over 2000 prom dresses in stock, Frocks & Fashions is the leading destination for formalwear in the region.
That is how the Dentons sum up their shop on its services page, four decades after Edie opened the first door in Blackwell.
Asked at Frocks & Fashions in Ponca City
Can I order a prom dress in a different color or size?
Yes. The store keeps catalogs from more than 15 designers for special orders, and many arrive in about five days.
Does the shop rent tuxedos for prom dates?
It does. Staff measure in store, rentals include shirts, ties and shoes, and they typically arrive within three days. Smaller sizes for young boys are sold rather than rented.