RSG stands for Ready Set Grow, a name left over from the store's first life. Susan Chaffin founded Ready Set Grow as a children's boutique, and it has been part of Cookeville since 1999. Today she runs it with her daughter, Morgan Johnson, and the two have turned it into RSG Formals, a specialty dress store built around prom, pageant and special-occasion gowns. The store sums it up as "Two Generations. One Shared Vision."
The children's roots have not gone anywhere. The shop still keeps a full children's section with pageant dresses, cupcake dresses, flower girl and communion dresses, and kids' capes and overskirts. But the main floor now belongs to prom and pageant shoppers, and the store is not shy about what that looks like.
Thirteen dressing rooms on South Jefferson
We're not a warehouse or a website. We're a boutique with 13 dressing rooms, a full accessories wall, and a team that hand-selects every style at buying markets.
The prom and pageant section is organized by silhouette (A-line and ballgown, fitted, mermaid), plus short cocktail dresses and fun fashion rompers and jumpsuits. The designer lineup splits into women's and girls' lists with a good deal of overlap.
Girls only
- Ritzee
- Sugar Kayne by Johnathan Kayne
- Samantha Blake
The store labels five of them "exclusively carried in-store": Sherri Hill, Ashley Lauren, Johnathan Kayne, Ava Presley and Portia & Scarlett.
Pageant stage
Capes, floats and overskirts, plus adult interview outfits
Shoes
DeBlossom, Marc Defang and Chinese Laundry, with a children's shoe section
Accessories wall
Earrings and necklaces matched to the gown on the spot
Planning a visit
Shopping runs on regular store hours, and the store also books appointments within those hours. For families who cannot make the normal schedule, there is a private option: a 90-minute appointment outside regular hours, booked with 48 hours' notice and a nonrefundable $25 fee that goes directly to the staff member who meets you.
The draw reaches well past Putnam County. Cookeville High and Monterey High are the hometown proms, and families come in from Jackson County High in Gainesboro and DeKalb County High in Smithville too. For the Upper Cumberland region of Tennessee, RSG is a place where a mom shopping a little sister's pageant dress and a senior shopping for prom can end up in neighboring dressing rooms.
RSG specifics for prom families
Can I book a private prom appointment after hours?
Yes. Give the store 48 hours' notice for a 90-minute private appointment outside regular hours. A nonrefundable $25 fee is due at booking.