The Gilded Gown fills Suite 1400 of the Walker Springs Shopping Center in West Knoxville, near Gold's Gym and Ollie's. Its homepage counts 14,000 square feet of bridal gowns, prom and pageant dresses and accessories, and its Prom 2026 page counts more than 3,000 prom gowns in stock. The size line is short and bold. Every size from 00 to 32 is stocked, and the homepage promises an excellent selection in each one.
How a textile broker built a prom floor this big
Owner Jacqui Wadsworth came to the business from the supply side. A 2021 DatingAdvice.com profile, which the store reprints on its press page, says she started more than 30 years earlier as a textile broker for manufacturers. In 2005 she began selling bridal gowns wholesale out of a warehouse. She opened The Gilded Gown in 2008 with her sister, Elizabeth Ethridge, and her daughter, Grace Alexander. Ethridge wrote the shop's homecoming guide on its blog this August.
The store later took space on the lower level of the Sears wing at Knoxville Center Mall, and it kept growing while other tenants left. WBIR Channel 10 reported that Wadsworth had doubled her space there from about 6,400 square feet to nearly 12,000. Prom was the reason. Bridal sales had outgrown the building, and she gave WBIR the blunt version.
Our bridal has grown four times in the last four years, and it's basically pushed our prom right out of the building.
A 2019 BridalBoutiques.US feature, also reprinted on the press page, described the result as two stores side by side, one for bridal and one for prom. In that piece Wadsworth said she was "mindful about stocking just as many size 24 dresses as I do 2s." The headline on this page comes from that rule.
Then the mall began to close. On November 1, 2019, WBIR reported that the shop was holding a moving sale and hoped to be in its new Walker Springs store by December 1, after painting and building new dressing rooms. The Knoxville News Sentinel covered the same move, placing the new space in the Books-A-Million shopping center near Walker Springs.
2005
Jacqui Wadsworth starts selling bridal gowns wholesale from a warehouse
2008
Opens The Gilded Gown with her sister and her daughter
2015
Sells at the Dash for the Dress prom sale alongside BELLA Boutique
2019
Announces its move from Knoxville Center Mall to Walker Springs
2025
First prom season sharing the floor with BELLA Boutique
BELLA Boutique and The Gilded Gown on one floor
Prom 2026 marked the second year that BELLA Boutique and The Gilded Gown have shared the Kingston Pike store. The prom page bills the pairing as two prom destinations in a single shopping experience, and it ranks the 3,000-plus gown count among the largest prom selections around. The two names go back a while together. In February 2015, WATE listed both as vendors, along with Formal Approach, at the Dash for the Dress prom sale hosted by Hot 104.5 at the downtown Crowne Plaza, where every dress was priced at $50, $100 or $200.
The designers the prom page names are Sherri Hill, Jovani and Ashley Lauren, plus many other top prom labels it does not list by name. Ethridge's homecoming post says the store carries brand-new, authorized Sherri Hill and Ashley Lauren gowns, and that the homecoming racks hold hundreds of styles in short and long lengths.
For the 2026 season the prom page called out dramatic ballgowns, curve-hugging satin, corset bodices, high slits, beadwork and layers of tulle. Color runs from classic black to pinks, jewel tones and pastels. The store also sells pageant gowns, plus cruise and formal dresses.
Buying off the rack, paying over four months
Nothing here needs to be special ordered first. Every gown is stocked in the store, so the dress you choose goes home with you that day. No appointment is needed for prom, and the FAQ says there are enough prom stylists on hand to help shoppers who walk in. If you'd rather have a set time, you can book a prom appointment online.
The four-month layaway runs on a formula the FAQ spells out. Add the dress price, a $99 layaway fee and tax, then divide by four. The first payment is due the day you choose the dress, and the other three follow once a month. Gowns, veils, sashes and headpieces are final sale, with no returns or exchanges, and the staff take time to make sure you are satisfied before anything leaves the boutique.
Before you pay
Add the gown price, the $99 layaway fee and tax, then divide by four
The day you choose it
Make the first of four equal payments
Months two to four
One equal payment each month
Paid off in four months
The Gilded Gown does not do alterations in house. It will recommend alterations specialists around Knoxville, so set up a fitting soon after you buy. The FAQ adds that nothing special is required for a try-on, though neutral undergarments help.
Check the day before you go. The homepage lists hours of 11 to 7 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and noon to 6 on Sunday, and the shop is closed on Wednesday.
Walker Springs sits on Kingston Pike a little west of West Town Mall, just off Interstate 40, so the store is a reasonable drive for students from Farragut, Hardin Valley, Karns, Oak Ridge and Maryville. For more shops across East Tennessee, see our state guide.
Prom shoppers ask The Gilded Gown
Which prom labels does The Gilded Gown name?
Sherri Hill, Jovani and Ashley Lauren are the three the prom page names, and the homecoming post calls its Sherri Hill and Ashley Lauren stock authorized. The store says many other top prom designers are on the floor as well.
Can I shop at The Gilded Gown on a Wednesday?
No. Wednesday is the one day the boutique stays closed. It opens at 11 the other weekdays and on Saturday, and at noon on Sunday.
How does the layaway fee work?
A flat $99 fee and tax are added to the price of the gown, and the total is split into four equal monthly payments, starting on the day you pick the dress.
Is BELLA Boutique a separate store?
It shares the Kingston Pike floor with The Gilded Gown. The 2026 prom season was the second year the two have sold prom side by side at this address.