Lamar High School is on the same street, under a mile west, in the same 77098 ZIP code. That is most of the reason this store belongs in a prom directory at all. Tootsies is a women’s designer specialty store — the Houston flagship of a company that also has stores in Dallas and Atlanta — and prom is one thread inside a much larger business. Two of the labels it stocks, Jovani and Mac Duggal, are names a senior anywhere in Texas would recognize from a prom rack.
Mickey Rosmarin opened the first Tootsies in the Galleria area in 1975 and named it after a 1927 Al Jolson song. He moved the store to Highland Village in 1985, then in 2011 into a 35,000-square-foot space at the West Ave development on the southwest corner of Westheimer and Kirby. Rosmarin died in 2016 at 63. The center changed hands in 2018 and was rebranded the Shops at Arrive River Oaks, so older reviews, directions and word-of-mouth still say “West Ave.” Same block, same corner.
Before you drive over
- Hours are Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed Sunday. A weekend gown trip here has to be a Saturday.
- Valet parking, in addition to the center’s garage.
- Alterations are done on site — relevant if a gown needs a hem before a date you already have circled.
- Stylists work by appointment and take walk-ins.
Call first about prom stock specifically. The store describes itself in terms of designer ready-to-wear, occasionwear, shoes, handbags and jewelry; it does not advertise a prom department, and Jovani and Mac Duggal sit alongside contemporary and luxury labels rather than in a dedicated room. How many gown styles are actually on the floor in January is a phone question, not a website question.
What kind of store this is
When the West Ave location opened in 2011, the Houston Chronicle described a floor carrying Valentino, Givenchy, Céline, Rick Owens and Nina Ricci, with 21 dressing rooms, free valet and a catering kitchen for private events. Fourteen years of buying decisions have passed since then, so treat the designer list as an indicator of register rather than current inventory. The register has not changed: price this like a luxury boutique, not a mall formalwear chain. Fady Armanious is the creative director.
For some families that is exactly right — a gown bought where the mother of the bride shops, fitted by the same alterations department, done in one Saturday. For others it will be well past what a prom dress is worth. Both are reasonable conclusions, and it is better to reach one before the drive than in the fitting room.
The corner itself
Kirby runs north–south, Westheimer east–west, and the Shops at Arrive occupies roughly 194,000 square feet of retail wrapped around apartments at the intersection. The Galleria is west on Westheimer; downtown is east. Upper Kirby, River Oaks, Montrose and West University are all within a few minutes, which means students from a dense cluster of HISD, private and parochial high schools inside the Loop are already driving past this corner most weeks. Lamar, at 3325 Westheimer, is the closest — the same road, a few lights up.