From a website in 2004 to a fitting room on North Landing Road
The name gives away the order of events. Onlineformals launched in 2004 as an online retailer of prom, pageant and special occasion gowns. Ten years in, the owners added a physical store. The Virginia Beach showroom opened in 2014, and the store says it was meant to bring the newest formalwear trends to Hampton Roads for prom, ring dance, military balls and other formal events. The store places itself near the Virginia Beach Municipal Center, on North Landing Road.
Students from around Tidewater Virginia try gowns on in person. Prom is the headline category.
A first appointment follows a set pattern, which the store lays out in some detail.
The typical special occasion shopping experience last about an hour. During your visit, we'll chat about your event, your style preferences, and your budget.
From there a stylist pulls a selection to try. The store promises a relaxed, friendly room and frank opinions on what works. It also lists where its customers drive in from: Chesapeake, Norfolk, Hampton, Yorktown, Newport News, Williamsburg and northeast North Carolina. Large public high schools on this side of Virginia Beach include Kellam, Landstown and Ocean Lakes, and Chesapeake, one of the cities on the store's list, adds Hickory and Grassfield.
What hangs in the showroom
Onlineformals says it is an authorized retailer for every designer it carries, and that it can be found in the retailer sections of those designers' own websites. It lists Sherri Hill, Jovani and JVN by Jovani, La Femme, Faviana, Ellie Wilde, Jasz Couture, Amarra, Primavera Couture, Alyce Paris and Ava Presley. The prom range takes in corsets, hot stones, ruffles, mermaid and ballgown shapes, two-piece sets, pastels, satin and more. A separate group collects prom dresses under $400.
Beyond prom, the store carries shorter homecoming and cocktail dresses, a plus-size group built on Faviana and La Femme Curve, pageant gowns from Jasz Couture, La Femme and Sherri Hill, evening wear, and mother-of-the-bride dresses. Hundreds of styles are kept in the store. The bigger point is access. The store says it has immediate access to full designer inventories, so a gown that is not on the floor can often be tracked down and ordered.
The store states flatly that it does not sell fake or copied dresses. Its price-match terms carry the same caution: a lower price only counts if the other seller is an authorized retailer that posts a full company name, address and phone number.
Jim's Formal Wear partnership
Tuxedos and suits for prom dates, to rent or to buy
In person
Fitted in the showroom
Paying and ordering
Onlineformals spells out its policies in detail. The main ones follow.
Special orders
Any style from a carried designer, with a 50% deposit, including gowns spotted in another store.
Layaway
Offered, under what the store calls flexible layaway and special order policies.
Low price guarantee
The exact same in-stock, non-sale item listed for less by an authorized retailer gets matched, plus 5 percent.
The store does not list in-house alterations, so plan on a seamstress of your own once the gown is chosen. For a spring prom, that means settling the dress early enough to leave room for a hem and a fitting or two.
Before a first visit to Onlineformals
What if a dress is not in the showroom?
The staff can look into the designer's inventory and special order it with a 50% deposit.
Which dances does the showroom shop for?
Prom first, along with homecoming, ring dance, military balls and pageants. The store also carries cocktail, evening and plus-size dresses.