The appointment request form at A Finer Moment asks for your school and your event date. The store keeps a dress registry, and the aim is simple: you won't be a duplicate at your event. Owner Lisa Feighner has run A Finer Moment since 2001, and the business rests on that registry and a very large inventory.
There are more than 2,000 dresses in the store. Feighner hand-selects them at the largest designer dress market, and the store says most of its brands are exclusive to it in this area. The shop has also narrowed its focus over the years. It now sells mainly homecoming, prom and pageant gowns, and it has stopped carrying traditional bridesmaid and mothers' wedding dresses, so the floor belongs to the high school dance calendar.
The labels on the racks
The prom collection names its designers: Sherri Hill, Alyce Paris, Faviana, Scala, Ellie Wilde, Primavera Couture and Ashley Lauren. Every designer the store names is one it is authorized to sell, and A Finer Moment turns up on those designers' own store locators. Sizing is the other headline.
Prom sizes
000 to 32
- 000
- 00
- 0
- 2
- 4
- 6
- 8
- 10
- 12
- 14
- 16
- 18
- 20
- 22
- 24
- 26
- 28
- 30
- 32
Sizes 000 through 32, plus some extra lengths, with W sizes from 12W to 24W.
A student who wears a 26 or needs extra length shops the same racks as everyone else. Shoes and jewelry are stocked as well, so the look can be finished in the same appointment.
Length gets real attention from the store, which is useful for tall shoppers. Measured from the collarbone to the hem, the store's long dresses average 57 to 60 inches and its short dresses 27 to 33 inches. Hold a tape measure against yourself in heels before the appointment and you will know whether a floor-length style needs the extra-length version or a hem. The store also walks through measuring bust, waist and hips at home, with a reminder that every designer has its own size chart and that a gown can be taken in more easily than let out.
Prom is the center of the business, but the racks also cover pageant and evening wear, and the request form lists gala and other events alongside the school dances. Dresses seen in Teen Prom and Seventeen magazine ads can be found in the store, and the store describes the range in its own breezy shorthand: bold, beautiful, sleek, sophisticated, short and sassy.
How appointments work on North Division
A Finer Moment runs by appointment, so each shopper has a set time on the floor. You request a time online, choosing what you are shopping for (prom, homecoming or short and cocktail, pageant, gala), your event date and the number of people trying on dresses, and the store replies with the closest opening. It can take up to 72 hours to hear back, so check your spam folder. For a same-day slot, the store asks you to call about availability. Sending a request well before spring gives you more choice of times and more stock in your size. The store shares a few timing tips.
From the store
- Buy sooner rather than later, because stock changes daily and designers move the dates gowns reach the store.
- Leave time for alterations.
- Line up a seamstress for adjustments, since designers don't make gowns to custom measurements.
- Choose the size that fits your largest measurement and have the rest taken in.
The shop is on Spokane's north side. Mead and Mt. Spokane high schools in the Mead School District are north of downtown, and Shadle Park, North Central and Rogers are Spokane Public Schools campuses on the same side of town, with Lewis and Clark and Ferris on the South Hill. The store calls its selection the largest and most varied in the Inland Northwest, a region that stretches across eastern Washington and over the state line into north Idaho.
Booking and sizing at A Finer Moment
How does the A Finer Moment dress registry work?
The store keeps a registry of gowns so a shopper isn't a duplicate at her event. The request form asks for your school and event date, so have both ready when you book.
What sizes does the Spokane shop carry?
From 0/0/0 up to 32, with extra lengths in some styles.
The store sums up the season in one line.
Prom is your night to shine and we are here to help you kiss your prom worries goodbye.