Almost every prom store sells gowns. This one also rents them. The Upshur County Visitors Bureau listing for Dinah’s Boutique, in French Creek in north-central West Virginia, says it in four words: “We rent and sell.” The same listing puts the stock at more than 6,000 gowns and says customers come from about 20 counties.
The store’s own site is where the rental math gets specific. It advertises more than 1,000 discontinued bridesmaid dresses to rent at $45 and current in-store bridesmaid styles at $65, plus more than 100 closeout prom gowns priced at $50 to buy outright. It also says a dress the shop special-orders for you can still be rented rather than purchased — you have to be sized first, a deposit is required and applies to either the rental or the purchase, and most orders arrive within about a week. Returns are store credit, not cash, and the site says that credit does not expire. Prom gowns are listed up to size 34 and bridal up to size 42.
Two brand authorizations are confirmed: House of Wu and Tiffany Designs both list this store on their official retailer locators. The shop’s Better Business Bureau profile, filed as Dinah’s Boutique at Floral Acres, describes a broader range than prom alone — wedding and pageant gowns, tuxedos, mother-of-the-bride, flower girl dresses, shoes and accessories. Children’s sizing runs newborn through child size 20, with Joy Kids and Tip Top Kids named on the site.
Getting there, and calling first
French Creek is an unincorporated community about nine and a half miles south of Buckhannon on State Route 20, at roughly 1,460 feet. There is no shopping district; the nearest landmark of any size is the West Virginia State Wildlife Center, the 338-acre former French Creek Game Farm, which the state DNR places 12 miles south of Buckhannon on the same road. Coming off Interstate 79, the DNR’s own directions are exit 99, then Route 33 east. The store’s site acknowledges the address is hard to find and says its fliers carry a map and written directions for first-time customers.
Do not treat this as a drop-in. The store’s Facebook page states appointments are scheduled Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 10 to 5 and Saturdays 10 to 4, with the shop closed Wednesdays and Sundays. Bridal and prom parties are appointment-only, and both the website and Facebook direct those requests to Melissa. Phone is (304) 924-6462.
Who shops here
Buckhannon-Upshur High School, up Route 20 in Buckhannon, is the closest feeder: 1,068 students in grades 9–12, with the city council’s 2025 agenda listing its prom on April 26. Beyond Upshur County, the shop is within a reasonable drive of Lewis County High School in Weston — 703 students and the only high school in that county — Elkins High School in Randolph County at 747 students, and Webster County High School in Upperglade, a 7–12 school of about 520. In a county mix like this, a single shop often covers prom, homecoming, pageants and weddings for the same families, which is the practical reason a rental rack exists.
The comparable prom selections are north, in Clarksburg and Morgantown, both a highway trip rather than a local errand. If renting a gown, or buying one at $50, is what makes prom work for your household, that trade is the reason to point the car south instead.