A prom dress hunt in the Mid-Ohio Valley usually starts with a phone call and a calendar. At Elizabeth Michaels, on Grand Central Avenue in Vienna, it can start with the car keys. The shop's homepage sets the rule out in one sentence, and it makes a weeknight try-on after school an easy thing to fit in.
We do require bridal appointments and a deposit of $30, but you do not need an appointment to try on prom, pageant, or homecoming.
That split is the whole shape of the business. Bridal is booked and scheduled. Prom, homecoming and pageant are open floor, with staff on hand to pull styles while you browse. The store's footer signs off as "your one-stop dress store," and its About page describes a welcoming staff to help "every step of the way."
The prom labels on the wall
Elizabeth Michaels keeps separate pages for prom and homecoming, each showing the designers it carries that season. The two lists overlap, which is handy if you want to shop the fall dance and the spring one in the same place.
- Prom
- Sherri Hill, Jovani, Ellie Wilde, Rachel Allan, Tarik Ediz, Amarra, Primavera, Morilee, Stella Couture, Sydney's and Tease
- Homecoming
- Sherri Hill, Jovani, Ellie Wilde, Rachel Allan, Tarik Ediz, Amarra, Primavera and Stella Couture
- Pageant
- Designer pageant gowns, shown in store
That is a strong bench of prom names for a single-storefront shop. Sherri Hill and Jovani anchor the glam end, Ellie Wilde and Rachel Allan cover beaded and sequined looks, and Amarra and Primavera give you more fitted silhouettes to compare against them. Tarik Ediz adds a couture-leaning option for the shopper who wants something less common at her school.
Because the homecoming list repeats most of the prom names, a girl who found her fit with one label in October has a head start in the spring. She already knows how that designer runs in her size, which takes some of the guesswork out of the second shopping trip.
Who drives to Grand Central Avenue
Vienna sits just north of Parkersburg in Wood County, and the two towns run together along the Ohio River in west-central West Virginia. The prom calendar here is set by a handful of big schools. Parkersburg High School and Parkersburg South High School are the largest in the county, Williamstown High School is a few miles upriver, and Parkersburg Catholic draws from across the valley. Across the bridges, Marietta High School students in Ohio are close enough to make this a regular stop, too.
Pageant is the other steady line of work. The store's pageant page invites shoppers in to see its selection of designer pageant gowns, and pageant shopping follows the same walk-in rule as prom. For a family with a daughter competing in a county fair or festival pageant, being able to stop in without booking first is a real convenience.
Bridal gets one short note here. It is by appointment only, booked by phone, with the $30 styling fee deposit mentioned above. Prom shoppers do not need any of that.
Elizabeth Michaels shopper questions
Which prom designers does Elizabeth Michaels carry?
Its prom page shows Sherri Hill, Jovani, Ellie Wilde, Rachel Allan, Tarik Ediz, Amarra, Primavera, Morilee, Stella Couture, Sydney's and Tease.
Can I shop for homecoming and pageant at the Vienna store?
Yes. Both have their own pages online, and neither needs an appointment. Walk in for either one, the same as you would for prom.