Pageant Dresses - Pageant Girl

Shopping for a pageant dress in the UK has long been a frustrating business. A few years ago, a team of pageant specialists noticed just how few places existed where you could try on a proper selection of long evening gowns — and so The Dress Studio was created.

Based in Culcheth, Warrington, the store has grown into one of the country’s largest stockists of prom, pageant, evening and formal wear, and has dressed some of the UK’s most successful beauty queens and titleholders. Spread over two floors, it is built around a simple idea: that finding the right long dress should not mean trailing from shop to shop.

Why the store exists

The founders kept hearing the same complaint. In the UK, there was nowhere to go to find a long dress. Boutiques, high-street shops and even department stores might have one or two options, but that was it. You could not walk into a shop and try several styles to work out what suited you. Those few dresses were rarely cheap either, often running into hundreds of pounds — meaning you could end up paying a great deal for something you did not truly love, without ever having had the chance to compare.

The Dress Studio set out to change that, filling a single store with hundreds of long dresses: prom dresses, pageant dresses, evening dresses and ball gowns. Rather than visiting store after store and trying on one dress here and there, customers could drive to one location and know they would not need to go anywhere else. Prices were deliberately spread across a wide range, with long dresses starting from £55.

What the store offers

• Two floors of dresses, with hundreds in stock ready to try on and take away
• More than 30 fitting rooms
• No appointment needed
• Free parking
• A price match on any identical dress found in stock at another store
• A deposit system that secures a dress while the balance is paid off
• An exclusivity register, so the same dress is not sold twice to the same school or the same competition

The exclusivity register is one of the store’s more unusual features. Every prom dress sold is recorded, and staff will not sell the same design to anyone else at your school — not even in a different colour. The same principle applies to pageant dresses: a record is kept of every gown sold, and the same dress will not be sold to the same competition. Customers who want to keep their choice secret can do so.

Prices and payment

Budgets vary, and the store aims to accommodate them. Long dresses start at £55 and rise from there, so there is no need to assume everything on the rails is out of reach. Payment plans are available: an initial deposit secures the dress, the balance can be paid later, and a payment is requested every 28 days. The dress stays in the store until it is paid for in full. A small deposit is enough to hold a dress so that nobody else from your school can claim it first.

Designers and stock

Buyers travel abroad each year to preview evening wear and prom collections from leading designers, and the store is an approved stockist of names including Sherri Hill, Jovani, JVN, Mac Duggal, Forever Unique, Tarik Ediz and Terani Couture. British labels matter too, and the store stocks brands such as Honor Gold and Pia Michi.

What you see on the rails is what you buy. Dresses are kept in stock rather than ordered in, so there is no waiting — helpful if you have left things late. Anything that does not meet the store’s standards does not make it onto the floor.

Planning your visit

No appointment is necessary, thanks to the number of fitting rooms. During prom season, Saturdays between noon and 3.30pm are the busiest hours, so arriving as early as possible is recommended.

On arrival, a member of staff will explain the layout and the range of styles and sizes, and answer any questions. You are free to browse alone or to ask for help putting together ideas. Anything that catches your eye can be taken off the rail, and a member of staff will take it from you straight away. For prom customers, they will check that nobody else from your school has chosen the same style. Your selections are then taken to a fitting room and laid out in an area created just for you, so everything you liked is waiting when you are ready to try it on. If nothing works, the team can suggest alternatives based on what you did like.

What to bring

There is nothing you must bring, but a pair of high heels is strongly advised. Trying dresses on with the shoes you plan to wear gives a more realistic idea of how the dress will look on the day, and helps show whether the length will need altering.

You are welcome to bring friends and family, though it is worth limiting numbers. Too many opinions can make it harder to focus on how you feel in a dress, and at peak times space around the fitting rooms is limited. One companion for a second opinion is ideal. Anyone under 18 is asked to bring a parent or guardian when trying on dresses.

A note on makeup

Customers are asked to arrive without makeup or fake tan. The dresses are expensive, and staff would rather avoid any marks or stains.

Finding the right style

With hundreds of styles and colours in store, the advice is simple: try on as many different dresses as it takes to find the one. Staff are patient and experienced at helping pageant customers in particular, whether you arrive knowing exactly what you want or with no idea at all — whether you are after something glitzy and sparkling or completely plain. Choosing can take longer than expected, but the aim is always the same: that you leave with a dress in hand.