When should you buy a prom dress?

Why You Need to Start Prom Dress Shopping Earlier Than You Think?

Our ordering cut-off is the end of February. After that, what you see is what you get. Every year we have the same conversation. It's March, sometimes April, and a girl walks in with a photo on her phone of a dress she's fallen in love with. And every year we have to say the same thing: we can't order it for you now. It's the worst part of our job, and it's completely avoidable. So here's exactly how prom dress timings work, and why the girls who come to us in the autumn and winter end up with the dress they actually wanted.

Prom dresses are made, not stocked. This is the bit that surprises people most. When you order a gown from us, it isn't pulled off a shelf and put in a bag. It's made for you — cut, sewn and finished by the designer, then shipped to us. That process takes months, not days. Add time on top for alterations once it arrives, because almost every dress needs some adjusting to fit properly. It isn't an arbitrary date or a sales tactic. It's the last point at which we can confidently promise a made-to-order gown will be with you, altered and ready, in time for the night.

What happens if you leave it until March

You're not left with nothing — but you are left with far less. Once ordering closes in February, the only dresses available are our sample gowns: the dresses on our rails that girls have been trying on through the season. They're beautiful, and plenty of girls have gone to prom in one and looked incredible. But there's a significant catch. A sample dress has to fit you more or less as it is.

There's only one of each, in one size. If the dress you love is a size 16 and you're a 8, we can't order it in your size — a dress can't be taken in 4 sizes! Minor alterations, hems and small nips are usually fine. Anything beyond that isn't.

So instead of choosing the dress you love and having it made for you, you're choosing from whatever happens to be available in something close to your size. For some girls that works out beautifully. For a lot of girls, it means a compromise — and it's a compromise they didn't need to make.

There's a second thing worth knowing: sample dresses have been worn. They've been in and out of fitting rooms all season. Most are in lovely condition, but they aren't always pristine, and they're sold as seen. The price does reflect this as we reduce our sample dress price once ordering is cut off.

And then there's the one dress per school policy If you already know us, you'll know we only ever sell one dress per style, per school. Once a gown has been chosen by a girl at your school, it's retired for your school — it won't be sold again to anyone attending the same prom. It's the reason our girls never walk into their prom and see their own dress across the room.

It also means the pool shrinks as the season goes on. Every week, dresses come off the table for your school. By the time March arrives, you're not just limited to samples in your size — you're limited to samples in your size that nobody from your school has already claimed.

Come in October and the whole collection is open to you. Come in March and you're choosing from what's left.

The part nobody talks about: it should be enjoyable There's a practical case for shopping early, and we've just made it. But there's a better one. Finding a prom dress should be one of the nicest days of the whole year. A morning out with your parent/guardian, trying on gowns you'd never have picked off the rail, taking your time, changing your mind twice, then knowing when you've found it. That's what it looks like in November. In April it looks different. It's rushed, there's a deadline hanging over it, and the conversation stops being "which one do you love?" and becomes "which one will fit?". Mums, you'll feel this even more than your daughters — the last-minute panic is expensive, stressful, and it lands squarely on you.

Coming early takes all of that away. Dress chosen, deposit paid, then months of simply looking forward to it.

So when should you come?

Autumn and winter are ideal. Our dresses arrive in October, so October through to January gives you the full collection, the full size range, and no pressure at all. February is your final chance to order. If you're reading this in February, please don't wait — come now, while making your dream dress is still possible.

March onwards, come anyway — but come knowing you're choosing from samples, and come with an open mind about size and style. We'll always do our very best for you.

We're appointment only, so you'll have our full attention — no queues, no rushing, and honest advice about fit, timings and budget before you commit to anything.

Ordering cut-off: end of February- appointments are essential