Best Places To Buy Prom Dresses

By Rachel Azark

Prom is right around the corner for many high schools and if you haven't bought your dress yet, time is quickly running out. The number one thing any girl wants in her dress is for it not to match anyone else's at prom. And I can attest, as someone who showed up at her prom in the same dress as another girl, it's not a good feeling. Luckily my gentleman of a date that night said the right thing – you look nicer. Here are a few stores that can help you be the belle of the ball.

The dress department at Nordstrom's location at Michigan Avenue does not disappoint. With helpful staff and a great selection of styles, this department store is a favorite of the Foursquare community. For more great stores, check out this list of the 15 best department stores in Chicago.

Head to Foursquare to sort reviews by these tastes:

Peaches Boutique

5915-17 S. Archer Ave.
Chicago, IL 60638
Phone 773-582-0102
www.peachesboutique.com

Peaches carries over 15,000 dresses in stock in their 20,000 square foot store. They are also the one stop shop for everything for prom. Not only do they carry the gowns, they also can provide slips, shoes, purses, jewelry and garters. If shopping online, you can search by color, style, designer or occasion. Don't forget that this year many high schools are putting in restrictions on what you can or cannot wear to prom. Make sure to check with your school before falling in love with a dress that your school will poo poo.

House of Brides

730 N. Franklin St., Suite 300
Chicago, IL 60610
Phone: 312-475-0500
www.houseofbrides.com
(Right by the Chicago and Franklin brown line EL stop)

Ok, you're not getting married, but preparing for what you're going to wear to prom is as close as you'll come to feeling like it before you actually do. And bridal stores know this quite well, so they're there to help. Their website is a bit of a disaster zone of 9 point font and smaller, but they do offer a lot of choices that will have you not looking like a bridesmaid. You can start by picking your prom style - sassy sweet, prom queen, glam girl or dancing diva. This can help you narrow down some dresses.

Bridal Elegance and Pageantry

205 W. Etna Rd.
Ottawa, IL 61350
Phone: 815-433-3050
www.bridalelegance.us.com/prom.htm

Again another bridal store that is offering prom dresses. They are kind of a hike from the city, but they tout themselves as the Midwest's largest prom store with thousands of gowns in stock for you to browse through. The best thing they offer is registering your gown with your school so they don't sell the same gown in the same color to anyone else at your school. This will prevent the snafu I encountered - same gown, same color. They carry gowns in sizes 0-34 and prices begin at $200.

Bloomingdale's

900 N. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60611
Phone 312-440-4460
www1.bloomingdales.com

Having just recently hiked Michigan Avenue helping my mom look for a dress for a wedding, I've just about seen every dress department in all major department stores. And I'd have to say that Bloomingdale's has the widest selection available. They even have a large amount of dresses on sale if the thought of heading into Bloomies to find a dress frightens you. They're calling their prom selection online School of Frock. They have quite a few different looks than the normal poofy dresses that you see in other places. If you're looking for something a tad different, this would be the place to head to.

Selections

2152 N. Clybourn Ave.
Chicago, IL 60614
Phone: 773-296-4014
www.selectionschicago.com

I am not promising that this designer resale boutique will have exactly what you're looking for, but it's worth a try. If you're looking for high quality designer fashions at an excellent value, then this is a place to browse around. Consignments arrive daily, so if you don't find anything you're looking for the first time, it doesn't hurt to try a second time. They offer a flickr page of recent consignments for you to look through.

Rachel Azark is a writer and lives on Chicago's northwest side. Read more of her work on her blog parksandpancakes.com.