Red carpet glamour for prom night

PROM season is fast approaching, so the hunt for the perfect dress has begun. Like Netflix and Trick or Treat, proms are an American import we have taken to our hearts.

But it’s a fretful business. Preparations begin months before the big night – with teenage girls spending weeks searching for the ideal gown.

Louise Micklethwait, York mum and business woman, hopes to make such agonies a thing of the past with the launch of her new prom boutique, Va Va Voom.

Located within Plush Bridal Boutique, which is owned by Louise’s friend Mandy Melka, Va Va Voom has a collection of around 200 prom dresses in sizes from 2 to 32. Prices start at £125 with the most expensive designs around the £350 mark; the majority are £225.

Expensive, yes, but cheaper than some rival boutiques, says Louise, where prices can reach £1,000. Delivering affordable prom dresses was one of the reasons behind setting up the business, she adds.

The boutique also offers a “one dress, one event policy” to avoid any customer turning up at a party in the same frock as a fellow reveller.

“We keep a record of all dresses sold so that no two identical dresses are sold for the same event,” says Louise. “The list remains a top secret and staff will never discuss who is wearing which dress.”

Louise opened the business in January. She has a15-year-old daughter, Ellie – one of the models in our photoshoot – who is already looking forward to her own prom next year.

Va Va Voom operates on an appointments-only basis, conveniently opening outside school hours, from 4pm to 8pm on weekdays and at the weekend.

“It means the customer can have the whole boutique to themselves,” says Louise. “It’s completely private and not like Topshop on a Saturday afternoon.”

Louise said she wanted to create a relaxed atmosphere, as if the girls were trying on dresses in their own bedroom. It can take a while to find the right dress.

“Most 15 and 16-year-old girls have never tried on a dress like that. Until they put the dress on they don’t know whether it suits them and what they actually like. They might come in with a preconceived idea that they want a strapless black one, but might go away in a red cocktail dress.”

The choice at the boutique is staggering. Glittering gowns in every shade of the rainbow hang on rails. Full-length dresses are very much in vogue, says Louise, however there is a choice of shorter styles too. The boutique has linked up with The Shoe Temple, offering glittery footwear for prom night.

The gown selection is “age appropriate” insists Louise. “There is nothing split to the thigh or down to the navel and anything that is cut away has an ‘illusion panel’ included: some netting in a skin tone.”

The boutique has been busy already, particularly during the February half term, says Louise, as girls grasp the urgency to grab a glamorous gown.

She says finding the right dress can be an extra pressure during exam year for girls facing GCSEs and A Levels, who will have proms and leavers’ events in the summer. “A lot of mums have said to me: ‘thank goodness she has found a dress she loves and that we can afford, now we can concentrate on the exams’.”

• Va Va Voom Prom Boutique, Manor Farm Barn, Angram, York YO23 3PA. Book appointments online at vavavoom.rocks or by telephone on 01904 737300.