Michael’s Formalwear & Bridal

One of the best dress shopping experiences in Jax I have had so far. I am tall and not a size zero. It was so nice to try on dresses that actually fit me! They have lots of sizes and they make it so fun. Leslie helped me and cared so much she took some of the photos when I found my top three. Their dresses are beautiful.

Michael’s is my go to Tuxedo rental place in Jax. They always have the slim fit, which is my favorite cut, the price is on par with everyone else in town, they are locally owned and they have a bunch of stores to return the tux!
The service is always good at my go to store at the Town Center.

I recently was a bridesmaid in my friends wedding and had to order a bridesmaid dress from this location. I went in about five months before the wedding and got measured and ordered the dress, I was required to pay half down to order. The lady at the counter was super friendly and my dress came in fitting perfectly and looked great! I had to get it hemmed because I wanted to wear flats and I was able to use their seamstress that they have on site. Alterations are not included in the cost of the dress. My hem only cost $ 45 which I didn’t think was too bad. Overall, I had a great experience at this store — everyone was very helpful and my dress arrived in a timely manner. I will definitely be back next time I’m in a wedding and refer my friends!

So after finding my perfect dress. It takes about 3 – 4 months to make after ordering. In the mean time I had moved to another state and was not able to come home as often and had not been able to see my dress since it came in until 2 months before the wedding. To my surprise the dress had been ordered 2 sizes big than I had originally tried on! I tried on the 8 and it fit perfectly. The only reason I ordered a new one was bc I wanted an ivory dress instead of white. well what I received was a size 12!!! Too late to complain about it my wedding is coming up and I have no time to order a new one. I could complain but for what reason. Just have to deal with it. No one in the wedding biz cares about what u like or look like. It’s all about making that money!!! Ladies make sure you are getting the correct size. If it fits that’s the size u want. Don’t even get them to measure you bc u might get screwed out of your dream dress.

I’ll admit, I was skeptical the minute I walked into Michael’s. The selection seems a little too limited (especially in the way of bridesmaids dresses) and the location itself is on the dingy side of bridal/​formalwear boutiques. I’ve visited this place probably 6 times in the past 6 months for a wedding I was recently a part of, both to shop for a wedding dress for the bride as well as to order bridesmaids dresses. The entire bridal party (groom/​groomsmen/​fathers of the bride and groom) purchased their wedding wear from Michael’s, and the overall experience was successful and relatively reasonably priced.
My points of critique:
1) A couple of the ladies at the front desk were mildly obnoxious. One of them is a young girl, and I assume she just hasn’t mastered the art of social interaction yet, although I’m sure she’ll get there. I spoke with another associate on the phone days before the wedding who took me in a complete circle of a conversation before she figured out who I was and what I needed (even though I disclosed ALL of that information at the beginning of the conversation): «So…did WE call YOU?» «What is it you need?» «Ohhh…so YOU’RE the bride?» It was a mess.
2) The dress we five bridesmaids ended up with was cheaper (and almost identical) at David’s Bridal.
3) The alterations were borderline unreasonable. Unfortunately, I basically wear doll clothes so I understood that any dress I purchased would have to be chopped all to pieces to fit my tiny frame, but my alterations cost basically as much as my dress did, and that wasn’t the original quote I got. There was a $ 15 «rush» fee tacked on (even with a completion date 2 weeks past when they started the alterations) as well as a couple additional unnecessary fees/​services added by the seamstress. Don’t misunderstand me, she did a wonderful job, I just wasn’t real pleased with the way the cost breakdown was (wasn’t) communicated.
4) The dressing room «curtains» give anyone sitting on the couch a free show, easily. You’re welcome, folks. don’t act like you’re not impressed! Seriously though, they need better dressing room curtains.
The selection is actually considerably more vast than the impression the show room gives, but for those of you with a pending wedding/​significant event date approaching, understand you’re going to have to order at least 3 months in advance to get exactly what you want, unless you’re purchasing one of their sample dresses off the show room floor (which will likely not be an option for most people, given the small selection).

I found a dress I liked on the internet. I called Michael’s and asked if I needed an appointment. The girl answering the phone was very nice… but it ended there. I was told I did not need an appointment and that they had several dresses in stock. When I arrived, neither of the two sales people would leave from behind the desk to greet me or help me. I walked around for over 5 – 7 minutes with dresses in my hand, with no offer to put them in a dressing room for me. When I was finally shown to a dressing room… that was the end of their customer service. I was lucky my daughter, the bride, was with me and could help me in dresses, zip them, and clamp dresses, when needed. I would have bought a dress there, but the customer service was so lacking, I went to another store and purchased a dress.

I visited Michael’s Formal Wear by myself and without an appointment in ⁰¹⁄₁₁ on my hunt for a wedding gown, and I was pleasantly surprised.
The shop has a larger selection than I imagined, although it is still on the small side. They carry Allure, Casablanca, and Mori Lee to name a few designers that I tried. Also they carry sizes 4 and up, where as most of the other shops in town only carry sizes 08 – 12. The store had some dresses that I hadn’t’ seen at any of the other shops, one of which could be the one? They also had one of my favs that I had seem somewhere else.
The cons for me were that there was less personalized attention. More of a, «go look in the racks and see what you like» type of tone. I have some very specific things I’m looking for, and would like the input from the consultant. However, in her defense she was slammed when I got there, and after it cleared out a bit she was able to help me with the gowns.
I’m glad I visited, as I did find one that I really really liked, but not as impressed as I have been with some other shops.