Lulus Review: Prom Dress Stores

If you're looking for a huge selection, high-end looks, unique styles, and a prom dress you'll never forget, hop on over to Lulu's ASAP. Lulu's stands out as a fashionable and sophisticated brand offering high-end clothing. Since its website debut in 2005, Lulu's has become a go-to destination for those seeking elegant gowns, stylish shoes, trendy swimsuits, chic jackets, fashionable pants, accessories, and more.

Easy to find dresses with customer photos to compare

Getting started on Lulu's is simple even if you don't immediately see a "Prom" tab on the top navigation bar. If you click under formal, you can easily find the prom category waiting for you. Once you've found the dresses, you can start filtering by size, color, price, style, neckline, sleeve and dress lengths, and popular options like "Prom [Current Year]" or "New In Prom''. Transparency is a feature of Lulu's, allowing shoppers to leave honest feedback on and photos of their purchases. While not all prom dresses have customer reviews, many do, offering insights into size accuracy and color representation, through star ratings and customer photos.

890 prom dresses in stock

The selection of prom dresses at Lulu's is huge. At the time of our review, there were 890 styles to choose from. Many of the dresses are available in multiple colors, and Lulu's offers sizes ranging from XXS to US10. You can find A-line, mermaid, bodycon, trumpet, tulip, and two-piece cuts, but ball gowns were notably missing from the prom section. 878 of the dresses were full-length styles while 13 of them were high-low. While we thought there weren't any mini dresses at Lulu's, we found them in a separate category from the main page. If you want to see the 408 different mini prom dresses, you'll want to click on "Short Prom Dresses'' in the Formal tab.

Prices from $19 to $166

To compare the costs at each prom dress retailer, we looked at three different dress styles at every store. Unfortunately, Lulu's doesn't have ball gown styles, so we could only get pricing for A-lines and mini dresses. We've also found the most and least expensive dresses to get an idea of the complete price range. Here's what we found at Lulu's:

• A-line dresses: $79 to $166
• Ball gown dresses: Unfortunately, Lulu's doesn't offer any ball gowns.
• Mini dresses: $19 to $119
• Cheapest dress: Sealed With a Kiss Red Ruffled Bodycon Dress (Red) for $19
• Most expensive dress: Most Beautiful Day Ivory Multi Floral Print Organza Maxi Dress (Ivory) for $166

2-day shipping

Lulu's distinguishes itself with its swift shipping process for prom dresses, which are not made-to-order. With a processing and shipping time of 48-72 hours, Lulu's promises prompt delivery. The checkout experience includes a shipping estimator tool that factors in warehouse processing times and your location, offering an accurate delivery date and occasionally free shipping (though this depends on current promos and specific items). Lulu's doesn't offer tailoring, so you don't have any extra manufacturing time to factor in.

10-day free returns

To send back an item to Lulu's, make sure it's in new condition - unworn, unwashed, and all vendor tags attached. If you postmark your return within the first 10 days after receiving it, you get free return shipping. But if it's more than 10 days after delivery, there's a $4.99 shipping fee, and a $1.49 restocking fee per item will also be deducted from your refund. You have up to 30 days to make your return, after which it won't be accepted in any condition.

Mixed reviews raise questions on quality

Lulu's currently holds an "A" rating from the Better Business Bureau, which reflects its commitment to excellence. However, on third-party review sites, the reviews are more mixed. While customer testimonials on Lulu's site highlight the high-quality apparel, excellent customer service, and reasonable pricing, reviewers on other platforms say otherwise. Customers have been sent the wrong dress and Lulu's has refused to send the correct item. Other customers complain that many of the more expensive items on the site feel "cheap" and don't live up to the price tag.

Good for discounts, but misses the mark for customer service

For anyone searching for the best place to shop for prom dresses online, Lulu's has tons of dresses to look through. However, despite its popularity, it is missing ball gown dresses which is surprising given its 800+ dress inventory. On top of that, the concerns from reviewers also raise some questions about the quality of the fabrics. This, plus the concerns about returns and customer service knock Lulu's down the rankings a bit compared to its more trustworthy competitors. So, despite the lower-than-average prices, Lulu's gets a good rating in our review.

On the Lulus website