Prom in Northwest Montana is a little different from other parts of the country, according to Heather Kesteleyn, owner of The Perfect Fit Bridal, who said high schoolers don’t have many options for formal wear locally.  

Kesteleyn is a seamstress by trade — a skill she learned from her grandmother at 8 years old. Always known as “the girl who can sew,” growing up, she eventually turned it into a career by opening up her first shop in Illinois in 2014.  

It’s been about two years since she opened The Perfect Fit Bridal in downtown Kalispell. She does more sales and less alterations compared to when she did business in Illinois, because there are less places to buy formal wear in our region, she said.  

“You've got homecoming, prom, winter formals — and that's just for the schools. Then you have weddings, and then there's so many formal fundraisers and galas out here that people need things for,” she said. “I've had a bunch of customers that are down from Canada. They come to do their Costco trip, and they'll come buy several dresses because there's nothing else.” 

Realizing that there was a need to fill, she’s spent the last two years bolstering her stock of in-store dresses and ordering options. She also offers tuxedo rentals, complete with bow ties and shoes.  

She said girls see dresses online or on social media and want to find something similar or come in needing to buy a dress when what they found on the internet either isn’t what they expected or doesn’t fit properly.  

“I had a girl that came in on Saturday morning and bought a dress because she's like, ‘The dress I ordered hasn't come in yet.’ That's a big problem here, too. The shipping takes a little bit longer or it gets here and it's not what you thought it was going to be,” she said. 

It’s more likely someone will leave satisfied when they are able to try on, touch and feel a dress, she said. Sizing is also difficult to gauge online, because formal wear for women has different sizing across different brands.   

She works with a vendor to get new prom dresses, but also has a lot of consignment options available in-store  — most barely worn or never worn. She wasn’t sure if that was going to be part of her business when she moved to Montana, but after so many people coming in and offering, she saw it as an opportunity. It’s a way to offer a nice dress to someone who may be on a budget or a time crunch.  

Kesteleyn also shops last season’s prom dresses or stock that other stores don’t want anymore. She does this by sleuthing online groups, like those on social media.  

“I try to look for the best price and the styles that people are going to want to. Because I have four daughters. I don't want to pay $600 for a prom dress. I don't want to sell a dress for $600 for prom either,” she said.  

Price is not the only factor for choosing dresses, she said, as teens are into many different styles right now. She said it’s not worth looking at national trends ahead of prom season, because it might not ring true for people in Northwest Montana.  

Last year, neon was supposed to be the colorway everyone wanted, but no one came into her shop looking for neon-colored dresses.  

“We're starting to see a little bit more of the girls wanting like an A-line or a ballgown dress too, and it's the same with bridal. There are so many styles out right now that there's no specific box you have to fit into. It's just what works for you,” Kesteleyn said.  

She’s aware that not every girl who comes into her store has the financial backing of their parents. Some dresses are as low as $50 and the most expensive consignment dress is priced at $400.  

Kesteleyn grew up in Maringo, Illinois, close to the city of Rockford and not too far from Chicago. There are department store options, boutiques and more that specialize in formal wear, so her niche was in alterations.  

She still does a ton of alterations at The Perfect Fit Bridal, but there are more responsibilities, like customer service and sales. Because it’s just her, she’s considering limiting how many alterations she takes on or hiring another seamstress.  

Because so many people are buying cheaper dresses online, the alterations can actually be more complicated. She said a recent dress that required a hem was found to be completely uneven on the bottom, causing her to stop and think about how best to proceed.  

Zippers are another issue. If it comes down to replacing a zipper, Kesteleyn said she’s more likely to reach into a stash of zippers collected by her grandmother and great-grandmother, because the quality of zippers has diminished over the years.  

“Sometimes the cheaper the dress, the more expensive the alterations are because it takes a lot more (time and effort) to get it to look the way you want it to, or the way it looked in the picture,” she said. “They don't use the greatest quality of materials. Some things are glued on there. They don't have as nice of boning and things like that.” 

That’s also true for bridesmaid dresses and some wedding dresses. Prom season is busy for The Perfect Fit Bridal, but weddings are what sustain the business all year long. There used to be a predictable wedding season in the summer, which was in May, June and July. But these days, it’s spread throughout the year.  

“I've had some years where it's like, oh, November's insanely swamped. Other years where October's swamped. It’s June this year, I have a lot of June brides right now. The end of June, that weekend is really popular this year. I’m definitely starting to get my July and August brides coming in too,” she said.  

But she has a soft spot for prom. Displayed in the store is her own senior prom dress, which is made completely out of candy wrappers (mostly Starburst). She said it started as a joke when a friend stuffed candy wrappers in her backpack.  

“I said ‘What do you expect me to do with these?’ And he said ‘I don’t know, why don’t you make a dress or something?’” she said.  

The boy was kidding, but Kesteleyn was serious. She started collecting wrappers from anyone who knew she was working on the project. It took her four months to complete, but when the time came, she and her date (now husband) went to prom in their new “sweet” digs.  

“It even rained that night, and everyone was so worried, but I wasn’t because I was essentially waterproof,” she said with a laugh.  

To learn more, visit theperfectfitbridal.com. 

The Perfect Fit Bridal is located at 220 1st Ave. E, Kalispell.  

Reporter Taylor Inman can be reached at 406-758-4440 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.

    Owner Heather Kesteleyn's dress made from Starburst candy wrappers at Perfect Fit Bridal in Kalispell on Wednesday, April 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider