Dazzles Opens in Boozer Shopping Center

From gowns and swimwear to sparkling jewelry and fancy footwear, Dazzles Pageant and Prom Apparel has everything a girl needs for a pageant.   

"Anything you need to compete with confidence, we have," said store owner Jill Rowland. 

Rowland has provided pageant attire to contestants for 12 years. After outgrowing her store location on Beltline Boulevard, she made the move to Boozer Shopping Center on Broad River Road in January. 

With plenty of pageant experience under her belt, Rowland knows how to help her customers find the right dress.

"I can look at it from the emcee's point of view, the judge's point of view or the contestant's point of view because I've done all three," said Rowland, who started competing in pageants in her 20s.

To make sure her customers choose a dress they feel comfortable and confident wearing, Rowland provides private consultations for pageant contestants.

"When you get on the stage the last thing you want to worry about is if your gown looks good," Rowland said, "because the wrong gown can keep you from the crown." 

Competitors who bought their dresses at Dazzles have won local, state and national titles. Mrs. United States 2008 and 2009 winners both bought their dresses at Rowland's store. Miss High School America 2010 and 2011 winners also shopped at Dazzles.

With pageants almost every weekend, Rowland said she gets customers year-round. Plus, girls start looking for prom dresses as early as December.

Dazzles is an official wardrobe sponsor for the South Carolina and North Carolina USA State Pageants, but Rowland said she gets customers from all over the Southeast. 

Rowland competed in her first pageant because a friend's daughter was competing. She joined the 20 years and older category just for fun. And she won. 

"It was just a great way to meet people and spend a Saturday," Rowland said. "It's a great hobby, and I parlayed it into a way to make a living."