Shopping in Ridgeland

Within Everything Formal's family-owned walls, a stock of more than 1,000 designer dresses and tuxedoes is available for rent or purchase. Staffers tap into their wealth of knowledge to expertly alter garments, ensuring that long hems don't trip brides and that French cuffs get paired with brie-flavored cufflinks. Their inventory of tuxes and dresses suits a multitude of occasions—such as pageants, military balls, and weddings—and boasts brand names including Tony Bowls, Prima Donna, and Tiffany.

Alyssa Farmer opened Lace Bridal Boutique in August 2011 to help brides-to-be envision their big day with designer dresses and gorgeous accessories. Relying on an attention to detail, Alyssa and her consultants give soonlyweds one-on-one attention as they search for the perfect feather fascinators, rhinestone earrings, and veils. Their expert eyes rove over guests as they don sample dresses from designers such as Mikaella and Paloma Blanca. The shop's chandelier light casts a lambent glow that glints off the gowns and glittering accessories and illuminates chocolate-colored walls and pristine white trim.

Alyssa also curates a bedazzled selection of special occasion dresses—including looks from MacDuggal, Tony Bowls, and Sherri Hill—which wrap physiques in perfect style for prom, homecoming, or a date with a candelabra.

Nicole Hall, a third-generation master jeweler, spent years creating and repairing fine jewelry before opening Buckingham Jewelers with her husband, Simon. To forge custom pieces, she works closely with customers to understand their vision before sketching ideas and compiling a small mound of precious stones and gems. Most of her designs are bold statement pieces, such as a necklace of diamonds circling a pale-green opal. When clients want to include family heirloom stones or enhance existing jewelry, Nicole draws from her repair experience to carefully renovate their precious items. She even welds with a laser to avoid potential heat damage from soldering or outsourcing the job to an amateur fire-swallower.

In addition to Nicole's custom pieces, she and Simon carefully curate their shop's display cases with bold European jewelry. Hard-to-find pieces from Orit Schatzman, a handmade line in Israel, glisten alongside Danish Skagen watches. They also carry Angelique de Paris's colorful resin bangles, which are fashioned with sterling silver, vermeil, and gemstones, and have been featured in In Style and Harper's Bazaar.

Sandra Mitchell, Clarke Jewelers' master jeweler and owner, grew up watching her father repair watches, jewelry, and guns in his jewelry shop. The fascinated youngster decided to attend jewelry school and has been repairing and custom designing baubles for 35 years, recently with the help of her daughter Nicole, a master jeweler who specializes in repairing sterling silver, a difficult metal other jewelers are afraid to touch. In addition to their handiwork, they stock high-quality fine jewelry and trendy items, including bridal sets by Gabriel & Co., Citizen Eco-Drive watches, and sterling-silver bangles, rings, and halos.

Dr. Ricky Russell, an ophthalmologist, stocks his boutique’s shelves with frames designed by labels such as Vera Wang, Hugo Boss, Candies, and Lucky. Swiss-made T2 System glasses weigh less than 1/10 of an ounce and use a highly evolved mounting system to stay snug on the face, even when heads whip quickly around to see dogs doing cartwheels.

Stroll around Ritzy Rags Consignment Boutique's racks and you'll find dresses, blouses, and pants by a variety of top designers, such as Tory Burch and Nanette Lepore. The shop also features an extensive selection of pristine wedding gowns and elegant pageant dresses, along with Prada, Coach, and Kate Spade handbags. And the shop's selection isn't limited to clothing and accessories—Ritzy Rags Consignment Boutique also offers alterations.