Staff

Carolyn Pugh, Owner

Lived in the UK for 10 years where I worked in Special Education. I returned to NZ in 96, with my husband Steve, and after having our 2 children, decided to return to the workforce.

A friend had recently got married and I was amazed that there was no -where in HB for the bride- to- be to try on ready -made gowns. The only options were to get a dressmaker to sew one, or travel to Auckland or Wellington to a bridal store.

The difficulty with those 2 alternatives were if you got something made how do you know you are going to like it when it is finished ? And most bridal stores only carry size 10 samples so what if you ordered one without trying it, and find that it doesn’t suit you?

I began at home in a small studio, initially hiring out and selling pre-loved gowns, I then began to source new gowns and soon outgrew my space.

I set up my first retail store in a small shop and soon realised this was not going to be big enough and went on to design what is now Gowns on Gloucester.