Eighty-two Church has been a landmark shop in downtown, historic Charleston, South Carolina for generations. The name comes from our previous location at 82 Church St. Despite our move to a new address at 471 King St., the shop will always be Eighty-two Church.

Simple bishop dresses smocked by hand have always been available at Eighty-two Church, since its opening in 1959. They are lovingly made by The Smockery, whose ladies smock free-hand with no pattern or pleating.

We believe that they are the only hand-smocked dresses completely made in the U.S.

We also believe that children should be dressed like children, not shrunken teenagers. Clothes should be simple, comfortable and should enhance a child, not overpower him or her. They should be well-made so that they may be passed down from one child to the other, and frequently, from one generationto the next. This website offers you our classic, core designs which have been purchased by happy customers for more than 45 years. We have many other designs as well, so please feel free to contact us and ask any questions you may have.

We feel that children should be dressed like children instead of little adults. T-shirts, jeans and adolescence are inevitable; we want to enjoy children while they are still children!