Donna Cook has been ornately decorating the windows of her bridal and prom boutique for 27 years, but their recent victory in the Lillian West window competition has put Did Someone Say Party? and Boone on the map.A small bridal and prom boutique in Boone gained worldwide attention after being the sole U.S representative in the Lillian West window competition. It wasn’t the first time the store Did Someone Say Party? took to the windows to represent its creativity and branding. For the past 27 years owner Donna Cook says the store has had a strong window following. Before the Lillian West competition, it was victorious in the Downtown Boone Development Association’s window contest.”Bo-Ho-Ho” was the store’s decided theme for the New York City based competition which placed it against international stores with over 18,000 entries. Cook described the Lillian West brand (a subdivision of Justin Alexander) as “sort of bohemian, cozy, with soft lines,” so she wanted to emulate that free spirit vibe.Her husband made the ladder, and Cook made the peace sign out of grapevine. The ladder is draped in Christmas lights with red and gold ornaments flowing from top to bottom, at the top a classic red and white pinstripe bow. Two dresses were on display with a veil draped over a luxurious velvet chair. The grapevine peace sign adds a focal point between the dresses while a garland adorned in Christmas lights sets the stage. At the front of the display sits an old vintage trunk with a lantern on top.Larry Warshaw, owner of Justin Alexander, called Cook to tell her they had won the competition. She says the calls haven’t stopped since. In the future she will be taking over the Lillian West Instagram account using 8-10 different images and a Beauty and the Beast window theme utilizing 100 old books from the local library.While Cook has had plenty of years (and recent success) to perfect the art of window decor, she says inspiration is somewhat fleeting, and it can be hard to come up with new ideas. Her window following always encourages and also lets her know if she’s done the display before  which was the case with a lemonade stand theme with twenty years between the original and new.Cook has even tried using models for her window displays, which she says several other competitors did in the Lillian West challenge. One of her models even winked at a group (who was admittedly staring to see if they were real) and Cook says the group “jumped back.”Cook, a Jamestown native who fell in love with Boone while attending college said, “There wasn’t anything in Boone in 1989, you worked for the university or you went home, and I couldn’t make myself go home, Boone had my heart.”She decided to make it work by opening Did Someone Say Party? Now, her creativity has put the small mountain town on an international pedestal.
