It can be a catch-22 situation when it comes to selling plus size fashion, especially when it comes to the bigger retailers. The retailer states that there is no demand, so they don’t stock the lines. Because they don’t stock the lines, they don’t advertise the lines. Because they don’t advertise the lines they don’t get plus size customers through the door. Then we are back to them not stocking the lines because there is no demand. The future of the plus size fashion industry depends on retailers making a stand and seeing the market that is out there looking for fashionable designs in the right sizes for modern women.
This is where great fashion boutiques that specialize in plus size clothing can make their mark. Bodacious clothing specializes in clothing sizes 10 to 24 and has generated a great customer base by providing her clients what they need. She says “It is way more fun to be creative and add a sense of character to your wardrobe,” and we totally agree. The Bodacious way is to celebrate what you love – not to find fault in the bits that you don’t like. Even when Bodacious moved locations, the loyal customers have been able to keep in touch on social media and follow it to the new location to continue their great shopping experience.
The Bodacious journey started 15 years ago when Lorna and her cousin started a consignment store. They began with a load of clothes, a load of enthusiasm and not much else. As the consignments continued, Lorna realized that there wasn’t a great deal of choice coming thought for plus size women. This was a problem that Lorna was determined to provide a solution for. Fast-forward 15 years and the Bodacious brand is going strong on social media. The more followers on here, the more likely it is that the store will receive customers.
Lorna caters for plus size women in her shop and the fashions that she sells are about making her customers feel good and stand tall. The clothing that Bodacious now sells is all new, but looking back 15 years ago it was only used items. It was during this 15 year period that Lorna realized that her body was her own to decide what to do with. She had set herself goals for what she would do when she became thin. After a period of volunteering with a powerful group of feminist women she came to the conclusion that she should do what she wanted when she wanted.
Being an entrepreneur can be hard work but can also bring a great deal of satisfaction. Lorna has worked hard at this for 15 years and enjoys the satisfying parts of being an entrepreneur. There are of course material benefits but these pale into insignificance compared with the happy customer. A large part of a normal working day is to be able to spend time with a customer and help them to choose their clothing to try on. When a woman comes out of the dressing room, twirls around to show off the clothing and is happy with how she looks in the clothes, then something magical happens.
Lorna has become a successful retailer through hard work and it is nice to be able to understand what helped her along this road to success. In terms of advice to those that are looking to tread the same path, Lorna has some words of wisdom. “Listen to what your customers want, be creative and keep it fun,” these are words that we could all do well to live our life by. When it comes to fashion retail then following these words will allow you to be a success and enjoy your time while doing it.
Lorna and Bodacious clothing stock fashions for the real everyday woman that populate the planet, not just those that can be found on the catwalk. This is one of the reasons why she fits the ethos of FabUplus Magazine in every way. Fashion is about feeling good in what you wear. As long as retailers like Bodacious are out there then we can all feel good about the styles we wear and the places we can find these styles.