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Summer Lucille wants her plus size clothing store, Juicy Body Goddess Northlake Mall, to be a haven for plus size women. When customers enter her store, they are greeted with a shot of her signature phrase, “Welcome to Juicy Body Goddess, you have to be two-something to do one thing.”
Although she’s now confident in her body and personal style, Lucille says that wasn’t always the case.
“I’ve never been afraid to show off my body parts. [It] It took me a long time to get there. It wasn’t overnight, but now I’m not afraid to show my arms, my belly; I’m not afraid to show anything,” said Lucille.
According to studies cited by Refinery29 and other media outlets, plus-size women make up 67% of retail clothing buyers. However, according to a study by the economic news platform Marketplace, plus-size clothing makes up only 19% of the clothing market.
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That’s why Lucille’s Shop only carries 10 to 30 plus-size dresses. When designing clothes, she says, she keeps in mind all body types that plus-size women have.
“After you get out of here, you’re going to not only love yourself, but you’re going to want to feel good about yourself. Yes, and that’s my goal,” Lucille said.
Customers become family
When it comes to her clients, Lucille describes her relationship with them as family.
“They’re weird when they come in here, but we’re cool. When you go out, we’re housewives,” said Lucille. She added that some customers recognize it from TikTok when they visit.
Some of Lucille’s latest TikTok videos feature plus-size teenagers in prom dresses. While Lucille’s primary audience is large adult women, she also caters to teenagers.
Lucille says her teenage clients should be treated with “white gloves” because of their insecurities.
“It’s a very intimate process when it comes to wearing them,” Lucille said. “Prom season is fun, though, I get to dress them up. They become my Barbies and wear beautiful ball gowns.”
In addition to running her shop, Lucille runs a social media platform of the same name, which she describes as a full-time job.
“I was just shocked. I didn’t get on TikTok to become famous. I was working on it myself, and it happened overnight,” Lucille said. “Hopefully, I can change the way people feel about themselves through social media,” Lucille says.
While social media has done a lot of good for Lucille, it also comes with its downsides. Lucille says she spends three to four hours every day managing her social media accounts, most of which she spends deleting hateful comments about her body or the body of her clients.
Many of Lucille’s Tik Tok videos feature her grooming and grooming clients. She tries to delete hateful comments before her customers see them.
“A lot of energy goes into that, but I have to manage it. It gets to the point where I have to hire someone, but right now, I want to be hands-on, and I want to feel the temperature of what people are talking about,” Lucille said.
Style revolution.
Lucille studied computer science at The Ohio State University and worked in a corporate role before starting her business.
“It doesn’t matter what your major is. “Once you find yourself, you’re going to be what you’re meant to be,” Lucille said.
As she says, Lucille’s style is “all over the place.”
Her sense of style was developed one day after going through her closet and finding a bit of color or variety. “Everything was the same; everything was black. Everything had peplums. I was like, you know what? I want to change my closet,” she told QCity Metro.
When it comes to fashion inspiration, Lucille finds muses close to home in her mother and aunt.
“Aunt Terri is so mean. She can wear it to this day. I won’t tell her her age because she will fight you,” said Lucille. She described both women as “fashion icons”.
“Maybe that’s why. [fashion] It’s natural to me. I’ve seen him grow up,” said Lucille. Other inspirations for her style include Michelle Obama and Mary J. Blige.
Lucille said her family was proud of her accomplishments and always knew she was “going places.”
“I was chosen to start a revolution in high school,” Lucille said, “and this is my revolution: giving plus-size women the vote.”
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