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It started at dinner.
Julie Hollis and Shannon Clemons were seated next to each other at a mutual friend’s dinner party in East Nashville. They hadn’t met before but throughout the evening they realized they had a lot in common.
Clemons was a digital creator in a career transition. She had run some pop-up clothing sales marketed through Instagram and TikTok and had just started to mull over the idea of opening a permanent shop. Hollis had a shop, Retro Vibe, and a lease, but the store wasn’t doing as well as she wanted, so she was pondering a pivot.
They talked about how hard it was to find plus-size clothing in general and plus-size vintage and second- hand clothing specifically. By the end of dinner, they were talking about opening a business together.
Clemons went to Hollis’ store, and they talked about their vision. A few days later, they sat around a fire with hot dogs and marshmallows and hashed out the details. In October 2023, Retro Vibe closed and in November 2023, The Plus Closet Second-Hand Boutique opened.
The focus is on gender-neutral and women’s clothes, sizes 12/XL and up. There’s no fast fashion on their hangers (no Shein or Fashion Nova). Instead, racks are filled with brands such as Good American, Wildfang, Wray, Nooworks, Yitty, Eloquii, Universal Standard, and Ulla Popken, all at reasonable prices. Most items are priced between $15 and $40, with some reaching $65. Everything is previously owned, although many items are unworn with original tags still intact.
In those first days and weeks of business, the racks were stocked with clothing from Clemons and her community of plus-size friends and influencers. Quickly, word spread around town that the duo was buying quality, in-season, stylish second- hand plus-size clothing, and soon they had more items than they had space to fill. Almost immediately the team had to set up an appointment system for selling goods.
Shoppers gratefully noticed that The Plus Closet’s vibe differs from the dismissive plus- size sections at other stores. It isn’t just the size of the clothes (and shoes and accessories); the entire shop is designed to be inclusive. Aisles are wide and easy to maneuver. Dressing rooms are spacious, with plenty of space to try on lots of stuff. There are even personal fans in each dressing room if it gets hot. The Plus Closet is a body-positive space. There’s a friendly reminder not to talk about weight loss journeys.
And Hollis and Clemons are having fun.
They post entertaining Instagram stories, doing speed rounds of styling and modeling new items. Locals can nab new items through Instagram, although many shoppers have already become regulars, stopping in to see the ever-changing inventory. The team also pulls together Mystery Boxes—a set price for a certain number of unknown items by size and theme—for those feeling adventurous.
Both Hollis and Clemons love to shop, as most thrifters do, and found themselves with more things in their homes than they could wear, as most thrifters do. “I can still thrift, and I can still shop, just not for me,” Hollis says. “It’s still that dopamine hit when you find something amazing.” (That’s not to say the women don’t occasionally purchase for themselves from what customers bring in to resell.)
“There has not been resale for plus-size people in Nashville,” says customer Colleen Dunn Hartoonian who first heard about The Plus Closet from her hairdresser. “I spend a lot of money on my closet, and it takes a lot of time to curate. I want to do it in a way that is more sustainable for the environment.”
Plus-size vintage and second-hand clothing is hard to find. While some brands are more inclusive than they used to be, there are still fewer plus-size pieces in existence, particularly at sizes above 3X/20-22. In addition, because of the more limited selection in plus-size clothing, people tended to hold on to it longer, mending it or keeping it “just in case.”
“It’s one of the things about being plus size—you never know when somebody’s going to invite you to some event and you don’t have what you need and you can’t just run out to the store and buy something, because it doesn’t exist,” Clemmons says. “It’s one of the reasons we wanted to have a shop like this. It kind works like a shared closet. You can buy stuff, wear it, and bring it back and you know you can get new things. You don’t need to feel like you have to hold on to everything because there is a place that you can come get the things you need when you need them.”
Many people who like fashion and wear plus sizes shop online, which often involves buying multiple sizes of an item and doing returns through the mail, which isn’t great for the environment. So, being able to try something on in person and seeing how a brand’s sizing fits is a game-changer in Nashville.
“Sustainability for me is incredibly important,” adds Hollis. “I’ve been thrifting for many years; I’d say probably like 85 percent of my wardrobe is second-hand. And I know that that’s something that’s also really important to our Gen Z customers.”
“In addition, a lot of plus-size clothing is frumpy,” says Dunn Hartoonian. “So having a shop that is joyful and fashion-forward and trendy feels new, even if the things on the racks are not.”
Dunn Hartoonian likes that she can sell items of her own and know that they will be valued fairly. The Plus Closet evaluates clothing sales by appointment only. They’ll assess what they’ll accept and make an offer. They accept clothes that are women’s size 12/XL or larger, that are in season and in style, without holes, dirt, or animal hair. When they take an item, they’ll pay either 25 percent of their sales price in cash or 40 percent in a store credit that is good for up to a year.
“When you get new items with your store credit it feels like they are free,” says Dunn Hartoonian. “That’s girl math.”
(2517 Lebanon Pike, Donelson, 615-852-8886; theplusclosetnashville.myshopify.com)