WARDROBE PLUS,
WEXFORD
“Let you shine through.” Those words are scribbled in big letters on the whiteboard in the staff room of Wardrobe Plus in Gorey, Co Wexford. They sum up owner Áine O’Leary’s approach to plus size style.
“Our aim is simple,” she says. “We want our customers to feel confident and beautiful in their clothes and to inspire them to let their personality shine through their sense of style.”
Wardrobe Plus is one of Ireland’s leading plus size clothing stores, specialising in women’s clothing from sizes 16 to 32, with a store in Gorey, Co Wexford and in Ashford, Co Wicklow and an online shop wardrobeplus.ie
Áine has a staff of 40 between her two Wardrobe Plus (plus size) outlets and her two Wardrobe Boutique (standard size) shops (in Wicklow town and Ashford).
Spotting the gap
She opened her first shop 32 years ago, in Wicklow town, selling size 10-16 clothes.
“I had customers coming in, but my sizes wouldn’t fit them and I hated sending someone out empty-handed,” she says.
Áine O’Leary runs Wardrobe Plus in Gorey and Ashford. \ Tom Clarke
“I could see that there was a massive deficit in that size of clothes so I decided to expand and open a Wardrobe Plus shop in Ashford in 2013 too. We opened another Wardrobe Plus in Gorey a year later.”
Áine was very aware that there wasn’t much choice in larger size clothes at that time.
“Any shops that did sell bigger sizes seemed to have things like formal suits with blouses underneath and long skirts – nothing casual. My mother wouldn’t even have worn the stuff. I used to think ‘where are the denim jackets, the leather jackets, the jeans, the nice little tops and the going out clothes?’ so I set out to replicate what we were doing in Wardrobe Boutique but in bigger sizes.
Fundamentally, that was the nut I was trying to crack.”
She admits that this wasn’t easy initially.
Wardrobe Plus specialises in sizes 16 to 32. \ Tom Clarke
“It was massively challenging sourcing the clothes and getting them in the correct sizes at first, but it has improved so much now, thank goodness, on the supplier front.”
She and her staff were moved by the reaction from customers as the plus size shops got established.
“We often had women in the fitting rooms in tears about their body shape and glad to have found more trendy clothes that fitted well. Our goal was and still is to send customers out smiling and feeling good about how they look.”
Award-winning
The Wardrobe Plus shops recently received Business All-Star Accreditation from the All-Ireland Business Foundation (AIBF) for their inclusive ethos and their impact on quality and standards in the Irish fashion industry.
“Getting this award is a huge honour for us,” Áine says.
To get such an award, a company’s background, trustworthiness and performance is assessed, customers, employees and vendors are interviewed and mystery shoppers drop in to suss out the service.
The business also goes through at least two interviews and is scored on every part of the process against set metrics.
The shop’s website wardrobeplus.ie was also listed among the top five websites in the country in the Retail Excellence Ireland Awards last year.
“Given where we came from [a very clunky website in 2019], that was a really massive achievement,” Áine says.
Online sales
Developing their digital platform has been hugely important for the business and happened more quickly because of the pandemic, she states.
“50% of our sales are online now. Luckily, when the pandemic hit, we had already increased our warehouse space as we were planning to develop our online sales following a great 2019. We worked, then, on improving the website as quickly as possible with the help of a grant from Enterprise Ireland. We have always used Facebook in a big way too. Even though the COVID pandemic was massively challenging for us, opportunity also came from that pain and led to the size of business we have now. I wouldn’t have chosen to do it that way, but that’s the way it happened.”
The business became what Áine calls “digitally mature” in 2021. “The digital world is constantly evolving so we’re still on that journey,” she says.
Own range
Wardrobe Plus has its own range of clothes now, too, called Mellomi, showcased last year.
“It’s about wardrobe staples, the quiet pieces that we reach for all the time,” she says, “like white and black vests and leggings."
Wardrobe Plus opened in Ashford in 2013 and in Gorey a year later. \ Tom Clarke
"Our Harley leggings are our best-selling legging. It took five rounds of sampling to get the design right, to get the waistband thick enough, the knee position correct and so on. Our brand developer is an Irish design company in Dubai. We test the samples on our staff and provide feedback until the design is the way we want it.”
Retail background
When it comes to business acumen, Áine is an apple that didn’t fall far from the tree. Her father had men’s and then ladies’ fashion shops in both Enniscorthy and New Ross, with the Enniscorthy store being in the family for over 100 years. Her mother was also a business woman, running a plant nursery in the town.
“My mother would be out digging at 8am” she says. “Both my parents modelled resilience and hard work.”
Áine was a buyer for her father’s shop from her teens onwards too and after working for six years for the Bank of Ireland, she decided to go into business with her father, opening the Wicklow town boutique in 1991.
Choosing the right staff has always been really important to her and she relies greatly on her two managers, Julie D’Arcy in Gorey and Nicola McDonald in Ashford.
“We hire people for their personality, not their skills,” she adds. “We can teach the skills but you need people who are naturally warm, empathetic and interested in other people. We try to connect, to see the person in there. I know that we wouldn’t be as successful as we are without the great team we have.”
As owner/manager, Áine now concentrates on strategic business expansion and certainly isn’t resting on her laurels.
“We have an exciting development related to personal shopping happening in September/October so watch this space!” she says.
Annburys, Tralee
Annburys Ladies’ Boutique, Tralee was established in May 1999 by Danny Leane, who had identified a gap in the market in stylish, affordable fashion for the fuller figure.
Annburys was the first specialist fuller figure boutique to open in Munster, stocking sizes 14 to 30 in a range of clothes from dressy to casual.
Danny Leane of Annburys, Tralee
Annburys has become a destination shop for many customers, acquiring many awards for customer care and Danny’s styling ability. Even though Annburys is a small business, it prides itself on giving knowledgeable, honest advice, instilling confidence in the customer. After first opening in a back street, it is now based in Tralee’s most fashionable retail area and this places the fuller figure alongside national and international clothing shops.
During the COVID pandemic, Annburys developed an online store www.annburys.com and continues to post regular promotional videos on Facebook, introducing a whole new customer base from all corners of the globe.
Located at Unit 3 Central Plaza, Abbey Court, Dominick St, Tralee, Co Kerry. Tel: 066-711-7117 or follow Annburys on Facebook.
La Femme Plus Size
Boutique, Galway
La Femme Plus Size boutique is located in Galway City and caters for sizes 18-28. The shop is bright, elegant and spacious with three comfortable changing rooms with full length mirrors all designed to make the customer’s shopping experience comfortable and stress-free.
Ger Finnerty of La Femme, Galway
La Femme has an extensive range of occasion wear, smart casual and day wear for sizes 18-28. Labels stocked combine style, value for money and a flattering fit. All stock is specially selected to allow plus size women to be fashionable and feel good about what they are wearing. Labels available include Ora, Rabe, Lebek, Magna and Mona Lisa to name but a few.
Shop online at anthonyryans.com or instore at La Femme Plus Size Boutique located at 10/12 Eglington St, Galway. Tel: 091-561- 898 or follow La Femme plus size boutique Galway on Facebook.
The Forgotten Lady, Athlone
The Forgotten Lady is a plus size boutique stocking sizes from 18 to 30. Located in Irishtown Athlone, it was established 25 years ago due to lack of fashionable clothing for plus size women. The owner Sissy Hughes identified this gap in the market due to her mother being a size 20 but struggling to find stylish quality clothing.
Forgotten Lady stocks brands including the Danish Noen range
The boutique’s name was thought of by her mother as she always felt she was the forgotten lady when it came to getting clothes for the fuller figure.
The Forgotten Lady has faced many challenges over its 25 years, however, nothing as significant as the COVID pandemic. The team at The Forgotten Lady acted fast to quickly get the shop online within four weeks of lockdown and with the help of their already existing social media following, they were able to adapt to the digital age.
Located at Sean Costello St, Irishtown, Athlone. Tel: 090-647-6819. or follow Forgotten Lady on Facebook.
WARDROBE PLUS,
WEXFORD
“Let you shine through.” Those words are scribbled in big letters on the whiteboard in the staff room of Wardrobe Plus in Gorey, Co Wexford. They sum up owner Áine O’Leary’s approach to plus size style.
“Our aim is simple,” she says. “We want our customers to feel confident and beautiful in their clothes and to inspire them to let their personality shine through their sense of style.”
Wardrobe Plus is one of Ireland’s leading plus size clothing stores, specialising in women’s clothing from sizes 16 to 32, with a store in Gorey, Co Wexford and in Ashford, Co Wicklow and an online shop wardrobeplus.ie
Áine has a staff of 40 between her two Wardrobe Plus (plus size) outlets and her two Wardrobe Boutique (standard size) shops (in Wicklow town and Ashford).
Spotting the gap
She opened her first shop 32 years ago, in Wicklow town, selling size 10-16 clothes.
“I had customers coming in, but my sizes wouldn’t fit them and I hated sending someone out empty-handed,” she says.
Áine O’Leary runs Wardrobe Plus in Gorey and Ashford. \ Tom Clarke
“I could see that there was a massive deficit in that size of clothes so I decided to expand and open a Wardrobe Plus shop in Ashford in 2013 too. We opened another Wardrobe Plus in Gorey a year later.”
Áine was very aware that there wasn’t much choice in larger size clothes at that time.
“Any shops that did sell bigger sizes seemed to have things like formal suits with blouses underneath and long skirts – nothing casual. My mother wouldn’t even have worn the stuff. I used to think ‘where are the denim jackets, the leather jackets, the jeans, the nice little tops and the going out clothes?’ so I set out to replicate what we were doing in Wardrobe Boutique but in bigger sizes.
Fundamentally, that was the nut I was trying to crack.”
She admits that this wasn’t easy initially.
Wardrobe Plus specialises in sizes 16 to 32. \ Tom Clarke
“It was massively challenging sourcing the clothes and getting them in the correct sizes at first, but it has improved so much now, thank goodness, on the supplier front.”
She and her staff were moved by the reaction from customers as the plus size shops got established.
“We often had women in the fitting rooms in tears about their body shape and glad to have found more trendy clothes that fitted well. Our goal was and still is to send customers out smiling and feeling good about how they look.”
Award-winning
The Wardrobe Plus shops recently received Business All-Star Accreditation from the All-Ireland Business Foundation (AIBF) for their inclusive ethos and their impact on quality and standards in the Irish fashion industry.
“Getting this award is a huge honour for us,” Áine says.
To get such an award, a company’s background, trustworthiness and performance is assessed, customers, employees and vendors are interviewed and mystery shoppers drop in to suss out the service.
The business also goes through at least two interviews and is scored on every part of the process against set metrics.
The shop’s website wardrobeplus.ie was also listed among the top five websites in the country in the Retail Excellence Ireland Awards last year.
“Given where we came from [a very clunky website in 2019], that was a really massive achievement,” Áine says.
Online sales
Developing their digital platform has been hugely important for the business and happened more quickly because of the pandemic, she states.
“50% of our sales are online now. Luckily, when the pandemic hit, we had already increased our warehouse space as we were planning to develop our online sales following a great 2019. We worked, then, on improving the website as quickly as possible with the help of a grant from Enterprise Ireland. We have always used Facebook in a big way too. Even though the COVID pandemic was massively challenging for us, opportunity also came from that pain and led to the size of business we have now. I wouldn’t have chosen to do it that way, but that’s the way it happened.”
The business became what Áine calls “digitally mature” in 2021. “The digital world is constantly evolving so we’re still on that journey,” she says.
Own range
Wardrobe Plus has its own range of clothes now, too, called Mellomi, showcased last year.
“It’s about wardrobe staples, the quiet pieces that we reach for all the time,” she says, “like white and black vests and leggings."
Wardrobe Plus opened in Ashford in 2013 and in Gorey a year later. \ Tom Clarke
"Our Harley leggings are our best-selling legging. It took five rounds of sampling to get the design right, to get the waistband thick enough, the knee position correct and so on. Our brand developer is an Irish design company in Dubai. We test the samples on our staff and provide feedback until the design is the way we want it.”
Retail background
When it comes to business acumen, Áine is an apple that didn’t fall far from the tree. Her father had men’s and then ladies’ fashion shops in both Enniscorthy and New Ross, with the Enniscorthy store being in the family for over 100 years. Her mother was also a business woman, running a plant nursery in the town.
“My mother would be out digging at 8am” she says. “Both my parents modelled resilience and hard work.”
Áine was a buyer for her father’s shop from her teens onwards too and after working for six years for the Bank of Ireland, she decided to go into business with her father, opening the Wicklow town boutique in 1991.
Choosing the right staff has always been really important to her and she relies greatly on her two managers, Julie D’Arcy in Gorey and Nicola McDonald in Ashford.
“We hire people for their personality, not their skills,” she adds. “We can teach the skills but you need people who are naturally warm, empathetic and interested in other people. We try to connect, to see the person in there. I know that we wouldn’t be as successful as we are without the great team we have.”
As owner/manager, Áine now concentrates on strategic business expansion and certainly isn’t resting on her laurels.
“We have an exciting development related to personal shopping happening in September/October so watch this space!” she says.
Annburys, Tralee
Annburys Ladies’ Boutique, Tralee was established in May 1999 by Danny Leane, who had identified a gap in the market in stylish, affordable fashion for the fuller figure.
Annburys was the first specialist fuller figure boutique to open in Munster, stocking sizes 14 to 30 in a range of clothes from dressy to casual.
Danny Leane of Annburys, Tralee
Annburys has become a destination shop for many customers, acquiring many awards for customer care and Danny’s styling ability. Even though Annburys is a small business, it prides itself on giving knowledgeable, honest advice, instilling confidence in the customer. After first opening in a back street, it is now based in Tralee’s most fashionable retail area and this places the fuller figure alongside national and international clothing shops.
During the COVID pandemic, Annburys developed an online store www.annburys.com and continues to post regular promotional videos on Facebook, introducing a whole new customer base from all corners of the globe.
Located at Unit 3 Central Plaza, Abbey Court, Dominick St, Tralee, Co Kerry. Tel: 066-711-7117 or follow Annburys on Facebook.
La Femme Plus Size
Boutique, Galway
La Femme Plus Size boutique is located in Galway City and caters for sizes 18-28. The shop is bright, elegant and spacious with three comfortable changing rooms with full length mirrors all designed to make the customer’s shopping experience comfortable and stress-free.
Ger Finnerty of La Femme, Galway
La Femme has an extensive range of occasion wear, smart casual and day wear for sizes 18-28. Labels stocked combine style, value for money and a flattering fit. All stock is specially selected to allow plus size women to be fashionable and feel good about what they are wearing. Labels available include Ora, Rabe, Lebek, Magna and Mona Lisa to name but a few.
Shop online at anthonyryans.com or instore at La Femme Plus Size Boutique located at 10/12 Eglington St, Galway. Tel: 091-561- 898 or follow La Femme plus size boutique Galway on Facebook.
The Forgotten Lady, Athlone
The Forgotten Lady is a plus size boutique stocking sizes from 18 to 30. Located in Irishtown Athlone, it was established 25 years ago due to lack of fashionable clothing for plus size women. The owner Sissy Hughes identified this gap in the market due to her mother being a size 20 but struggling to find stylish quality clothing.
Forgotten Lady stocks brands including the Danish Noen range
The boutique’s name was thought of by her mother as she always felt she was the forgotten lady when it came to getting clothes for the fuller figure.
The Forgotten Lady has faced many challenges over its 25 years, however, nothing as significant as the COVID pandemic. The team at The Forgotten Lady acted fast to quickly get the shop online within four weeks of lockdown and with the help of their already existing social media following, they were able to adapt to the digital age.
Located at Sean Costello St, Irishtown, Athlone. Tel: 090-647-6819. or follow Forgotten Lady on Facebook.
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