Kervology — Stylish Storyteller

MEET LINDSAY SHIELDS, OWNER OF KERVOLOGY — A BOUTIQUE THAT EXCLUSIVELY OFFERS STYLISH AND COMFORTABLE PLUS SIZE CLOTHING

You’ve got this girl. You can wear that. You look amazing in that outfit. No matter what stereotypes, inaccurate tv, film, pop culture representations, or negative online comments, the most important opinion when it comes to your appearance is yours. Yes — yours and yours only. Always.

Whether a size 4, size 24 or between, women struggle with their version of beautiful, and often compare themselves to others, which can lead to a negative spiral of emotions and insecurities.

But, the brighter outlook is there are more body-positive and confidence-boosting business owners, bloggers, media outlets and fashion industry professionals who are making it a priority to not only support, but commit to make inclusivity a part of the brand and culture that represent most women.

Kervology is one of those businesses. Owner Lindsay Shields opened the Utah-based online boutique in 2017 with the goal to create a shop that exclusively offered plus size clothing.

“I have been up and down in my sizes my entire life, but I’ve always been a curvy gal,” Lindsay explains. “I am someone who loves clothes, fashion and the latest trends — I especially love dresses — I have since I was a little girl. There is a huge saturation of boutiques in Utah, but very few and far between are they plus size or have inclusive sizing.

So out of frustration and some encouragement from friends who are entrepreneurs, I woke up one morning and said, ‘I am going to start my own boutique and I am going to find the things that I want to wear in plus-sizing and start there.’”

Kervology started with eight items in their shop and now carry hundreds of pieces including shirts, cardigans, sweaters, dresses, jumpsuits, skirts, pants, jeans and accessories. Not only has their inventory expanded, but the business as gained a loyal and beloved following by clients who appreciate and love the quality, style and comfort of the brands Kervology carries in the boutique.

“I’ve been shocked by the reception that we’ve received, and I really went in naive and didn’t really understand that there was such a huge need for just a plus size boutique and even more importantly, a plus size boutique that has true sizing,” Lindsay recalls.

“There’s so many standard boutiques that are jumping on the ‘we’re inclusive with sizing’ bandwagon, but their sizing is completely off because they don’t have a plus size gal running the business, purchasing the clothes or trying on the clothes. My three staff members are plus size, so we all just get it,” Lindsay says. “It’s been amazing to see how women’s lives have been touched and affected by having someplace where they can shop and it’s cute and trendy and they know it’s going to fit them right.”

“Curvy women are coming to us because I’m a curvy business owner and I get them. I relate with these women about insecurities about being plus size.
I also encourage them to step out of their comfort zone not only with their clothing choices but with their life choices, and they keep coming back because they love that camaraderie that we all have.”

Kervology’s staff members are each a size Kervology offers (sizes 1X, 2X and 3X), which Lindsay says is helpful when opening shipments since each woman can try on their size and accurately give their opinions on the size and fit, which benefit their clients. “A lot of plus size women struggle with feeling good about themselves, and at Kervology, they see plus size women kicking a**, and working and all my staff are moms and they’re plus size. These women are brave enough to get on Instagram and show their butt in a pair of jeans, so I really feel like we’re empowering plus size women with the right to be confident and love the skin they’re in.”

Lindsay’s outlook on running Kervology, bringing on strong women who represent their client base as staff, and branding the business as more than a boutique, but a platform that not only empowers but cultivates a positive and supportive online community, have contributed to the business’ success thus far.

Part of the way Lindsay cultivates that community is through releasing Kervology’s new arrivals every Friday at 10 a.m. MST and letting clients know through Instagram.

Working with five different models and two photographers, Lindsay holds photo shoots every week for the new arrivals, posts a teaser of the photo shoot earlier in the week and a sneak peek of the new arrivals on Thursday night. “We’ve kind of trained our clients that that’s what they’re waiting for on Friday mornings, and they just explode, it’s awesome!”

“It’s been amazing to see how women’s lives have been touched and affected by having someplace where they can shop and it’s cute and trendy and they know it’s going to fit them right.”

The online boutique’s inventory is constantly changing and keeping up with the latest trends, Lindsay and her staff compare Kervology’s inventory to other boutiques, and Lindsay follows standard size boutiques to look at what items they carry to see if she can find them in plus size.

“We are, as far as I know, the only exclusively plus size boutique in Utah, and I only know of a handful of others around the country that I would consider our competition. We’re constantly trying to price the best and have the latest trends.”

Kervology’s engaged social media presence has been an integral tool that has helped them grow over the past few years. They have 2,000 likes on Facebook and 21,000 followers on Instagram with hundreds of likes per post and comments on nearly every photo.

“About 93 percent of our sales come strictly from Instagram, so that’s huge for us,” Lindsay shares. “It has been a learning process through the last two years about what works and doesn’t work — we have a little over 21,000 followers on Instagram and we’ve worked really hard for every single one of those people to know who Kervology is. Our following is 100 percent organic and authentic, and I think you can see that in our feed and our interactions with clients, and that authenticity then reflects in our sales.”

While the boutique is currently online only, Lindsay is looking for a warehouse space that she hopes Kervology can move into within the next few months. She is also going to be launching a few of her own designs including a fanny pack purse and a clothing item, which she wants to keep growing and design more plus size clothing in the future.

Through seeing the business grow, Lindsay says one of her favorite parts about Kervology is always having something to wear. “I tell my clients, if I wouldn’t wear it, it wouldn’t be in the shop, and then second to that is just the relationships that I’m fostering with these different women that I meet— just today, I got two emails from women saying ‘you are my favorite place to shop, thank you for representing us curvy women,’ they just feel seen and understood and it’s created such a loyal following for us, we have clients that order over and over again,” Lindsay says.

“Curvy women are coming to us because I’m a curvy business owner and I get them and it’s turned into much more. I talk about being self-confident on social media, I talk about the crazy people that send me messages and tell me I’m fat or I shared this experience a few weeks ago about renting a scooter in downtown Salt Lake and how I felt so insecure about it and my best friend was like, ‘cut that out, we’re getting on these scooters,’ and I had the best time,” Lindsay says.

“So I relate with these women about insecurities about being plus size and also encourage them to step out of their comfort zone not only with their clothing choices but with their life choices, and they keep coming back because they love that camaraderie that we all have.”

Next time you’re looking for something stylish, affordable and comfortable to wear, visit Kervology, they’ve got just the right piece for you. So get it gir— scratch that, make that kick-a** woman.

-Stylish Storyteller