CURVY divas

CHANGING LIVES one outfit at a time

Curvy Divas is designed to be different. From the moment that clients walk in the door of the West Fargo boutique, which is located in an unassuming office building at 1201

E. 13th Ave., owner Rhonda Asleson wants them to feel welcome, comfortable and secure.

When guests arrive at Curvy Divas, Asleson cheerfully offers to take their coats and purses so they can shop. Regulars often stroll right in and stash their personal effects in lockers, painted to match the shop’s soothing gray walls. Essential oils scent the air and soft music plays in the background. There is bottled water, dishes of chocolate and soothing lotion available, little comforts to ease the transition from the real world into the shopping realm. If a woman arrives with children and a husband in tow, they are ushered to a plush seating area so the ladies can browse racks of colorful tunics, tops and dresses, sleek jeans and leggings and practical wardrobe basics in sizes XL to 4X.

These are clothes for women who want to make a statement. The clothing suits a variety of styles, from the striking pop art print dress in the window to tough striped tunics and Army-inspired jackets to romantic, floaty tops, just perfect for summer. Every line is sized a little differently, so Asleson and her team of stylists become trusted allies for their clients. “When people come in, I’ll tell them, ‘You’re not a size,’” says Asleson. “You’re a shape. Whether you’re short and compact or tall and broad shouldered, we can help you find your hourglass shape.”

Asleson estimates that as many as 95 percent of women arrive in an ill-fitting bra, so she recommends a few options from Curvy Divas’ selection. The boutique carries cup sizes C–M in a range of styles, from practical and classic, to flirty and feminine. Before stepping into the spacious dressing rooms, which are equipped with fans for the client’s comfort, each client is also given a tank top to try on under tops and dresses. “It’s a girl’s best friend for smoothing lumps and bumps!” says Asleson.

This considerate, customer-centered shopping experience is what inspired the creation of Curvy Divas. Asleson knows what her clients want and need, because she’s walked in their shoes.

“Being a plus-sized woman trying to find fun fashions can be an awful experience,” she explains. “Every time I had an event, special occasion or just needed work clothes, I dreaded shopping. In many stores the “plus size” — I despise those words — clothing is tucked away in the back, requiring me to walk through all the smaller-sized, cute clothing, hoping and praying cute things like this were in my size, past the shoes, past the purses and by the janitor closet. Okay, well maybe it was not that bad, but it sure felt like it.” If and when she actually found clothing in her size, the options were often “drab, boring, colorless and fit like a tent.”

The experience was demoralizing — and infuriating. Asleson would tell her husband Brian that if she had a store, she would do things differently. She would go out of her way to make women comfortable. She would buy styles made to flatter a woman’s curves.

It was just a passing thought, the seed of an idea. But a string of tragedies made it take root. Following the loss of her mother in 2013, her father-in-law in 2014 and her father in 2015, “life as we knew it was gone,” says Asleson. “I realized life was about quality. One day, after a particularly difficult day at work, my husband asked me, ‘Why don't you open up that store you are always talking about?’"

And that’s exactly what she did. Asleson changed other women’s lives by changing her own. “A lot of our divas have been hiding in frumpy clothing for so long that they have forgotten they have a beautiful, feminine body under all of those layers,” she says. “An amazing sisterhood can be found at Curvy Divas. Our goal is to provide an inviting, comfortable, unique shopping experience for each diva that comes through our door. Our slogan is ‘Changing lives one outfit at a time.’ And that is exactly what we do here.”

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