Dress Shop Owner Emotionally Gifts Teen Free Prom Dress: 'She's Never Going to Forget How Special You Made Her Feel Summer Lucille is the owner of plus size boutique Juicy Body Goddess in Charlotte, North Carolina.
By Emily Rella
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Prom season is not always the kindest when it comes to high school-aged girls struggling to figure out their place in the world, but one dress shop owner in Charlotte, North Carolina is doing her best to make sure no girl feels alone.
Summer Lucille, who owns Juicy Body Goddess (which caters to women up to size 6x), has made a splash on TikTok for documenting body-positive fitting room moments with her customers, garnering over 1.3 million followers on the platform.
In the clip, Lucille films 18-year-old high school senior Elyse Monroe trying on a slew of dresses for prom. When Monroe gets to a crystalized royal purple gown, it got a winning reaction from everyone there.
@juicybodygoddess I didn't cry until I did edit #plussize #plussizetiktok #juicybodygoddess #plussizefashion ♬ original sound - JuicyBodyGoddess
"The sleeve moment is what I love," Monroe says as she spins around in the mirror.
When Monroe finally decides to purchase the dress, Lucille tells her that it's normally $700 — but for the high schooler, it's free, prompting tears and hugs from Monroe and her family.
Over 26,000 viewers took to the comment section to shower Monroe with compliments and praise Lucille for her kind deed as the shop owner.
"She's never going to forget how special you made her feel," one user wrote. "Her confidence was exploding!! Thanks for putting all this good out in the world."
"Prom dress shopping was horrifying for me," another admitted. "This is such a great thing you did for her."
Monroe explained that in order to get to Lucille's shop at the Northlake Mall in Charlotte, she had to take a six-hour-long trek.
"Not only does it fit — but it makes me feel good about myself," the teen told Today. "Shopping is usually pretty stressful for me, which is why I mostly shop online — but we were laughing the whole time. It was actually fun."
Lucille's shop carries dress sizes 10 to 26.
