Plus-size fashion in vogue at Vera June Boutique

Andrea Ritter, owner of Vera June Boutique, is a fan of fashion.

“I’ve always really loved clothes. I’ve always loved fashion and I always thought in the back of my head it would be fun to own a boutique,” she said.

She started her boutique online in 2023, naming it after her and her husband’s grandmothers.

“They were actually best friends before our parents were even thought of.”

Ritter began selling clothing online because of her full-time job, but when her company told her she’d have to relocate her family to Texas, she accepted she’d be laid off and started work on finding a retail location for Vera June.

On Wednesday, Oct. 30, Ritter opened her boutique at 805 Broadway in Cape Girardeau. It features a selection of women’s shirts, dresses, blazers and Judy Blue jeans for all figures, with a specialty toward plus-size women.

“Whenever you’re a plus-size girl, it is so hard to find cute clothes. Like, it’s almost impossible, so that’s where I made my decision that I wanted to have a boutique that was size-inclusive so that girls could come in and shop everything from (size) small to 3X,” Ritter said.

She said she had struggled with weight her whole life and knows the difficulty of finding cute plus-size clothing. She wears what she sells to work to showcase what the clothing looks like in real life.

“Comfy, cute, but also stylish, to maybe go to work and then go out after work for a night with the girls, that sort of thing,” she said.

Ritter said she wanted to create a place for women to try on clothing themselves, so she added a dressing room area. She will still maintain an online storefront and a social media presence.

“There will be a lot of social media stuff happening every day still because I don’t want to forget about my online girls,” she said.

In addition to clothing, Ritter also sells accessories such as shoes, makeup, skincare and jewelry. She has a trucker hat bar for customers to customize their own caps, including with Southeast Missouri State University-themed patches.

Vera June Boutique is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday to Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

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