Confession: I hate fitting rooms.
You would think that any business owner with a scrap of intuition could work this simple math:
Any decent woman
(+) one dog-ugly room
(-) any homey touches whatsoever
(+) glaring fluorescent lights
(+) the merciless babble of the woman in the next stall on her cell phone
(does not equal) a sale.
I mean dim the lights for Pete’s sake. Turn on some gentle music and slap something pretty on the wall. Make her feel like a woman, not a concentration camp victim shut in a cube with the gas about to start, alright?
Last week I found a gem of a room, in a Camp Hill consignment shop called Hello Gorgeous.
It actually had its own light fixture. How shocking.
And low music. I’ve never danced in a fitting room before but I couldn’t help myself.
And playing cards to stick on your door telling how many items you’d taken in.
And an adorable sign in red brush script on the mirror.
I can forgive a store a lot for a dressing room like that. I can forgive overpriced sweaters, and low ugly shoes tagged to the ridiculous tune of two hundred forty-seven dollars a pair.
They say it used to be cuter yet. It used to have an ottoman and a rug. And then one day they went in to vacuum and found a collection of price tags tucked under the furniture.
[So that’s why fitting rooms are so bare…]
I don’t care about cuter yet.
That’s my kinda fitting room.
*****
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And did you buy the overpriced sweater? Cause it’s very pretty & looks good on you! I love the details you described in this dressing room…playing cards for #tags–perfection!
Oh yes, I made a purchase–not this one, but a lovely gray. The two I tried on were priced just fine, unlike the charming secondhand mohair for $70. 🙂
That photo is a cool shot! One question: Doesn’t low lighting make it hard to see if garment fits properly? As a man, I would probably get quite grouchy that I can’t get a good look at myself in the mirror.
That aside, I totally see your point. Make the customer happy, give them a pleasant environment.
Ok, not dim as in formal-dinner-grope-for-your-fork kind of dim. More like soft ambiance.
The problem with normal fitting room lighting is that in addition to “Does this make me look fat?” I now have to ask “Does this make me look pale green and furrowed? – – ohhh, that’s the fluorescent light.”
I welcome you to visit a clothing shop named “Yours To Cover” in Linwood ON.! You may critique the fitting room, and if you come all this way, I’ll even serve you a cuppa tea (or Java, your choice). 🙂
Love that script on the mirror, I may have to steal that idea.
Now that is a dressing room I wouldn’t mind at all. I dislike them so much I’ve mostly gone to online shopping, although I can’t do that when I’m at the thrift stores. Kudos to the store for such a great idea – and yes, that sweater is adorable!
No, no– the BEST dressing room EVER is in New Holland called Main Street Exchange. I love the store– cute, modest skirts, shells, and cardigans, and the fitting room is sooo cute, that you’d miss out if you didn’t try something on! I’m excited that I received a gift certificate from Mama to go sometime. Maybe when you’re here for a visit!? 🙂