Elements of Style Blog

My mom sent me this interesting article from WSJ on how some stores are spending some bucks to upgrade their fitting rooms in hopes that it will spur more sales. Well…..DUH.  There is nothing worse than having a handful of purchases you are psyched to try on and get into a dirty, dingy, poorly lit fitting room with an annoying attendant who constantly knocks and asks if you need anything. *Side note- recently at one very high end department store I had a sales girl stand outside my room and talk on her phone to her friend about how LONG I was taking in there. Cue “Bitchy Erin”, in which I stopped trying stuff on, opened the door and said “so sorry to be keeping you” and thrust my goods into her hands. LOST SALE. But I digress….

Give me lighting that makes me look J-Lo glowy. Give me a slightly skinny mirror (but not so skinny that when I get home and look in a regular mirror I gasp in horror at the reality). Give me a place to put my purse and sit down to put on shoes. Give me enough space to move around and finagle my way into snug jeans without smashing limbs on the walls. But above all, give me LOTS OF PLACES TO HANG STUFF! It baffles me as a designer when I get in a fitting room and there is one lousy hook to put 10 pairs of pants on. Huh? Am I being filmed for some scientific study on how humans function without proper tools?

Ann Taylor has revamped not only their look, but their fitting rooms as well. Love the ottomans and the chandelier.

Have always loved Anthro’s rooms (although small)- the mismatched doors are super cute.

I am that annoying person that strips down to tank top in the middle of the store to just pop stuff on in order to avoid fitting rooms.  Bloomie’s added these cool little pods for that reason! YAY!

And so did Old Navy (the #1 place for the “in aisle try on”). Brills.

But why not make these spaces like little jewel boxes and add some real wallpaper inside like they did at Lilly Puliter and Trink Turk?

Someday I’ll have a store, and when I do the fitting rooms would be hooked up like THIS:

Nina Campbell Wallpaper mixed with zebra carpeting, an Oly studio leather bench, decorative mirror, vintage sputnik light fixture and lucite hanging rods (done in brass, not chrome as shown). And the best part? The Maya Romanoff Bedazzled glass bead wallpaper on the ceiling to reflect dazzling light!