London - You see the perfect dress hanging on the rail and can’t wait to try it on – but after a few self-critical minutes in front of the changing room mirror you decide it doesn’t suit you after all.
Sound familiar? There may be help at hand...in some stores at least.
Worried that shoppers might not like the reflections looking back at them, store bosses have simply ditched the mirrors.
They are covering them up in the hope that shoppers feel ‘more comfortable’ and less worried about their bodies when trying on new clothes.
The stores, which are testing the idea this week, may have a financial incentive too; research suggests seven in ten women are put off buying an item once they have tried it on in front of a changing room mirror.
And 52 per cent of those surveyed said they came away from the fitting rooms feeling low. It appears that harsh lighting, cramped cubicles and unflattering mirrors can make women feel more anxious.
The experiment is being run over the next few days at a third of fashion outlets in the Birmingham Bullring shopping centre, Bristol’s Cabot Circus and the Croydon Centrale, which are owned by retail property giant Hammerson.
The company, which carried out the research on women’s attitudes to trying on clothes, said many prefer to rely on the opinions of friends or shop assistants anyway.
Hammerson, which owns 12 sites across the UK including outlets in Aberdeen, Leeds and Southampton, will assess customer reaction before deciding whether to roll out the scheme. The company said there is evidence that women are excited about trying on items they see on store mannequins or in magazines.
Yet, this excitement turns to disappointment in front of a changing room mirror because they tend to over-analyse their bodies.
A spokesman said: ‘With summer approaching and bikini season under way, women are even more body-conscious than usual, so the initiative inspires women to be proud of their bodies and feel confident both inside and out. The shopping centres want women to buy an outfit based on whether or not it makes them feel fabulous, not how unflattering changing room mirrors make them look. It appears that female shoppers in particular look to their girlfriends, mums or shop assistants to offer advice about their fashion purchases over the often-dreaded changing room mirror.’ She said 22 per cent of women said they rely on the opinions of others. Alex Thomas, regional marketing manager for Hammerson, said: ‘We want to ensure everyone feels comfortable and confident when trying on clothes, so that’s why we’re trialling banning the mirrors.
‘We hope that women in particular will try something on and feel gorgeous and glamorous. Hopefully this will be a success and we can roll it out across our shopping centres for the summer.’
Hammerson has not named the outlets taking part in the trial.
Research by the Institute of Psychiatry in London found that looking in a mirror for ten minutes made people more anxious about their looks. The study was set up to better understand body dysmorphic disorder, where sufferers constantly worry about their looks. But the scientists were surprised to discover even healthy volunteers became more worried about their appearance during the ten minutes.
Psychologist Andrew Hill, from Leeds University, said it was ‘not good’ to spend too long looking at yourself in the mirror and that even healthy women will eventually focus on their perceived imperfections.
Daily Mail