Video Story
Watch VideoThe skinny on retailer's mirrors
Story By: Jamie Smith
Source: NBC
Published Tue Sep 30, 2008, 06:43 AM MDT
Updated Tue Sep 30, 2008, 07:21 AM MDT
In the world of women's fashion, what you see isn't always what you get. For some reason those clothes that look so good in the store don't look so good at home.
"It kind of makes me feel disappointed that I bought something that I felt really good about and then I wasn't able to wear it and I spent money on something I wasn't able to wear," said shopper Alicia Colburn.
The dirty little secret in female fashion is that some fitting rooms are actually more like a house of mirrors. Retailers have been known to "stretch" the truth, taking you from thick to thin. "It's really very simple," said Wendy Schwartz, who has worked in women's fashion for 20 years.
"A mirror that is tilted even slightly forward will tend to make you look shorter and wider," she said. "A mirror that's tilted toward the back makes you look longer and leaner."
Her Seattle boutique "Fresh" doesn't use so-called skinny mirrors, but she says plenty of others do.
With the mirror tilted back, our model looks taller and thinner in the all important stomach and thighs. The difference may look slight to our camera, but it weighs in heavily for the woman in the mirror.
"You feel frumpier and shorter," said shopper Kate Henderson. It's a game of smoke and mirrors where reality isn't always what it appears to be.
Schwartz advises shoppers to use several different mirrors in a store before buying anything. "Each mirror is different," she said. But, she said, the best mirror of all is an honest friend. "Take them shopping with you," she said.
