Dressing for Success

Normally, The Fashionomist focuses on clothing as her topics, but she found an intriguing fashionomic trend yesterday (muchos gracias to the folks at Wall Street Journal:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703806304576243184005228532.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLE_Video_Third).

Trying on clothing has classically been a wrenching practice:  the initial thrill of donning a new garment is shot by dingy, dark rooms, where that fabulous outfit looks less so.  And what if you are a new mother or with a group of friends but are separated by fabric walls?  Takes all the fun out of shopping.  And apparently, poorly designed dressing rooms takes the fun out of an inflow of cash to whatever (un)lucky retailer you may be visiting:  67% of people who pay a visit to the dressing room are likely to purchase their wearable goods (compared to 10% of non-dressing room visitors).  Oddly, however, stores typically only dedicate 20% of their store space to dressing room area.  Alas, the dressing room is an important link in getting the shopper from browser status to customer, and retailers are realizing the advantage of sprucing up the dark corners in the back.

 

Dressing Room Superheroes have taken this issue to heart.  Noticing groups of girlfriends shopping together, Anthropologie has created larger dressing rooms to accommodate the mass changing/judging/ooohing-aaahing that seems to accompany such outings.  Old Navy took insult to its dressing rooms being referred to as "dungeons" and redesigned their dressing rooms to cater to their core demographic - yuppie moms on a schedule.  Now, when a mother tries to balance a crying baby and a potentially flattering top, she can do so, thanks to "quick change" areas that are essentially half-circle areas for mother and baby to (peacefully?) coexist.

Above:  Anthropologie's newly remodeled, group-oriented changing area; Old Navy's mommy friendly dressing room.

Ann Taylor before; Ann Taylor after.  Ooh-la-la... 

The Fashionomist finds interior decoration's importance to be fascinating.  Dark lighting that often inhabits dressing rooms has been replaced with fluorescent and low-voltage bulbs at Ann Taylor, so your inner movie siren can come out.  Bloomingdale's has gone one step further, installing three-way, rear-lit mirrors, allowing the customer to fully inspect themselves from every possible angle.  Other fancy amenities?  Wallpaper that hides scuffs and leather benches that conceal lipstick for the dual purpose of creating an inviting atmosphere and a sense of maintenance; phones connected to associates to hustle and bring the demanding customer a better fit; and hooks to segregate purchases that have successfully landed in "will be bought" territory and items that will be discarded.  In short, retailers are doing anything possible to make dressing rooms the new attraction variable in an effort to gain customers.


Now if only The Fashionomist's closet space resembled fancy dressing rooms...


*The Fashionomist*