I was queuing for the changing rooms recently, contemplating the dead-eyed friends/spouses/relatives waiting outside of them and wondering what they were being punished for, when I was handed a large plastic number seven.
That number seven tells us everything we need to know about changing rooms. It insinuates that the experience will be so euphoric I will leave with a whole new wardrobe. And it also hints at the reality – that I’m about to put on, and take off, seven different tops before I head home empty handed. Of course, the only alternative to trying things on in a shop, I realised when I saw a friend schlepping to the Post Office recently, her arms full of returns, is to have everything delivered. But we all know that
. So here are my top tips to wake up from the nightmare that is the average changing room experience…We ask too much of changing rooms. We want them to identify our style, our shape, and our personality, when nine times out of ten they can’t even convince us that the knickers we need are a good idea. We want them to give us courage.
Lower your expectations. Accept that a changing room is never going to prod you into making a brave choice. Make it yourself. If you want to wear gold sequinned lamé hot pants to aNever, ever leave shopping to the last minute. If you want to panic in a confined space then go to an escape room. It’s miserable attempting to find shoes for an event you’re speaking at that very afternoon. The most spontaneous people are also the best prepared.