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Laugh Lines

Fitting Room Trauma

It finally happened the other day. The weather was warm enough, long enough, that it was time to get out the summer clothes. My sister and I noted that a strange phenomenon takes place during the long winter months while our summer clothes are all safely packed away. The clothes actually shrink in dark storage conditions! We fail to see any other reason why all those fun outfits no longer fit us.

Maybe you tried that same line of reasoning and came to the same solution. We made our way into the mall—kicking and screaming—to buy some new outfits. Our coworkers are tired of seeing us wear the same old clothes, now out of style and not even reasonable for this warmer weather. I won't even discuss the comments we shared about how much more expensive clothes have become.

We might as well say it, here and now: we had to look for the next bigger size in everything. To be honest, that was the most painful part of this whole ordeal. After digging through countless racks, we headed to the fitting rooms with armloads of things to try on. I don't appreciate the whole title “fitting rooms”—when most items are rejected for their very lack of "fitting."

Then, an interesting thing began to happen. Other women in the fitting rooms started muttering quietly as they tried on pants that used to fit in that smaller size. Then they started making more exasperated sounds as sleeveless blouses and shorts failed to fit. Pretty soon, women from tiny little stalls all along the wall began to voice their complaints. "I can't believe this doesn't fit!" "I always wore a smaller size than this!" "Why are these so tight?" "Are clothes getting smaller?" "I don't like trying on summer clothes!" It was as though a fitting room full of strangers suddenly bonded as we all commiserated over being forced to move up yet one more clothing size. The next time you are asked, "Does this look good?" in a fitting room by a total stranger, you may be answering a new friend in the making.

Pam and Kathy’s Tips for Making Shopping Fun

Go shopping with a sister or friend who will be honest and fun.
Be sure you have eaten or had a soda first and that you have comfy shoes on.
Select a number of items in several sizes to take with you to a fitting room.
Your shopping partner can go find alternative sizes or styles.
Trade places periodically so both of you get to try on items and hunt for each other.
Make sure you each try on something outrageously funny when you start to get frustrated, so that you can laugh during the experience.