I am not usually the type of person who will go out of my way to post a review, whether positive or…read morenegative, but I felt it was necessary after my experience at this store.
It started off promising, as I'd spent more than an hour searching stores trying to find a collared white shirt for my high school graduation photos unsuccessfully, but immediately after walking into the store, I spotted one in the back. As it turned out, that shirt was a petite shirt, which obviously was not going to work for my nearly 6' frame. However, I obviously do not fault the store or the shirt for the fact that I am too tall.
I then spotted another white shirt, and as I reached to grab it, one of the ladies working there asked me if I needed any help. After I explained my situation, she told me that she had a perfect, plain white collared shirt (as opposed to the one I had with lace on it). She asked me what size I needed, and I responded "large or extra large", because I was unsure of how the sizes from the store fit. As she walked away to grab it she said, "oh yes, extra large it is".
I am not a skinny person, and I am not ashamed of the fact that I am a chubby person. I was not bothered by this, as I knew I would likely end up trying on both sizes to see which fit better. After I entered the changing room though, I heard her saying to either my dad or the other lady who was working "young people are like that you know, my niece is the same size as me and I wear a large, but when I bring her a large she tells me she would like it in a medium. They just don't like to say that they wear the bigger size. In fact, the other day I saw a girl much larger than myself come in and she ended up buying a small!"
First of all, I find it incredibly inappropriate for her to be telling this story, ridiculing a customer, to another customer. In addition to this, it really seemed as if she was specifically berating young people, but I was also offended by the fact that she thought I was ashamed or embarrassed that I might need a size extra large. If it had fit, I would have happily walked out and purchased it, but it didn't fit. It was too big in the chest/stomach/back area and could have almost fit a whole other person in there too, and the sleeves/shoulders were too puffy. Overall, it did not fit me whatsoever and did not make me feel good at all. So, I asked for the large shirt to try on and she said "okay, but let me see how this one fits first, just to be sure". I don't feel it is at all her decision to make, but I let her see.
She reluctantly brought me the size large, and I tried it on. It fit almost perfectly, but I will admit that the sleeves were a little bit short. I was content with the fit though, because as a nearly 6' tall girl, I am very used to the sleeves not quite being long enough, and seeing as I only required this shirt for less than an hour for a graduation photo, I didn't see it as a problem. When I told my dad that the shirt fit, the lady once again insisted on seeing how it fit. Crossing her arms, she says to me "go like this, does it still feel alright? How are the shoulders? Are you sure it fits? Are you sure you don't want the extra large".
I had to argue with her that I thought it was fine, that it felt fine and that I was only going to need it for a short period of time, and that I was not intending to wear it on other occasions, no matter how "good it would look under a nice little shirt". It is not at all the type of shirt I would wear, despite how it did or didn't fit.
In the end, the other lady rung up our purchase, the large shirt I knew I wanted. I have no complaints about the other lady, she was very friendly and kind. She did not push me or ask questions, but congratulated me on graduating and wished me that my photos would turn out well. I understand how difficult it can be to work in retail, and that often customers can be unreasonable, but I think it is fairly reasonable to ask that while I am shopping at a store that the people working there don't talk negatively about me while I can still hear them, argue with me about something I'm looking to purchase or try to undermine my decisions while shopping. Overall, it made me feel very uncomfortable, and I don't think I will be making any more purchases at this store in the future.
