How many times have the thought of being watched in a dressing room crossed your mind? The net is loaded with articles helping out people, generally girls, in figuring out if the try room they are using has see through glass, a hidden camera somewhere? A hole for the whole world to see?

Can you imagine, trying on clothes and having someone barge into the trial room? No one wants to live in the constant fear of having their privacy compromised. Stores like Forever 21, Vera Moda, Zara have curtain systems in their trial rooms which compromises on the safety and privacy of their customers.

This is something that effects all of us, sometime or the other we do go to buy clothes. Maybe for a festival like Diwali, maybe for our birthdays, or just like that. No one should have to think multiple times before going to the changing room because "Maybe someone can see", "Did I close the curtain properly?", etc.

To check whether we were the only ones facing this problems, we gathered information and asked several others. The answer was the same for almost everyone. Here are some testimonials (we have refrained from using some names),

"I would rather buy ill-fitting clothes than change in unsafe trial rooms", said a 28 year old female banker.

"I was changing in a Forever 21 trial room when a guy just barged in!", said a 19 year old college student. When she went to the manager to complain, hoping that some action would be taken, she was merely laughed at.

"I was in a store where they have the system of curtains in the trial rooms which I despise. As much I tried, I couldn't close all the corners properly. The salesman who stood there made me uncomfortable as he could almost peep through the gaps."

Monica Goyal, a mother of a 16 year old said she never lets her daughter change in trial rooms alone. She makes sure she accompanies her daughter regardless of the protests made by the teen. Her concerns are understandable since we all at some point have felt privacy being tampered by when changing in a trial room. What worsens the situation is that this is not only practised in low end stores.

Aastha states her disappointment with her favourite store, Zara which has curtains instead of doors. “The curtains are dicey! I always make someone stand in front of the curtain, what if someone just ‘absentmindedly’ walks in?”

We tried getting the viewpoint of a person directly involved in this business. A manager in a retail store commented saying, “Changing room are important! Gone are the days when you had drab looking try rooms with white washed walls and a single mirror.” He continues with a smile, “Consumer today wants good lighting and proper flooring with probably sitting arrangement too. And we have to provide it. It is our duty to fulfill their demands.” On his mention on consumer demands, we brought up the fact that trial rooms are no longer safe. His expression changed and he automatically presumed a defending mode and replied, “Ma’am our try rooms are totally safe!” that is a claim made by almost all stores. Yet we have many cases of such activity being reported and no further action being taken.

 

Thus, we are filing a petition to get stores to abandon the curtains and install doors instead, for our safety.
Sign this petition and help ensure a safe shopping experience for everybody.