When was the last time you had a positive experience in a shop fitting room? Poorly lit with rubbish mirrors and an overactive heating system, they’re the high street’s way of making you feel proper rubbish about your body, your fashion sense and your overactive sweat glands.
‘I know!’ agrees super designer Henry Holland, when I tell him how much I hate trying stuff on in shops. ‘It’s just so hot, getting dressed and undressed is actually quite a workout and you get hot and sweaty and stressed.’
Now, Henry’s going to reveal to the country exactly what goes on behind the fitting room curtain in his new show The Changing Room, a fixed rig camera show that’s hoping to catch the public with their guard down.
‘I think the problem is they try and fit too many changing rooms into the space,’ says Henry, when I ask him why trying stuff on in a shop is worse than that hangover you had after your cousin’s wedding where you had a port drinking competition with your uncle who used to be in the Navy.
‘Obviously floor space in a shop is their most important asset because if it’s not being used to show off products then it’s wasted space. I think they try and cram as many tiny cubicles in so you’re pressed up against the mirror. It’s just not a very nice process.’
Watching people get dressed and undressed for hours on end to make the show, Henry’s now an expert in the bad things people do when left to their own devices on a shopping trip. ‘People will take in like five of the same thing. Maybe in different colours or a different print.’
So people are stuck in a rut over what they wear? ‘I think people have an idea of what looks good on them and once they find that confidence in that then it’s often tricky to step outside of themselves and try other things when that’s what the changing room should be for!’ he says.
Is there anything you can do to make stripping down to your kecks in the back room of River Island a slightly more palatable experience? ‘ALWAYS wear white knickers,’ he stresses. You’re never going to see white knickers through a black dress but you are going to see black knickers through a white dress.
‘Also, if you’re planning to wear spanx with the outfit then wear them. So often people are like, “Oh it looks awful now because of my underwear, but it’ll look good in the end,” and you’re like “Erm no. You should probably check that.”’
A good friend is a must as well. ‘If you’ve got a trusted friend that you’ve shopped with before and you like their style and you value their opinion then they’re probably a good person to take,’ he says.
Be careful when it comes to giving them advice if you don’t like something they’re buying though, ‘Suggest alternatives!’ He says. ‘There’s nothing more annoying than just saying to someone, “No that looks shit.” Always offer a solution and never just give them criticism. And try not to look absolutely horrified!’
Probably the most embarrassing thing about trying clothes on in private is the poses we do. Everyone’s got a signature one, although Henry says ours might not be as unique as we think…
‘Girls LOVE looking over their shoulder. And a lot take pictures, shelfies and belfies or whatever they are. And men love flexing. We had one really muscley guy and he wasn’t even the one shopping. He was just standing in the background flexing! I think at one point he took his shirt off and I was like, “You’re not even trying anything on!”’
The Changing Room is on Channel 4 from Tuesday 15 September at 10pm.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.