Men

The other night, a man came into the store. He was talking on his cell phone and wandering around aimlessly in the petite section. Not wanting to interrupt his telephone conversation, I quietly asked if he needed help. He said he did.

As it turns out, he was on the phone with his wife. He was asking what size she was and what kind of clothes she liked.

Once he ended the phone conversation, he told me that he and his wife live in Panama and he was going to buy her some clothes as a surprise for an upcoming vacation they had planned.

I asked him what size his wife was. In order to help him out, I told him what size I was.

As you may recall from an earlier post, I am a size 4 petite (4P). This man’s wife was also petite, but she weighed 15 pounds less than me, so I figured she would be a 0P or 2P.

The man went on to tell me that his wife was pretty flat-chested, and then he held up his hand and cupped it, as if to show me how big one of her breasts was.

Seriously. He did this.

I couldn’t help but smile and chuckle a bit. I didn’t take offense at all, because him doing this helped me to really understand what size his wife was. He ended up spending over $300 on three different outfits.

After the transaction, he told me he really appreciated my help.

So, for all the men reading my blog, not every female sales associate will be so friendly and look the other way when you make a rather outwardly sexual gesture in a clothing store, but this man did it in such an innocent way that I was not offended in the least.

And another tip for men – know the sizes of your significant other’s tops & bottoms. That will help me to help you. :)

National Exposure

I was at the gym this morning, like every morning, and I was on the elliptical trainer for an hour.

During this hour, I listened to my iPod while watching the local news on the muted TV in front of me.

This morning, there was a fascinating story about the first woman in the U.S. to receive a face transplant. And while the images on the screen were both fascinating and disturbing at the same time, there was another image I was watching carefully.

The lead surgeon for this patient, who was speaking at a large press conference, was wearing an outfit designed and sold by my store!!

I’ve seen this “national exposure” previously – many national TV personalities wear our clothing and I always feel a sense of pride whenever I see this.

The TV spot lasted only for two minutes, but it was fun and exciting to see the outfit (and the transplant, of course) get national attention.

She Man

Just when I thought I’d seen it all…

The other week, a man came into the store. When this happens, the man generally is with his wife, girlfriend, sister, mother, daughter, etc.

This man was alone.

From the waist up, he looked totally normal – blond hair, nice eyes, pleasant demeanor – he was actually attractive and the kind of man I might have been interested in.

But then I looked closer.

He was wearing a black skirt.

And ballet flats.

He tried on several dresses and skirts and my co-worker helped him shop for things that might look good on his… figure. Alas, he didn’t find anything to buy.

Retail World is full of these off-beat, hard-to-believe stories. Seeing is believing.