A Quick Rant: Dressing Room Mirrors And Lights, Thou Art Dishonest

Like practically everything else in life, my beef with dressing rooms has an appropriate Seinfeld reference--remember when Elaine blamed Barneys for convincing her, with its ambient lighting and "skinny mirrors," that a dress made her look like a million bucks, only to traipse around the city in search of other, less-biased mirrors for a more honest opinion? I feel her pain.

The Budget Fashionista recently discovered that Forever 21 (and a slew of other stores) use some pretty shady tricks to make you look as fabulous as possible inside their stores, tempting you to make purchases you might otherwise skip if your mind weren't entranced by your own gorgeous reflection, a la Narcissus. So just how is it done? The Budget Fashionista says, "Through the clever use of tilted mirrors, which tilt towards you at the bottom and gradually tilt away from you at the top. This trick makes you appear 'smaller' by gradually moving the largest part of your body (your torso) away from the smallest part of your body (your feet) . Think of it as a reconfigured Funhouse mirror, distorting your body to make you look thinner (and buy more) rather than to make you laugh."

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And the tomfoolery doesn't end there, dolls: "They also use soft, amber lighting (aka 'Oprah Light'), that makes even the most aesthetically challenged of us look hot (like how EVERYONE in Oprah's audience looks like they just had a facial). This light makes your skin look better by evening out your skin tone. "

It wouldn't be so bad, she goes on to say, if Forever 21 didn't have such an unforgiving return policy--once you think you look gorge in that dress, you're stuck with it (or its equivalent in store credit).