But, I wasn't exposing any skin!

As a teenager out shopping with my mom, I'd get so exasperated by her nearly universal unwillingness to go try things on in a dressing room. I'd say, "Why don't you try this on to see if it fits?" She'd say, "Oh, I think it will fit; if not, I'll bring it back." She told me once that she didn't want to go through the bother of 'wopsing' her clothes off and then putting them back on.

I thought she was nuts.........but now I do it, too.....sometimes.....for the same reason she did....and as often as possible.

Except, I don't not try things on......I try on clothes over my clothes.

This doesn't work all the time:

(1) This method is very much dependent on what you are wearing when you look for other clothes--it's best not to be wearing things that are bulky or baggy.

(2) It practically requires a full-length mirror out in the store rather than only in the dressing rooms.

(3) Some stores give off a vibe that this kind of thing "just isn't cool."

(4) Some clothes just have to be tried on without other clothes underneath them or call out for a three-way mirror so you can see the view from behind.

But, it's useful in all sorts of situations: jackets, of course, really don't require a special trip to a dressing room, sweaters are the same, and I've found that T-shirts don't either.

So, recently I was in a store and had picked up several non-clothing items to purchase when I came upon exactly the sort of skirt I had been wanting--on clearance! Now, I didn't want to trek to the dressing room, leaving my non-clothing items with the dressing room gatekeeper, take (or 'wopse') my clothes off, try on the skirt and then maybe have to do it again to try on another size.

No, I took the skirt over to the nearby full-length mirror and put it on over my jeans. So cute! But a size too big because it fit fine over my jeans. I took a few steps and got another size. It did fit over the jeans but much tighter: success!

As I was stepping out of the skirt and putting it back on its hanger, a sales clerk came over to me and said, "You know security can see you, right?"

Huh? I wasn't slipping merchandise under my shirt--just over my pants! And, it's not like I took my pants off in the middle of the store.

I said, "That's alright. I'm not stealing anything!"
"Yeah, I know. But some people don't know security can see them here."
"Lady, I didn't need to be reminded I'm in the panopticon!"

OK I didn't say that, although I wish I had. Instead I said, "Well, I guess they can have a good laugh, makes their job interesting today," and moved away from her.

You'd think she'd never seen someone trying clothes on over her clothes!

I felt eyes on me as I paid and was sure I was going to be tackled right outside the exit door. I imagine thieves don't feel such guilt. Here I was racked with guilt, but I'd paid for all my merchandise!