I've personally never experienced this, but oddly enough the mirrors at my university library made everyone look skinnier and I did a double take when I first saw how small my ass looked in them.

I think I'm far too familiar with how big my bum actually is, so I'm never tricked by skinny mirrors (though they are fun to use...)

i completely agree! i hate being in dressing rooms where the mirrors are huge and lights are bright you can see every imperfection (neiman marcus and abercrombie are two i can think off of the top of my head) it usually just puts me in a bad mood and gets me out of the shopping mood altogether!

but then you get to the dressing rooms with the deceiving mirrors..fun at first but not real and not what you look like when you get home!

this post was kind of just a ramble and reitoration of what you said but it is very annoying!

i completely agree! i hate being in dressing rooms where the mirrors are huge and lights are bright you can see every imperfection (neiman marcus and abercrombie are two i can think off of the top of my head) it usually just puts me in a bad mood and gets me out of the shopping mood altogether!

but then you get to the dressing rooms with the deceiving mirrors..fun at first but not real and not what you look like when you get home!

this post was kind of just a ramble and reitoration of what you said but it is very annoying!

i think that it's a strategy that stores have to be honest. if they are able to get us to buy those jeans or whatever, and make us think that we look good - we'll get home with the item, and feel either too stupid and not return the item, or we'll feel the need to starve ourselves to fit into the clothes to look the way that we did in the store, but either way - the store makes money. I HATE mirrors like that. i'd rather not buy something then get tricked.

I don't understand the concept of "skinny mirrors." Are you sure you're not just imagining it? I can't imagine a troupe of engineers sitting in the boardroom of department store headquarters across the world trying to figure out how to make mirrors into "skinny mirrors." Are they positioned at an unusual angle? Somehow bended like a funhouse mirror? I don't get it.

I'm 5'3, so I know when I'm in front of a skinny mirror because I look like a leggy giant. It's annoying but I don't think it's ever made a huge difference in my purchases.

However, my gym has skinny mirrors and that bothers me so much! I'll be on the treadmill and catch my reflection and think, I look pretty good, I don't need to work out too much longer.

I've never experienced this but then again I don't think a mirror can make u look like Gisele if you in fact look like Beth Ditto.

Yep, they're real, mirrors that are a little curved or tilted (google it for news stories). Sometimes it's really obvious, too. Annoying! Why can't they just design clothes that look that much better rather than trying to fool us till we get home??

Ugh I hate that too. Those mirrors and the lighting make me want to bolt from the store, not spend money. But I don't like the skinny mirrors either....... *sigh*

I'd rather have fitting room mirrors show me every imperfection. That way, I can be sure that if I look pretty good there, I'll look awesome in real life.

I don't try stuff on in stores enough to have an opinion and I hate trying stuff on so I'm just usually in a rush to try the clothing and make sure it fits right (which I don't depend that much on the mirror for) then I bolt out of there the second I'm done. I think both are stupid though. Why not just a use a mirror that makes people look as they are?

I don't think they should do that to women. Most women want to see every imperfection so that they can correct the problem as much as possible with a different set of clothing, while inside the store. Who wants to take a trip back to the store.

that's why i always bring a friend when i go shopping, preferably a gay male friend, cause he doesn't bs me.
=]

I dislike skinny mirrors so much. I'm skinny already but with big boobies, ehhhh. So when I buy clothes its like OH i look cute! But when I come home its sort of like, great, now I look like a squat person cause of my boobs. Skinny mirrors are worse than the big mirrors, at least big mirrors let you see everything and bright lights help you out more than those dang skinny mirrors.

Oh my goodness...skinny mirrors just make me feel *worse* about my body and the clothes they want me to buy. I can see when I look at my body that the clothes don't look or fit right; it's almost insulting for them to try and alter reality to make me think that something looks great when it doesn't. I would at least like some accurate feedback.

Skinny mirrors taunt you because they show what you would probably want to look like, but don't. How awful!

Or, ilanac, you could just return it. You don't have to explain yourself to the clerk.

Honestly, it's just a waste of time to me. I always try on the clothes I buy as soon as I get home, and if they don't look as good in normal lighting, with normal mirrors, then I have to take the time to return it, which I DO, because I like my money, but it's SO annoying. I'm already in good shape, so it's not even a matter of my imperfections being brought into light, just whether the clothes are actually flattering or not.

I guess I'm the only person who doesn't mind "skinny" mirrors. Know why? Because I have one at home. It's slightly tilted because I don't have anything to hang it on, so that tilt makes it a "skinny" mirror. I mean, it doesn't make me look like a stick or anything, but I look a little leaner and taller than in my bathroom mirror.

I don't mind, because it makes me confident about myself, and I think people care more about your attitude than if your body is absolutely perfect. Same with those 5X zoom face mirrors. They'll only depress you. You're better off not seeing every imperfection.

I always look thinner than I really am in the Target dressing room. =(

Yes foxie, the Target mirrors make me look sick. I'm really thin (athletic) and buy online otherwise. I mainly focus on how the clothes feel and buy mostly sports clothes at Target anyway. Reminds me of the fun house mirrors though!

I've never experienced "skinny mirrors", but I think it's a devious way to get people to buy clothes. I actually prefer dressing rooms with garish lights that make me look pasty and weird. That way, when I get my clothes home, I look way better in them than I did at the store.

STUPIDEST IDEA EVER.
They are such LIARS!
They aren't doing this to be NICE to us, they're doing it to steal our money! How deceptive!!!
UGH this is utterly disgraceful.
It is SO insulting and if I ever tried clothes on in a dressing room like that I would let the clerk know that I will NEVER shop there again because the company is trying to trick me into buying clothes that might look awful, and I'd have no way of knowing.
Yuck.

I'd like it if dressing rooms would just use more flattering lighting. It's usually directly overhead, which as every woman knows, looks TERRIBLE. I think resorting to 'skinny mirrors' definitely crosses the line.

I HATE those mirrors! To be completely honest, I'm only aware of my true size because of photographs. I've seen so many versions of myself in fitting room mirrors, in the different mirrors at home that I've learned not to really trust any of them.

Of course I'm psyched by how I look...until I get home! Then I'm just irritated and want to return the clothes because the change in how they look makes me feel comparatively worse.

Mirrors should do exactly what their name states...create a MIRROR image of yourself...not a 10-pound lighter, 3-inch taller version!

My roommate bought a full length mirror to hang on the wall and left it leaning up against the wall for a few weeks. We called it the skinny mirror because that ever so slight tilt really made you look a bit taller and thinner. We finally got around to hanging it so it of course lost the tilt and the skinny look. The next day she had me help her take it back down and lean it against the wall again...she liked the skinny view better.

At least with hers we knew it was lying, I don't think stores should use this tactic.

H&M stores make me look hot. so they have skinny mirrors, i swear.

I have the opposite problem - its difficult for me to gain weight. Today going home from clothes shopping I became aware that everytime I come to the store I get much more critical in myself and comeout with ridiculous feeling that I'm too skinny and seems all my attempts just not working. Many Items I choose to try on go back to their place, I don't buy them. Those that seem ok - I get. Somehow, I noticed that at home the items I get jump from "ok" to "hmmm, looks good". So I suspected skinny mirrors and researched the topic. Because its weird that at home clothes look better than in stores on me. And seems for many people its the opposite. I think stores should get honest in regards to mirrors. There will be less returns and more purchasing.

Actually, I was walking around in some stores with a friend today in south Sweden, thats where I live, and I noticed that I looked different in some mirrors, since Im a relatively tall and big guy I noticed the difference directly specially the face(head) whatever, it pissed the crap out of me since I believe they are simply cheating the customers. So I googled "funny mirrors" and ended up here

Take care all

Haha, just noticed this a female forum, seems so anyway. (Im a male, and didnt like the girl pic I got on the side haha)

And a great summer to all you ladies