https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Tue, 21 Apr 2026 16:54:38 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms/page/2#post-1779773 Sat, 18 Feb 2017 23:04:03 +0000 April 1779773@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I don't love it. &nbsp;I often accompany my son on shopping trips, and I maintain a generous distance between myself and the men's dressing rooms and ask him to step OUT to show me what he's wearing, if he wants me to see it, to avoid this issue for others.</p> <p>In a unisex dressing room, you know what you're getting and you can choose whether to go inside or not if it makes you uncomfortable. &nbsp;In a women's dressing room, the expectation is women only (and yes, I'm including transgender women as part of that category) and you shouldn't suddenly discover something different when you're standing there in your underwear. &nbsp;Especially if you're in one of those rooms with no true door, only a curtain with a four-inch gap and you're pulling on a swimsuit. </p> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms/page/2#post-1779671 Sat, 18 Feb 2017 14:33:04 +0000 cindysmith 1779671@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>It doesn't bother me. It's no different from unisex dressing rooms or trying things on in between the aisles (which I've done at times, over fitted clothes).</p> <p>I think most of these poor guys are uncomfortable, and they don't really want to be there. they just want to go to lunch or whatever </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms/page/2#post-1592222 Fri, 11 Dec 2015 03:26:33 +0000 Susie 1592222@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Ha! Didn't even notice that! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms/page/2#post-1592135 Thu, 10 Dec 2015 19:27:41 +0000 MsMary 1592135@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>LOL this is a three-year-old thread. For some reason it totally cracks me up when old threads are bumped up like this. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms/page/2#post-1592123 Thu, 10 Dec 2015 18:50:57 +0000 Aziraphale 1592123@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Doesn't bother me in the least. I'm all for unisex changing rooms. What does bug me, however, is when there is no mirror INSIDE the changing room. I don't necessarily want to go outside and use a communal mirror in front of other people (male OR female). </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms/page/2#post-1592122 Thu, 10 Dec 2015 18:46:34 +0000 Susie 1592122@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I would think that he should use the men's fitting room, regardless of what he is trying on. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms/page/2#post-1592120 Thu, 10 Dec 2015 18:19:37 +0000 Ashelygirl11 1592120@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>What if the fitting room has a sign that says no men but the man wants to try on some women's clothes in the fitting room ? </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms/page/2#post-617406 Fri, 11 May 2012 14:36:12 +0000 Anonymous 617406@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>It all depends on the person's comfort level. My fiancee excuses himself when I'm shopping underwear with my daughter, as to give her privacy, and will rather rot and die than staying next to us in a lingerie department. Also, he will not go into the fitting room with me for absolutely no reason whatsoever. He is an after the fact kind of dude...</p> <p>Am I going to criticize someone who is on the opposite side of that? No. </p> <p>Bathrooms are a different issue due to the vulnerability but I don't mind the single stall unisex bathroom. There is no area for crazies to hang around.</p> <p>IK - You are hilarious. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms/page/2#post-617330 Fri, 11 May 2012 12:01:53 +0000 Anonymous 617330@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>@rachylou: That's my problem with going into the men's restroom. It's not that it's the men's restroom. It's that it's so gross.</p> <p>I wouldn't lose sleep over the thought of men being in the ladies' dressing room, but I would be bothered by it if the dressing room were the type that only had curtains or those half-doors (like bathroom stalls). If the dressing room had regular doors, I'd be fine with it.</p> <p>What I don't understand is why a man would want to go into the ladies' dressing room in the first place. I know my DH would not. He doesn't go shopping with me, though he does take me shopping with him when he wants my opinion. I guess it's just that I don't ask him what he thinks, lol!</p> <p>As for a man getting kicked out of the lingerie dept., I think that's ridiculous. It's a public area where no one is getting dressed/undressed. I would definitely not shop at a store like that. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms/page/2#post-617253 Fri, 11 May 2012 05:36:43 +0000 rachylou 617253@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>It's a little weird to see a man in the ladies' room and really gross to go into the men's room, but my practical nature wins out over my neuroses. Well, it's also a little neurotic to wait for the ladies' room to come free when the men's is empty (if it's not disgusting, of course). A bathroom is a bathroom. I mean, I don't think pants are men's clothing either.</p> <p>My freshman dorm had mixed bathrooms. Again a little weird, but not a big deal. Male or female, I think the primary source of discomfort was having to share a bathroom with a hundred other people period. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms/page/2#post-617210 Fri, 11 May 2012 03:25:01 +0000 linder 617210@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I've been lurking on this site for a while (love it!) but this thread prompted me to actually sign up and post.</p> <p>I'm lucky to have a husband who loves to shop and is more than willing to shop with me. I value his opinion. When I shop, I frequently gather a pile of clothes to try on all at once and he will wait outside the change room area or, if he's allowed, will come right into the change room with me. This not only saves me the time of having to go out and get his opinion on items, but he can also go and get other sizes if necessary (since it's not uncommon to have no salespeople in the change room area, at least here in Canada).</p> <p>I would think twice about shopping in a store that didn't allow men anywhere near the change room area. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms/page/2#post-617187 Fri, 11 May 2012 02:49:19 +0000 teeandcee 617187@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>LOL, I honestly have yet to see a comfortable husband in a dressing room so I suppose I should be feeling sorry for them rather than resenting their presence.</p> <p>I appreciate everyone's responses. I've found all the different opinions to be really interesting. After thinking about this all afternoon I do feel I have a legitimate expectation of females-only in a public and segregated dressing area, but I don't foresee losing any sleep over the issue. </p> <p>I do think the lady who wanted the man to leave the lingerie shopping floor was just a wee bit extreme. I mean, nobody is unclothed there. At least they shouldn't be, haha. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms#post-616932 Thu, 10 May 2012 20:27:05 +0000 rae 616932@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Ruth, I've gone over to the side of taking things home to try them, but there are times when DH happens to be there with me - and he does have lots of opinions, so I do want him to take a look. IMO, I guess I feel MORE private having him in the actual dressing room with me. When I have to take that long walk of shame out of the dressing room hall, past all the people waiting and staring and wondering why you can't decide already and let THEM try their clothes on... it's uncomfortable to have *everyone* see you in an item that might make you look lumpy stumpy dumpy. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms#post-616931 Thu, 10 May 2012 20:24:30 +0000 cciele 616931@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Either case, dressing room or bathroom, doesn't bother me at all. Hey, I went to UC Berkeley where the bathrooms in the dorms were co-ed </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms#post-616927 Thu, 10 May 2012 19:59:56 +0000 Echo 616927@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>IMO, the difference between a fitting room and a bathroom is that someone may continue to do some self-adjustment that they don't want witnessed by the opposite sex - adjusting control garments, applying makeup, blotting oil, fixing hair. A bathroom stall does not generally contain a mirror or enough space to do much besides use the enclosed toilet. A fitting room, on the other hand, affords you a full-length mirror, space to move around and privacy. So it doesn't matter who is hanging around outside the door, IMO. </p> <p>However, generally speaking, I DO feel bad for the poor men dragged in there! Most of the men "shopping" for clothes with women I have seen look like they were dragged there against their will and are hopelessly wishing they were elsewhere. I've never understood why anyone would take their DH/SO shopping for clothing. A good friend would likely be honest and tell you why something is better than another, while many men feel put on the spot, only able to articulate that they like one thing and not another (which isn't useful enough for me). Or maybe I am just projecting my own DH's feelings onto other men! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms#post-616897 Thu, 10 May 2012 19:23:39 +0000 ironkurtin 616897@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Maybe I have less body modesty than I should, but so long as everyone behaves in a civil manner I have no issue with anyone being in a changing room so long as there's a reasonable degree of privacy. My issue is more with kids charging around screaming or teens hollering at each other than it is with someone's husband catching an inadvertent peep. Geez, I'll be 42 this year. if I give anyone a thrill at this point if they see me in my undies and bra, god bless 'em. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms#post-616884 Thu, 10 May 2012 19:14:10 +0000 Diana 616884@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Hmm... the restroom question. I am not against the idea of unisex bathrooms (so long as they are clean! but that is not what we are discussing here...), particularly if it's somewhere like work where I can at least be somewhat confident that the men are not creeps. But, say, in a train station or something? I might be a little more squeamish about that just because of the higher likelihood that I might run into someone with bad intentions (honestly, though, I am on the lookout for creeps in the public part of the train station too...). But here, again, I am not uncomfortable with going to the bathroom when men are around per se, but more with the idea that someone might try to take advantage of me in a vulnerable position. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms#post-616869 Thu, 10 May 2012 19:03:29 +0000 Anonymous 616869@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I guess I'm a prude and will start taking clothes home with me to try on, and then return the ones that don't fit. I honestly don't see why men can't wait outside the dressing room area, which is only a couple of steps away. Is it really that hard, and do women really need their husbands in there with them? I don't go into the dressing room when my husband tries on clothes. I wait outside, and he comes out when he wants my opinion about something. No biggie, really. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms#post-616868 Thu, 10 May 2012 18:59:23 +0000 RoseandJoan 616868@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I'm not offended at all by Men hanging around the changing room but I'm pretty comfortable with nudity and bare skin in general. </p> <p>Men in the rest room is not something I have encountered. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms#post-616864 Thu, 10 May 2012 18:54:13 +0000 christieanne 616864@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I always took my son in restroom with me (until he was maybe 8 or so - DH was more squeamish about taking DD into men's room but he says men's rooms in general are just unpleasant so he would do the unisex, single stop like at Starbucks. Many large stores have Family restrooms with changing tables and things so that is wonderful for resolving issue. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms#post-616860 Thu, 10 May 2012 18:48:10 +0000 K. Period. 616860@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I'm never bothered by men who are clearly attached SOs being in dressing rooms. Maybe that's because I'm an occasional offender who asks her (fabulous) hubby to give her an opinion every so often. I have noticed, though, that I'm much more likely to feel open to asking him to evaluate when we are at a unisex store (BR or ON), many of which do not even maintain separate gender dressing rooms anymore. We will even share a dressing room sometimes, especially if we have our two small kids in tow. </p> <p>I think the dressing room/bathroom difference is pretty significant, and the reason is that when we are in the bathroom, we are baring ourselves entirely and ministering to our bodies, which I think is a personal task. I've also found that bathroom stalls are often a lot less private (with the gaps that many have from their modular construction) than many dressing rooms. So dressing rooms, okay, but bathrooms, no. </p> <p>Your question does put a finger right on a sensitive distinction for me, though. Before I had a young son, I always felt a little squeamish about small boys being in the women's bathroom with their moms. I never felt that way about dressing rooms. Now that I have a small boy, I know that I would not feel safe letting him go into a men's room on his own or even wait outside the bathroom for me. He's young and he isn't sexually aware in any way yet. That discomfort that I felt? That was my hangup and I'm glad that I'm reasonable enough now to understand it and get past it. When some poor little kiddo has to go, they gotta go! So, I guess I'm even willing to bend that dressing room/bathroom distinction, but only for the under 7 set! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms#post-616825 Thu, 10 May 2012 17:59:41 +0000 rae 616825@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>The difference for me in regards to restrooms is that they are not monitored - the only thing you can steal out of there is toilet paper, so there is no attendant, no security guard. As someone who is not super fit, I would feel physically unable to defend against an assault in a restroom, whereas I know there would be help nearby in a fitting room. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms#post-616823 Thu, 10 May 2012 17:49:52 +0000 ManidipaM 616823@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I'll start by confessing I'm on the wrong side of this fence. </p> <p>I once stopped shopping at a very popular chain store (let's say one of the Nordstorms of India?) for half a decade precisely because my husband was shooed out of the lady's lingerie section where he was helping me choose stuff at one of their flagship stores. Another lady out shopping with her daughter for the teen's bras told him he shouldn't be there just as her husband was not (!)--- and mind you, this was not in the dressing room, it was in the lingerie section, well outside the dressing room.</p> <p>I was especially infuriated at her attitude that even the girl's own father needed to be banished from the area lest he observe his own daughter's underwear. Geez Louise! It was always my father who took me lingerie shopping when he was home, and when he went away on a voyage, one of the things I *knew* he'd be bringing back was undergarments for me! A woman who can't trust her partner's sexual instincts with respect to their own daughter ought not to stay with him!</p> <p>I agree with much of what Rae's said, and out of genuine curiosity would like to know: What exactly does your discomfort stem from, ladies? I can understand fear of Peeping Toms --- but there Thomasinas at it too! If it's just an issue of privacy, that's what the doors and curtains are for! And surely who other people let into their personal/private spaces is *their* business? It's quite a different matter if you're holding up the queue by making out in the changing room, but I doubt that's what most people are encountering with couples or parents</p> <p>Personally, I'll also note that I find men's dressing rooms are often less crowded than women's --- and I've often taken advantage of this by asking an SA if I can just try something on in the men's area if it's empty. I'm usually accommodated.</p> <p>Restroom issues: I'm all for unisex restrooms if we can only help men and women and indeed any other gender behave in a more polite, considerate way with each other. I always understood 'safety' and 'shame' to be the logic of segregation --- and honestly am not at all happy about it! Indeed, I suspect the way to get more consideration and mutual understanding or respect IS to drop the segregating walls as far as possible!</p> <p>As it is, I keep wondering where anyone not identifying as a gent or a lady is supposed to go --- and what if they're told it's no place for them? (Those interested should google this; someone was actually BEATEN UP by a pair of young women at a McDonald's over precisely this issue. Horrific!) I also feel awful for parents out with a child of the opposite gender who needs a restroom --- what if the child needs help? If safety is the reason to segregate, how scary must it feel to let your little one go in alone amongst the strangers that you yourself want barred from your own hygiene spaces? The mind boggles.</p> <p>Alright, I'm done. Sorry for the rant. Also apologies for stepping on your toes, ladies. But I do think it is rather important to explore the source of this discomfort and its validity, even if not on this forum. It's holding us (and them) back, I do fear. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms#post-616802 Thu, 10 May 2012 17:24:22 +0000 Julie 616802@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I think one needs to remember that you're not going to get the privacy of your own home, let alone closet, in a store's change room. You always have the option, well usually, of taking the item or items home and trying them there.There's no free lunch in this world.<br /> Long ago, I learned it's like going to the hospital for an X-ray or whatever. Suck it up and check your dignity at the door. There are worse things in the world, aren't there? </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms#post-616792 Thu, 10 May 2012 17:14:47 +0000 christieanne 616792@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>In my years running dept stores where we had attended fit rooms (sadly, that is really a trend that is over - you rarely see a sales associate in fit room now) we always tried to ensure the other fitting room clients knew a man was about - so ladies wouldn't walk out in bra or something (and yes, they do that) but in lingerie or girls departments, we would ask that men wait outside unless they were only helper for the client.<br /> It doesn't bother me much except I do watch for obvious non-dads in the girls depts. </p> <p>Oh and I could tell you interesting stories about lingerie dept fitting room hijinks but that would not be appropriate lol! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms#post-616791 Thu, 10 May 2012 17:14:19 +0000 cheryle (Dianthus) 616791@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Interesting question. My partner (male) often hovers around because I appreciate his opinion. It would only bother me at the lingerie store as it is the norm for women to come out in the bra so the fitter can do the adjustments and assess the fit.</p> <p>The gym I go to is undergoing major renos to the change rooms and everyone has been herded to one communal room for men, women, and children. There was a man in the washroom the other day but there are real doors with doorknobs so it didn't feel wrong. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms#post-616782 Thu, 10 May 2012 17:00:47 +0000 teeandcee 616782@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Very interesting responses. Maybe I'm just old fashioned.</p> <p>Question: Would men wandering into ladies' restrooms (not unisex ones) bother you or not?</p> <p>If so what makes the difference for you? </p> <p>Besides the lack of an attendant. I'm not really talking about safety at all in either situation but more a sense of being comfortable or not. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms#post-616724 Thu, 10 May 2012 15:47:35 +0000 Laurinda 616724@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Doesn't bother me. One store I frequent has a cross-dressing man staffing the fitting room - not a problem either. </p> <p>One-way mirrors and hidden cameras do bother me. I'm not a thief, don't treat me like one. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms#post-616716 Thu, 10 May 2012 15:40:31 +0000 Inge 616716@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I don't mind either. As Angie pointed out, dressing rooms are often unisex in Europe, and men, women and children all walk in and out freely. As long as the door or curtain closes properly I'm absolutely fine with that. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/husbandsfathers-in-or-around-womens-dressing-rooms#post-616714 Thu, 10 May 2012 15:36:03 +0000 rae 616714@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Doesn't bother me at all, as long as there is a door or curtain on my fitting room. </p> <p>- I feel more judged by *women*, actually, and less comfy parading through a store to get my husband's opinion. </p> <p>- There are plenty of bi- and homosexual women 'round these parts. If someone's going to try to peek, someone's going to try to peek. Doesn't matter if they're male or female. It's my responsibility to judge the usefulness of the curtain/door IMO. </p> <p>- In my experience, most men hanging around fitting rooms are there with an SO... who will probably beat them upside the head if they drool over other ladies. Plus, if they're nice enough to shop with their SO in the first place, they're likely not one of Those Guys. I'd feel differently if it were just a pack of single dudes 'trolling the fitting rooms.</p> <p>- There is usually also an attendant around, so I don't feel any real danger of assault. </p>