Compliments from Strangers - YouLookFab Forum

I had a GREAT experience yesterday that I want to share:

My husband and I went on a date night last night at our local mall. One of our stops was the Apple store where I could check out my Christmas iPhone. It was pretty dead in there, so all the salespeople were gathered together in the middle of the store by my display. Randomly, one of the salesgirls came up to me and said, "I hope you don't think this is weird, but you...you are just so pretty!" At the shocked look on my face, she continued, waving her hand up and down in my direction, "I just love the way you look! The coat, the bag, your hair, I just...wow, you look really great. I saw you the second you walked into the store, and I was impressed."

I was completely astonished, and I know my face must have been FLAME RED, but I laughed and grinned very big and thanked her profusely. Then one of the other sales guys, a skinny hepcat type in a silly knit cap, teased her, "Geez, I've come in here every day for two years and you've never said that about me."

I couldn't stop myself from cracking, "It's the hat. It's kind of tragic."

The entire section of the store exploded in laughter. The salesgirl declared me her best friend and high-fived me. Hubby strolls back with a bemused, "I just follow the sounds of ruckus and here you are!" (I am kind of loud, heheh.)

Anyway, the exchange obviously made my whole day! So tell me, have you been stopped on the street or in a store and given a compliment by a random stranger? Share!

P.S. I was wearing a fitted camel coat from AT Factory (purchased for $27 off-season last year!), dark jeans, brown suede chunky-heeled oxfords, my beloved brown crinkled-patent Coach bag, a purple-and-pink skinny scarf, and a new heathered purple cardi from ON that I just bought last week. I felt sharp even before she said anything!

17 years ago

Alecia

Veteran

I love this story. It's wonderful. I have gotten comments recently but I don't feel so good about them. They're usually from guys and I feel like they're just being letcherous, not commenting on my ability to put together an outfit. I try to take from those exchanges that I'm doing something right because I'm obviously accentuating the good. That must mean I'm learning to dress my body appropriately, right?

Thank you for sharing this story. It is a good way to start the day.

Violet

Active Member

What a great story. Thanks for sharing! It does give you a warm fuzzy to get an unexpected compliment.

Tanya

What a hearth-warming story Kristen ! It certainly puts me in a good mood, and it must have felt great for you.

I get sometimes compliments from strangers, and they come in two completely different groups: nice ones and annoying ones. An example of the first one is a woman on the street saying " That's a great jacket" when I was wearing my grey plaid one, which makes me happy and earns her a big smile. The second type is what Alecia described. Recently in a cafe a guy commented 'nice sweater' while obviously staring at my chest ( he wasn't even looking me in my face), and to make the whole thing even sillier I am quite small-chested. It took me all of my willpower not to roll my eyes and say something snippy.

Amanda

Kristen -- great story! And it does feel good when someone sincerely compliments how you look. After working with YLF on my wardrobe, I was in a store at the mall and the salewoman said "great outfit, you look so put together." It was nice that someone noticed since I'd worked hard to figure out how to dress myself!

Laura

(website)

Excellent Kristen! Way to represent YLF ... at I assume it's at "our" local mall too ... great story!

Kristen

Thanks, everyone! Laura, yes, it was at "our" mall!

I'm glad I'm not the only one to get the random stranger comment -- I always let someone know if I see them wearing something I think is sharp, at work with my friends or out on the street, but I've never had it done back to me.

It's unfortunate guys can be such jerks sometimes, Alecia and Tanya. Men rarely seem to notice the stuff women do. Ah well, their loss! (Double their loss, even -- because not only do they miss the big picture of how great you look, their disgusting attitude ensures you'll never want to date them. LOL!)

tarzy

What a great story. I'm so glad this happened to you! We all need a little outside affirmation once in a while.

I haven't received any compliments lately - except when I was in the Coach store and the salesgirl complimented me on my .... Coach bag. She liked the way the red popped against my outfit. I'm not sure that really counts. She was probably trying me to buy another Coach bag. (Not happening any time time soon without a major sale.)

Anonymous

What a nice compliment and you deserved it from the description of what you were wearing. It pays to take a bit of extra care to put ones self together doesn't it. See people are noticing. I guess that has always been a hurdle for me, thinking that other people really don't care what I look like.

shiny

That's a great story! Are you still flying high from it?

I have had compliments from strangers - probably about twice a month it happens. Lately, every time I wear this one particular necklace (Tanya - you have seen it), at least one person comments on it or asks me where I got it. I don't think this counts, since they aren't strangers, but a few female doctors, a dentist, and my physical therapist routinely compliment my clothes. As for the dentist, I'm always admiring her shoes - she goes all out with the shoes, wearing 4 inch heels! She must have an amazing closet of white coats and tons of high heels.

I do get the occasional creepy-guy comments too... but mostly I get comments from women or gay men with good taste.

Most recent creepy-guy incident, my DH got the guy booted out of the restaurant. Long story... but this guy just wouldn't leave well enough alone, and kept staring at me AND my teenaged girls, giving all of us the creeps.

Back to the positive...

I was once stopped in the hospital by an elderly lady, who was using a walker, and speeding up to catch up with me (!) just so she could ask me where I got my skirt. And then gushed about how great my whole outfit was. It was really sweet, and made my whole day. Maybe I miss my grandmas; anytime someone old enough to be my grandma compliments me, I get warm fuzzies all over. Esp since both my grandmas were quite stylish - but in very different ways.

Today, I was washing my hands in a crowded ladies' room, and a woman admired my bag, then commenting "it's gorgeous but it's so large and you're so tiny, you could fit in it!!" and I replied back, "the theory is that the bigger the bag, the smaller your butt looks" and everyone laughed, then started checking themselves out in the mirror, eventually agreeing with my theory! Including one woman who must've been 80 years old. It was fun.

Initially, it made me nervous and weirded me out, but I have mostly gotten used to it now.

The only thing that still weirds me out is when coworkers make comments. But not in the usual way (like Tanya has mentioned - i.e., snide and catty). I have had a few colleagues genuinely sigh and say "oh you dress so nice - I wish you'd take me shopping - what is your secret" and so on.....

And I am SOOOO tempted to tell them about YLF!!! But, I hesitate because I worry about sharing that bit of my personal life!! I just tell them that I decided to give myself a majeover, and hit online to learn tips and tricks, and leave it at that.

Just today, we took a coworker out for her bday, at a restaurant in the mall, and on our way out through Macy's, she was looking for clothes. We went through the racks and I picked out outfits that would flatter her, and was giving tips as to why (she is built similar to me). It was a quick 20 minutes - she didn't try anything on - but it was fun. She'd hold up a big baggy top and say "this will cover my gut" and I'd hold up a sweat-pea-like top with ruching and a pattern and say "but this one will confuse the eye and nobody will notice your gut" and things like that. She kept asking, "how do you KNOW all this???" and I came *this* close to revealing my YLF secret...

Lastly, I will just say that I pay it forward all the time myself! I am routinely the stranger on the street who stops people to compliment them on their necklace, purse, jacket, etc.

Nicole

Kristen, I love your story! I love getting compliments, but they usually come from people I know. I live in the kind of town where people don't really interact with each other unless they know each other. I try really hard to break that unwritten rule though (drives my husband a little crazy). But I think if people were more open with their compliments to strangers, there'd be a lot more happier people walking around. I like to think of it as my little way of changing the world!

So ladies, remember how nice it is to be complimented and spread the joy to someone you see today!

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