Nudist at the Maternity Shop - YouLookFab Forum

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Nudist at the Maternity Shop

cobaltblue

Veteran

My husband accompanied my toddler daughter and me shopping this morning so that I could try to use a Pea in the Pod gift card I received for my birthday. He thought he'd sit with her and play with the toys the store provides back by the changing rooms while I tried on a few things.

While I browsed the racks, he took our daughter and headed back to the toy area, only to find a woman, nude but for thong underwear, with a stack of items to try on. She had several adults with her; maybe they didn't all want to crowd into the changing room. She also had all store staff members hopping to find her a variety of styles and sizes, so I couldn't get much assistance. My husband didn't feel welcome to make himself comfortable on the floor at her feet, as it were, so we ended up cutting our visit short.

I guess my question is, would you prance naked in mixed company at a shop that had changing rooms? I thought it was kind of funny, but my husband was super embarrassed.

Shopping

34 replies

Latest reply was from Bagaline

texstyle

(website)

Veteran

Makes for a funny store at least. Some people must really need attention!

Thistle

Veteran

Wow, how uncomfortable! I am with your husband. I would have been embarrassed for her!

And I would have left the store, too. Can't be good for keeping customers.

Do you live in LA? Maybe she was a celebrity or something.

cobaltblue

Veteran

Thistle, funny! No, good old Tulsa, OK. Not many nudists here, that I've met anyway.

Hil

(website)

Veteran

Very odd - some people are just strange!!!

rachylou

Veteran

Never. And as a former shop girl, I tell you, one of the attendants should have shooed her back into the dressing room. That's public space on the shop floor. What if someone saw her through the window? Police could ticket her rightfully for public indecency.

Also, I don't care what anyone says about the body beautiful. Naked people are gross. Cover up those germs! There's a reason for no shoes, no shirt, no service.

Irene

Veteran

I don't agree with naked people being gross -are your children and SO gross to you in their nakedness?

I do agree that THAT was weird. VERY.

rute

Veteran

No way! The store has a changing room for a reason!!

cobaltblue

Veteran

Well, I'm glad I'm not just a prudish body-hater. I don't find bodies gross, but I did find the situation inappropriate and uncomfortable. I sure wouldn't want my wares displayed like that - the shop is wholly glass-fronted and located in a busy, upscale shopping area!

rachylou

Veteran

Mm. Yes. The human body is still gross, no matter who. Some more welcome than others, but still gross. Poop is gross. Snot is gross. Vomit is gross. Wounds and sores are gross. Slugs are gross. Raw meat is gross. Having your arm up to the shoulder inside a cow is gross. Nature is gross. You have to have an iron stomach to work with bodies, dead or live.

But the grossest is going to hippie camp and watching all the me-too people strip off and dive into the sweat lodge.

Lyn D.

Veteran

Funny you should bring this up.
During my pilates class last week a very pregnant lady hoisted up her t-shirt to reveal her tummy. I thought this was a little strange- I guess she felt hot or something, though with hot flushes I would be running around COMPLETELY naked if I had this unselfconscious attitude too

Raisin

Veteran

No, I would have been kind of ticked actually, if I were there with my husband and son. My son is 5, almost 6, so if there was a woman prancing around naked he would certainly notice, and I wouldn't think it's appropriate.

Irene

Veteran

Ok, if nakedness was something gross there wouldn't be shampoo ads with naked women in them (not that I like the idea, but if that was gross they wouldn't use it for selling). (Some) naked bodies can be appealing to some people, I think there's no need to mention that. I personally have no problems with seeing other people's naked bodies, be it children, adults or elderly people. It's just a body for me. It is true that human bodies produce 'disgusting' liquids and substances, but they are not disgusting to everyone either.

But I do agree that there are some cultural rules that make living in a society easier and agreeable for everybody involved, and that flashing your everything to the world could be considered a lack of respect to others who might feel uncomfortable seeing you like that.

Anonymous

Wow, what a strange experience!

rachylou

Veteran

Ya. I agree. It's not for me the mere sight, and I was raised hippie and was educated about the adult body way before I even hit kindergarten. For me, I've worked in hi tech manufacturing and food production so long, I immediate think about health and cleanliness. You wouldn't want naked people making your food: the hair, all the skin that flakes off naturally, the blood from the wounds because people are unprotected... And then there's just the average delicate sensibility.

Krista

Veteran

I rounded the corner in an Old Navy once to find an elderly lady whipping off her jeans so she could try on a pair of pants from the sale rack. I was mortified and dove into the closest clothes rack to avoid eye contact. She barely blinked.

I'm with your husband - it's embarrassing to see naked people in a store. But it makes for some really great storytelling after the fact!

cobaltblue

Veteran

Wow, Krista! I guess she was afraid the sale would get away from her!

Rachy, it's really interesting that you'd bring up having your arm up a cow. Having had both that experience and the one today, I can say that while the cow thing was more conventionally gross, the naked lady (who was quite lovely and probably just the physique most expectant mothers would want) was not gross persay but definitely created a socially uncomfortable situation. I choose the gross but not inappropriate cow! What a strange conversation...

crazyone

Veteran

why wasn't she at least wearing a bra?!?

I try on jackets and sweaters in the store proper rather than going to the fitting room, but that's because I can still be wearing proper clothing to try those items on.

I find it even more bizarre that there were so many people facilitating her behavior.

Anonymous

LOL@ Rachy... You had me at cow;)
No, I would freak out. I have issues with stranger nudity, I am not comfortable being around random naked or almost naked people. That would not be allowed here. Sometimes I get in trouble by trying a blazer outside of a fitting room, I swear.

ironkurtin

Veteran

Rachylou, I agree that some body products may not be lovely to look at or imbibe, but man - your position seems really extreme to me!

In NYC nudity was a protected political statement. Sometimes it also caused car accidents. Especially if the statement-maker was attractive.

I'm torn on this naked lady. On one hand, well, props for feeling so comfortable with yourself. It would be wonderful if the naked body weren't loaded and we were all perfectly unashamed in our skin, right? On the other hand, we're not there yet - so minus points for being insensitive to other people's comfort. Plus, I don't believe a maternity store is the appropriate place for your own bodily social agenda, TBH. And minus to the store for allowing this to happen, because they lost a customer.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

I've seen this large scale locally during a sale when all the fitting rooms are full - but I can't say there were any men around. I am sort of in awe of their lack of self-consciousness and could never do it myself - whether I would want to or not.

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

I wonder if she had plastic surgery she was proud of. I had a friend who got her boobs done and lifted her top to show me. Then she told me to feel them. I declined, saying "that's OK, but they look great!"

cobaltblue

Veteran

crazyone, I too sometimes try on blazers and coats outside the fitting room, but like you I keep my bra and shirt on while doing it!

Zap, your story reminds me of a similar incident I experienced in college. A professor friend was SO happy that she had lost enough weight to fit into cute bras. She asked the male student in the room to cover his eyes ("With pleasure," he replied.) and then lifted her shirt to show me her "star" bra. Good times.

Anonymous

How strange and embarrassing. Many stores here have been removing all mirrors in the main areas so that one is forced to go to a fitting room even to see how a scarf, a color, or a bag looks. I wonder if disrobing shoppers have anything to do with it.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I remember a time when there were communal dressing rooms. You went inside to a big room lined with mirrors on all sides and there were all kinds of people trying things on.

Ugh. How I welcomed the return of privacy.

Jules

Veteran

I'd probably be most annoyed that I couldn't get service

moira

Veteran

What a strange and very funny story.

moira

Veteran

What a strange and very funny story.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

You know, I believe there's a time and a place for celebrating your body, and a public place like a store where families could be shopping is not one of them. Why was the fitting room not good enough for her? And why does one need an entourage to try on clothes? And why didn't the SA politely tell her she needed to use a fitting room?

I realize that here in the US there are a lot of weird hang ups about nudity (better cover up that statue's breast!), but I do believe in a certain level of modesty in public places.

And a related fun fact: there is a nudist colony about four miles away from my house! I never knew what the big fenced, gated property along the country road in the woods was until a neighbor clued us in. So we live in a place known for 1) a huge Renaissance fair, 2) an abandoned state hospital, 3) a tiny wedding chapel, and 4) a nudist colony. Hehe.

Mander

(website)

Veteran

I wonder if she had just become so accustomed to strangers seeing and touching her body, as a pregnant woman, that she thought nothing of it. I've heard from many people that when they were pregnant strangers felt no compunction in putting their hands on their bellies. Maybe this happened to her?

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