Lighting Makes All the Difference When Buying Clothing!

How many times have you used a dressing room in a clothing store to try on a garment before making a purchase? Lots of times, right. How many times have you gone into the dressing room and said to yourself: "Wow, this dress really looks great."? Chances are that when you were "wowed" it is because the lighting was great - the lighting fixtures were placed appropriately, the color temperature of the light bulbs was flattering, and the color rendering index of the light bulbs was close to 100.

Well Lighted, Comfortable Retail
Dressing Room

It is amazing what a difference lighting makes in how you look! Great lighting makes you look like a million bucks. Poor lighting washes out your complexion, distorts the color of your clothing and adds unflattering shadows on your face.

Why then would a retail establishment, trying to sell clothing, not invest what it takes to make their dressing rooms the best they can be?

To quote from an April 6, 2011 article from the Wall Street Journal entitled "Why Are Fitting Rooms So Awful": "Lighting is a critical component. "Any woman who goes into a fitting room that has really bad lighting, you look at yourself, you look at your skin and you're completely distracted," says Anthropologie's Ms. McDevitt. "Then you lose the real reason why you were in there."

The new Ann Taylor rooms have six sources of lighting and three types of bulbs, compared to one source and type of lighting in the old design. The mixture of ceramic metal halide, compact fluorescent and low-voltage bulbs is more flattering, Ms. Dorfman says.

Bloomingdale's has installed rear-lit three-way mirrors, which allow customers to see themselves from a variety of angles. There is also a ceiling-mounted light three feet back from the mirror to eliminate shadows on the shopper's face, says Jack Hruska, executive vice president of creative services at Bloomingdale's."

Please visit us at www.fogglighting.com, like us on Face Book and call with all your lighting questions. I like helping homeowners and business owners achieve optimum lighting. Download the free UL app "LightSmart" from the App Store for all kinds of useful lighting information.