How to Stop Choosing the Wrong Clothes, a Fitting Room Method
How to Stop Choosing the Wrong Clothes, a Fitting Room Method
You stop choosing the wrong clothes by asking three questions before you take anything off the hanger, running three checks at the shoulder, the waist, and the hem, and sitting, walking, and reaching in the piece before you decide. This is the method our fitters have used in Pozarevac since 1990, and it works in a store, in an online order, and in your own bedroom with the return label on the bed.
If you have a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear, most of what is in there passed a mirror test and failed a life test. The fitting room method replaces the mirror question, do I like it, with the wearing question, will I reach for it on a Tuesday. Here it is, step by step, with the Luna pieces we would use to teach it.
Shop the pieces in this story: Blazers, Dresses, and Pants. Complete size runs are listed first.
The questions to ask before you take it off the hanger
The first question is what problem it solves. Not whether it is beautiful, but which gap in your week it closes: the presentation with nothing to wear over the dress, the dinner after the flight, the cold walk from the car. The second is which three pieces you already own it pairs with; fewer than three and it will be an orphan by spring. The third is the Tuesday test, and it has its own section below. A piece that fails any of the three goes back on the hanger before you have felt the fabric, which is the point.
Step 1: the shoulder check
The shoulder seam sits on the bone. Past the bone, the garment looks borrowed; short of it, it binds. On a blazer or a coat this is the check that decides everything, because a tailor can take in a waist and shorten a sleeve for a modest sum but rebuilding a shoulder costs more than the jacket. If the shoulder is wrong, walk away, however much you love the color.
The Barbara tailored blazer in black is the piece to learn on. A black blazer with notched lapels, four buttons, and flap pockets finished with a fine line of red piping, photographed over a black satin shirt. The catalog says it runs true to size with a tailored cut through the bust, and that a self-tie belt in the same twill comes with it. Buttoned, the lapels should lie flat and the seam should end where your shoulder does.
Step 2: the waist check
The waist of the garment sits where your waist is, which is not always where the pattern assumed. On a dress, look for the seam or the belt to land at your narrowest point without riding up when you lift your arms. On pants, the waistband sits at the natural waist and does not dig when you sit. If the waist is right and the hip is a little generous, that is alterable; the reverse is not.
The Agatha high-waisted wide-leg pants in ivory teach the waist. They sit at the natural waistline with a wide waistband and a small buckled belt tab, and fall from a pressed center crease to the floor in a straight column; in the photograph the model has a hand in the side pocket and the waistband stays flat. They are fully lined and close with a back zipper. The catalog says they run slightly generous and to take the smaller size between sizes.
Step 3: the hem check
The hem decides where the eye stops. On most women, a dress hem at the knee or at mid-calf is the one that flatters; the hem that lands at the widest part of the calf is the one that does not. A wide-leg pant should graze the floor in the shoes you will wear, so check it in those shoes and not in the store’s flats. A pencil skirt sits at the knee and can be sized up if you want it to fall longer.
The Jody pencil skirt in midnight bordeaux is a fitted knit pencil skirt in deep wine with soft gathering at one hip and a band of lace at the hem, finishing at the knee. The catalog says it runs slightly generous through the hip and waist, that most clients take their usual size, and that sizing up makes the hem fall longer on the leg, which is exactly the hem check written into the size chart.
Sit and walk
A garment that only fits standing still is a garment for a photograph. Sit in a chair, cross your legs, reach across a table, and climb one stair. Nothing should pull across the hip, ride up at the thigh, gape at the button, or strain at the back. Then walk ten steps and watch the hem: it should stay level and swing clear of your legs.
The Lucy navy illusion sleeve sheath dress is the dress to sit in, because a sheath is the cut that most often fails this test. Navy crepe with a shirt collar and a clasp, sheer mesh across the yoke and down the long sleeves, a center front seam, pocket flaps at the hip, and a small slit at the front of a knee-length skirt. The catalog says it is slightly generous in fit with a sculpted line through the bodice, waist, and hip, and the slit is there so you can sit and walk in a fitted skirt.
Do the same in the coat, with the blazer underneath. The Nicole wool wrap coat in herringbone gray is a gray herringbone wool wrap coat with a wide collar, a double-breasted front, a tie belt, and a midi skirt that flares from the waist. Put it on over the Barbara, tie the belt, and reach forward as if for a car door; the shoulder should not pull and the belt should stay where you tied it. Coats are dry clean only, so this is a piece you fit once and wear for years.
The blazer test
Button it. Hug yourself. Raise both arms above your head. Sit down. Look at the sleeve, which should end at the wrist bone with the shirt cuff just showing. Then take it off and put it on again over the blouse you will actually wear under it, not the thin top the store handed you. A blazer that passes all six is a blazer you will wear 60 times. One that fails two is a blazer you will wear to one interview.
The would I wear it Tuesday test
Name the Tuesday. The nine o’clock meeting, the walk to lunch, the call at four, the dinner you are too tired for. If you can name three ordinary days in your week when you would reach for the piece, it passes. If the only day you can name is a wedding in a year you have not planned, it fails, and it goes back regardless of how it looked in the mirror.
The Olga wrap dress in navy passes the Tuesday test more often than any dress we make. A true wrap in solid navy with a notched collar, short sleeves, a belt with a gold buckle, and a row of buttons down the side of the wrap skirt to the knee. The wrap ties where you say it does, which means it fits on the Tuesday after a heavy weekend as well as the one before a holiday. The catalog says to take the smaller size between sizes for a defined closure.
Colors near the face
Hold the garment at your collarbone in daylight and look at your face, not the fabric. The right color makes your eyes and skin look awake; the wrong one makes you look tired, and no cut will fix that. High contrast near the face, black against white, reads as authority; low contrast reads as warmth. If your hair has gone silver, dull greys drain you and saturation lifts you. On camera, a mid-tone photographs better than optic white or stark black.
The Eva classic top in scarlet red is the piece to test the rule with, because red is the color women most often talk themselves out of. It is a soft knit with a wide neckline and three-quarter sleeves in a red the catalog says photographs as true red rather than orange, shown tucked into pale wide-leg pants. Hold it up. If your face comes forward, buy it; if the red comes forward and your face goes back, it is the wrong red for you, and that is useful to know.
Returns are part of the method
The best fitting room is your bedroom, with your own shoes, your own tights, your own chair, and your own light. Order the piece, try it with what you own, repeat the sit and walk, and decide. Every Luna order ships from California and can be returned within 30 days, no questions asked. A return is not a failed purchase; it is the last step of the method, and the women who use it end up with closets they wear.
Buy the size that fits today
Hopeful sizing is one of the biggest reasons closets fill with unworn clothes. A garment bought for a future body waits, and most of them wait forever. Buy the size that fits the woman who got dressed this morning. If your body is changing, and after a baby, through perimenopause, or after a hard year it will, a wrap, a belted waist, and a return window are the tools. How to dress when your body starts changing shape explains why structure, not looseness, is the answer.
Every non-coat piece in this story is machine washable on a gentle cycle, air dried, and steamed or ironed on low, which matters to the method because a piece you can wash at home is a piece you will wear on a Tuesday. If you are starting a wardrobe from nothing, the fresh start wardrobe names the five pieces, and the 3 3 3 rule for clothes is the smallest structure that keeps it working.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if a blazer fits properly?
Button it and look at the shoulder seam: it should sit on the bone, not past it or short of it. The lapels should lie flat with no pull at the button, seated or standing. Hug yourself; the back should allow it without straining. Raise your arms; the hem should lift a little and settle back. The sleeve should end at the wrist bone. If the shoulder is wrong, walk away, because it is the one thing a tailor cannot fix cheaply.
What are the three checks in a fitting room?
Shoulder, waist, hem. The shoulder seam sits on the bone. The waist of the garment sits where your waist is, not where the pattern assumed. The hem sits where it flatters your leg, which for most women is the knee or mid-calf on a dress and the floor with your shoes on for a wide-leg pant. If any of the three is wrong and cannot be altered, it fails, however much you like the color.
Should I buy the size I am now or the size I am aiming for?
The size you are now. A garment bought for a future body is a garment that waits, and most of them wait forever. Clothes that fit today get worn today, and being worn is the only thing that makes a purchase worth it. If your body changes, a wrap dress, a belted waist, and a return window are the tools; a hopeful size is not one of them.
What is the Tuesday test?
Before you buy, name the Tuesday you would wear it: the meeting, the commute, the dinner. If you can name three ordinary days in your week when you would reach for it, it passes. If the only day you can name is a gala in a year you have not planned, it fails. The test is not about beauty. It is about whether the piece will be worn enough to earn its place.
Are returns part of the fitting method?
Yes. The best fitting room is your own bedroom, with your own shoes, your own tights, and your own light. Order, try it with the pieces you own, sit, walk, climb a stair, and decide. Every Luna order ships from California and can be returned within 30 days, no questions asked. A return is not a failed purchase; it is the last step of choosing well.
What colors should I hold near my face?
Hold the garment at your collarbone in daylight and watch your face, not the fabric. The right color makes your eyes and skin look awake; the wrong one makes you look tired. Saturated red, deep navy, and true black work for most women; if your hair is silver, avoid dull greys near the face and go for saturation. On camera, mid-tones photograph better than optic white or stark black.
What to do next
Take the method into your own closet first: run the shoulder, waist, and hem checks on the pieces you avoid, and you will find out why you avoid them. Then buy the one piece that closes the gap in your week, in the size that fits today, and fit it at home. The blazers in this story are in the blazers collection and the dresses in the dresses collection, complete size runs first.
