Has this ever happened to you? While on a visit to Adelaide, I popped into a boutique which I noticed stocked some good designer labels like Bec & Bridge, Camilla and Marc, Jac+Jack. I saw a dress and a black turtleneck jumper on the racks which the assistant put into a change room for me while I continued to browse. I was encouraged to visit their sales area upstairs, which I did.

Boutique heaven

When I came downstairs to try on the dress in my change room, I found it was gone. The assistant had given it to another customer while I was upstairs, so she could try it on in the meantime!

I was taken aback on so many levels! I admit that I never know how recently clothes on a rack have been tried on by another customer, and I accept that it could be 5 minutes or an hour. But being handed the garment to try on which has literally just come off another customer’s body is a real turn-off (well for me anyway).

There is something to the shopping experience to “claim” a dress from the rack and believe that it is (almost) your’s until you either leave it behind or purchase it. I felt that I was denied that moment of ownership.

Needless to say, the dress’s appeal and the lure of a new brand was completely gone and I walked out feeling quite cheated.

What do you think – is boutique etiquette dead in the world of retail fashion? Stay tuned for this story’s sequel ….