Every Boutique Has a Room You Can Book for Nothing

Every one of our six boutiques keeps a private fitting room that can be booked for two hours. There is no charge, and there is no order expected at the end of it. A good number of people use it simply to look, and a smaller number use it to try on things they have no intention of buying, which we consider an entirely legitimate use of an afternoon.

The reason is not generosity. Couture is bought in a state of anxiety — it is expensive, it is usually tied to a date that cannot move, and the buyer is frequently being watched by relatives with opinions. A shop floor makes all of that worse. A closed door, two hours, and nobody counting makes it survivable.

What we did not anticipate is how much the sales conversation improves when it is not a sales conversation. Given time and privacy, people say what they actually want, including the things they are embarrassed to want. We have made better garments as a result, and the conversion rate from these appointments is roughly double the shop floor, which we mention only because somebody always asks.

The rooms are booked through any boutique or through the site. Bring whoever you like, or nobody. There is tea, and the light is daylight-balanced, which matters more than it sounds like it should.