The Lingerie Salesman’s Worst Nightmare: Beyond the Fitting Room Curtain

Desperate to save the sale, the salesman asks if there’s a photo. The customer pulls out his phone. He scrolls past pictures of his dog, a blurry photo of a sandwich, and finally finds one."Here!" he says triumphantly.The photo is of his wife standing three hundred yards away, wearing a heavy winter parka and a ski mask, in the middle of a blizzard in Vermont.

A group of six women enter, giggling, already two bottles of prosecco deep. They grab $1,500 worth of merchandise and storm the fitting rooms. They do not try on the lingerie for fit; they try it on for entertainment .

"The geometry is sound," Gerald whispered, almost moved. "The compression-to-surface-area ratio is magnificent." He bought one. One. With a coupon.