Tribune Chronicle's Page One
Monday, February 23, 1998
By Missy Scott
To describe what Kristin Wilmouth and I looked like in our first outfits, you could say we just finished filming a bad 80's video and had yet to change our clothes.
For a top, I was wearing a white dress shirt that was tied at the waist with only two buttons done. I was also sporting Daisy Dukes over black hose with 3-inch heels on my feet.
The stares started as soon as we stepped out of the car and into the parking lot of the Southern Park Mall in Boardman. The people in their cars either gawked or told their children to look away.
Inside the mall, the reactions were even bigger. I could feel the eyes on me and it felt like everyone was pointing and laughing.
The first store we entered was Dillard's. When trying on clothes, the clerks were nice to us. We could hear the other customers talking about us. Kristin and I laughed at the first comments.
The second store was Champs Sportswear. We recieved a couple hellos from the male employees. It was then that the two of us really laughed. I knew they wouldn't have even glanced at me if I was in my regulat attire. Most of the people in the store didn't acknowledge us.
After that, we walked into Victoria Secrets. Kristin asked to try some things on while I looked around. The employees were friendly, asking if I needed assistance. My guess was that since they thought we were whores they thought we had money to spend. Especially on teddies and the like.
We recieved the best reactions while simply strutting through the hallways. To quote a few people: "Terrible." "I wouldn't be caught dead in that!" "Yea. That's a cool way to dress."
The worst thing was when an old, balding,overweight male approached us, saying, "Hey there, gorgeous!" Kristin and I ran from him.
After grabbing our bags from the car and changing in the Kaufmann's restroom, Kristin and I walked into the mall looking ridiculous. For my second costume, I had put on a frumpy purple kitten sweatshirt with tight pegged jeans and dress shoes. I has also wet my hair and curled it up, then I covered it with a huge headband. I also washed off all my makeup and put on glasses.
Our first store was American Eagle. The clerks noticed us but didn't try to help us with anything. They would have rather talked to each other then try to sell clothes.
While looking at a couple items, trying to get remarks out of the clerks, I actually saw myself in the mirror. I broke down. I couldn't stand the sight of myself. It was awful.
Kristin had to pull me away from sobbing in front of the mirror. We went to the Gap. The employees treated us as if we were invisible. That didn't help the way I felt at that moment. We were standing right next to a clerk and she wouldn't even say hello to us. Another person walked into the store and the clerk immediately went to her and never said a word to us.
After that, we went back to the Tommy Hilfiger section of Dillard's. The clerks didn't recognize us but they did laugh as we were leaving. We knew it was at our expense. It was hard to laugh off the remarks this time.
I would have to say that the first costume was the better of the two. It was funny seeing people's facial expressions when they saw us. In the second costume, I felt like a loser and that nobody wanted us around. In the first one they just laughed and accepted that we were there. Even just looking like that for a short time was hard to handle. Overall, I think Kristin and I would rather stick to who we really are.
