Another fitting room debacle went down recently: When plus-size vlogger Shiann Friesen was shopping at a Walmart location, an employee gave her some unsolicited input on the clothing she was about to try on.
A fitting room employee at the retailer apparently warned Friesen against stretching out the clothing she was about to try on by telling Friesen to not "try to push it" or "try to put on something that is obviously not going to fit." When Friesen asked for clarification, the employee replied: "Don’t stretch it. That’s all I ask."
There's footage of the incident in a video Friesen posted on her YouTube channel, ShiCurves; in the video, Friesen also emphasizes that the clothing in question was indeed her size (and that, yes, the threads fit just fine). "I just want you guys to know nobody has the right to discriminate against you, and if that happens you need to be vocal about it and stand up for yourself," the vlogger tells her viewers after explaining, and showing, what happened.
"Respect for the individual is a core value at Walmart," a representative of the company told Refinery29. "We are very sorry to hear of our customer’s experience we never want a customer to feel mistreated in any way." The retailer is reaching out to Friesen to "apologize and make sure we fully address her concerns," the rep said.
On the bright side, the big-box retailer did apologize. But what has this situation, and last week's inappropriate Spanx-pushing incident at Dillard's (and the moving open letter that resulted), underscored? Well, fitting rooms simply aren't the place to editorialize about what someone should or shouldn't be wearing. In fact, there really isn't any suitable place for this sort of commentary — it just shouldn’t happen.
Check out Friesen's full video detailing the incident below. As for the offending employee in question, "our management at the store has discussed the matter with our associate," according to the Walmart rep.
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