From slinky, sensuous, sexy, silk lingerie, to rough textured coats, us humans cannot shop or even 'browse shop' without touching clothes around us. Surrounded by the array of textures, colours and fabrics we cannot help our selves but touch or pick up the piece of clothing. This is almost like a drug!
Like magnets, we are drawn to the item. Once faced with your item you cannot just visualise this. No. You need to touch it, you also need to handle a few items of clothing on the rail and pull them out towards you to get better judgement and understanding of the piece. Sometimes you even go back to the item you have already pulled out to look at so you can further investigate. You see people standing there for hours holding out their piece analysing every detail.
'Shop analysts'
We become 'professional shopping analysts'. The tall blonde lady looks at the sleeve of the blue cotton jumper. Scanning the rest of the railing, she can't help but come back to the blue cotton jumper. Her lanky hands with red finger nails pull at the other sleeve before she is now tilting her head to the left to analyse the back of the blue jumper. Not content, she's now taking the item off the railing and holding it up against herself in the mirror. Sliding it up and down her upper torso and pressing the item's sleeves against her own arms. She then takes another blue jumper off the rail. This one is darker. She further proceeds to put this against her upper torso in the mirror again before swapping this to try the lighter blue again. This swapping and changing goes on for at least twenty minutes. One, what a waste of time, and two how odd does this look? You're thinking to your self, it may be worth actually trying this on?
'Try before you buy analysts'
In addition to the 'shop analysts', there are also people known as, 'try before you buy analysts'. You see people literally stripping in front of the shop mirrors and their clothes are being thrown in every direction possible. These people can't be arsed to get into a changing room. No. They want to try the item on there and then where everybody can see them. The short slightly tubby girl puts on a pair off high heels. She has already done the routine behaviour of touching the piece as she strokes the backs of the heels probably about 7 times...just for fun! Putting them on in front of the mirror she then parades herself round the shop marching through the isles as if she owns the place. Why do we do this? Why do we feel the need to march around a shop with the item on? Do you think we wake up and say, yes I know, today I am going to go into a shop and walk around with shoes on for half and hour and then leave and then do this again?
Moreover, do you ever clock those people, who decide to pull by accident the whole piece of clothing off the coat hanger? Or, better, they literally swipe the whole rail off? Admit it, you have done this! You're casually been admiring the array of colour coordinated garments hanging up. You're not in your local Zara or H&M. No, you're in a high-end boutique known as Les Petite. Getting uber excited by that shiny leather jacket with zips on the sleeves, you charge towards it. You can't bloody wait to touch it! With force, you pull at the jacket's sleeve, and yes, the whole bloody jacket falls to the floor. This has a domino effect as all the other hangers start to shake as one by one they all hit the floor and no, this is not graceful. The painful high-pitched sound of metal on wood happens, and clothes land sporadically around you. Beaming bright red you're so embarrassed, words don't describe. The noise of this whole incident is just horrendous and everybody is looking at you as two shop assistants run over to clear up the mess you have made. Exit left.
This very strange shopping behaviour is something us humans can quite control. It is almost dangerous to allow clothing to be on display, as we can't help ourselves but touch. It may be an idea to keep clothes behind glass, sheltered from the hazard of an attack by our wandering hands. Let's be honest, they would definitely be a lot safer!