Saturday, July 18, 2009

Skinny Mirrors

In my living room at home I have a skinny mirror. Somehow it makes me look thinner. Other people have noticed the same thing. And then, at the Target near my house, the mirror outside the dressing room is most definitely a fat mirror. Are you familiar with this phenomenon?

Last weekend, we all went out to the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, and stayed in a hotel for a couple of nights. Nothing fancy, just your basic Best Western. But the mirror in the bathroom was the skinniest mirror I have ever seen. It would have put the dressing room at any Prada store to shame. The effect was so striking, without being carnival-mirror distorting, that I pulled my sister into the bathroom to show her. Then I pulled down my jeans so she could admire the miraculous reflection of my thighs. I don't think that was weird at all, do you?

I looked around on the interwebs to see what people were saying about the skinny mirror situation. I turned up a story of a woman who regretted breaking up with a boyfriend only because he had an especially skinny mirror in his apartment. Lots of people pointed out that department stores somehow have skinny mirrors in their dressing rooms. The consensus seems to be that a mirror that tilts back against the wall will make you look longer and leaner. That's not what's going on in my living room or in the Best Western, so it remains a mystery. I don't know if science can explain it.

I am writing this post to distract myself from two sorrows: it is our very last day in Australia, and my laptop stopped working. Matt is working on the laptop, but there is not much help for the other situation. Hope y'all are having a good weekend and are surrounded by skinny mirrors.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have one full-length mirror in my house and it is a skinny mirror. I have become so accustomed to it, that if I ever look at myself in the mirrors at the gym I feel totally fat. And then dismiss them that they must be fat-inducing mirrors. I, too, have no idea what makes it skinnify me, but I love it all the same.

Cassie said...

Oh noooo.... not a computer situation! I hope it gets fixed quickly.

Do you know that I don't have even one full-length mirror in my house? I have to climb on my bathtub to check out my butt or determine which shoes look better.

The Dental Maven said...

Hope your trip home proves to be a lot easier.

And steer clear of all those fat mirrors.

Bren said...

You know how old couples sometimes die within days or hours of each other? Were your laptop and your iphone especially close?

And may your trip home be void of inconveniences.

Keely said...

The lighting is always better in your living room, too. I've always felt that clothing stores would sell WAY more if they just ditched the flourescent lighting. Installed candles, or something.

Anonymous said...

It's not weird at all! Something that sisters understand. And if you get an answer on the skinny mirror phenomena, please do share. I need one.

Anonymous said...

Damn. I'm sorry you have to leave Australia.

I wish I had a skinny mirror. Sadly mine are realist mirrors. I hate them.

Casey said...

I refuse to buy a full length mirror for my house because of this exact phenomenon. I just pretend I'm skinny from the waist down and go with it.

Erika W said...

We're planning on getting a full-length mirror for our room, since, like Cassie, I have to do some gymnastics to check out my shoes or ass. I plan to look for a skinny mirror. Banana Republic has the best mirrors. I think it has something to do with the lighting, because my skin always looks better there. That and vanity sizing keep me coming back. I should be a size 2 in no time.

Anonymous said...

The fancy gym I once belonged to had its skinny mirror strategically placed at the wall where you turned to exit the ladies' dressing room, so you could feel all good about yourself leaving.

Makes one wonder what magical mirror existed in the men's...

May the winds of good fortune sweep you effortlessly home!

Sara said...

I love skinny mirrors.

Actually, let's just go with the skinny mirrors being the real mirrors. Those other ones make us look inaccurately larger.

Lawyer Mom said...

There is no such thing as a "skinny" mirror. Fat mirrors? Sure. But skinny? No. The one in our downstairs bathroom is totally accurate. Totally.

melondonkey said...

pretty sure there's a Seinfeld episode about this. ah yes, according the the net it's season 6, episode 9. elaine suspects barney's of having skinny mirrors.

my verification word was "mensism." intriguing.

Bex said...

i had a very skinny mirror in my first apartment. it was a full length mirror tilted against the wall and it rocked!