‘Don’t even waste your time’: Philadelphia woman drives to New York to buy clothes for Coachella. Then a salesperson body shames her
A Philadelphia shopper’s trip to New York to buy some new clothes was dampened after a salesperson allegedly body shamed her. Now, she’s posting on TikTok to raise awareness.
In the video, Sevanna (@savyjjj) said she drove all the way from Philadelphia to New York to try on Coachella clothes. She added that she was having a rough time because she “doesn’t love” how her body is at the moment. When she arrived in the store Above Chinatown, she said there were 10 other “skinnier” girls in the store. She noted how a salesperson was helping them. However, Sevanna claimed that “not once” did the salesperson acknowledge her.
She then described how, after finding clothes she liked, she placed them against her body and looked in the mirror. Then the salesperson walked over, told her they wouldn’t fit, and said not to waste time trying them on. While the two customers next to him looked “visibly uncomfortable,” Sevanna described the experience as “straight up disrespect and discrimination.” She added that it was stuff like that which “really set [her] back.”
It gets worse
However, it didn’t end there. Sevanna said the salesperson took a size 8-10 shirt out of her hands and placed it against her. He allegedly insisted that it wouldn’t fit. While she responded that she didn’t need him to embarrass her, the store assistant said she was “delusional” if she thought it would fit her.
Feeling increasingly “embarrassed” and upset, the TikToker went into the fitting room. There, she tried on a remaining skirt, which was too big for her. When she went out to the mirror in the store to take a closer look, she alleges that the store person said, “See? That fits you.”
She then got changed, gave him the skirt, and left. Sevanna added that she was left “in shock” and “shaking” from the encounter, and that her whole day was “ruined.”
When she later recounted the story to an associate in another store, they said they weren’t shocked by this behavior. They alleged that this particular salesperson/possible owner only hired young girls as interns.
Ultimately, Sevanna urged people not to shop at the store if the salesperson she interacted with owned it. Or, if he didn’t own the store, she said that he should be fired from his job.
We reached out to Sevanna via TikTok direct message and to Above Chinatown via Instagram direct message.
How did commenters react?
Some commenters claimed to have had similar experiences with this particular member of staff. “OMFG SAME,” one wrote. “I was holding a skirt and he was like ‘It’s meant to be low waisted.'”
“GIRL THIS HAPPENED TO ME TOO THIS WEEK!” another said. “I’m so sorry, you’re gorgeous, he’s rude & boring.”
Additionally, many showed their empathy towards Sevanna’s situation. “I do not understand the logic of salespeople who are rude to customers,” a third said. “Like, do you want to make sales or not?”
“Imagine being as beautiful as YOU are and getting treated bad by an actual TROLL,” a fourth told her. “You’re actually so stunning.”
While a fifth added, “Let’s me hold your hands when I tell you this…. You’re beautiful & Alfredo is 100% going to fail judgement day.”
Aritzia worker body shames TikToker
In another viral TikTok, Corrin Bogan (@corrinbogan) claimed that an Aritzia worker body shamed her.
She explained how she was trying on a pair of low-rise jeans that didn’t fit as expected. A store assistant went over to her to ask if there was an issue, and Bogan “couldn’t even finish before she was like, ‘Can I be honest with you? It’s your body.'”
““I didn’t even have time to tell her, ‘No, you can’t be honest with me, stranger,’ she added. “I was simply too stunned to speak. She goes, ‘Does that make sense?’ I go, ‘No, we’re all good.'”
Bogan later revealed that a customer service rep got in contact. They said, “The individual that I spoke with was so kind and so compassionate and really made me feel seen and very heard. The feedback that I provided really was about the harm that commenting on someone’s body can do and really kind of phrasing it as like, ‘Hey, I think that this is a big gap in maybe the training that sales associates get at Aritzia.'”
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