Have you ever cried in a Bergdorf’s changing room? I haven’t, either, but I did come close, so close that I called David Kirsch, Heidi Klum’s trainer, for an emergency session. I was shopping for a strapless maillot and was rattled by the three-way mirrors, surgical lighting, and limitations of nylon and Spandex.
This particular anxiety is so common that actual scientists have studied it, finding that even imagining wearing one of these contraptions increases a sense of self-objectification, gloom, and body shame. Trying on that suit in a store’s dressing room can be even more unnerving than wearing it in public. After doing so, both women and men performed worse on math problems and other cognitive tests. Helpful hint: Don’t do this before your big shot at Jeopardy!
