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Skinny Mirror Detection Device

 Wow, this dress looked great on me at the store...
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I must admit that I have a love-hate relationship with the slightly curved "skinny mirrors" in the fitting rooms at many clothing boutiques. Everything I try on seems to look flattering, which is great until you take that dreadful dress home and discover that the svelt siren in the skinny mirror has turned into a manatee. The SMDD would be a small, portable tool based on one of those new laser carpentry levels. It would stick to the surface of a mirror and shine a laser straight down to the floor...if the mirror is true, that is. If, however, the mirror has a curve to it, the laser will refract off of the mirror at some point and send the red dot straight to the fitting room wall. If only you could combine the SMDD with an Obsequious Salesperson Early Warning System.
—JulieVictim, Aug 21 2004

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       I have actually been pressed into service as one of these.
—harderthanjesus, Aug 21 2004
   

       They really make these?
—wagster, Aug 21 2004
   

       Is the use of skinny mirrors in a store indicative of false sales or advertising thingymajiggies...? because it's pretty deceptive.
—GoffyBoi, Aug 22 2004
   

       [bwv61] - does it thin your hair?
—wagster, Aug 22 2004
   

       Not unless they actively claim that the image you see is what you will look like [GoffyBoi].
—harderthanjesus, Aug 23 2004
   

       Easy enough to spot a non-flat mirror, I would have thought - just look at the reflections of straight lines - if they're not straight, the mirror's not flat.
—DrCurry, Aug 23 2004
   

       Just use a regular laser pointer. If the reflected dot is no longer the same shape as the original, you've got a deformed mirror.
—Freefall, Aug 23 2004
   

       Has nobody else noticed that [julie] is actually talking about a short mirror?
—Worldgineer, Aug 23 2004
   

       Yes - this one would be good at a Weight Watchers meeting.
—FarmerJohn, Aug 23 2004
   

       I've heard that at gyms they have the opposite--their mirrors make people look fatter so they'll spend more time there.
—Machiavelli, Aug 23 2004
   

       I don't think I'm talking about a short mirror...a tall mirror actually...one that would make you look proportionally thinner by making you appear taller. I think this is actually how they do it...a convex bend in the vertical axis...as opposed to a concave shaping in the horizontal. There is, however, a flaw in my explanation. In my head, I was imagining the mirror to have a bulge in the middle which would redirect the laser, but if the mirror was uniformly bent in a convex shape, the laser would never touch the mirror at all, but the laser point would still land outward from the bottom of the mirror...you'd still be able to tell if the mirror was untrue. It should be rather obvious, no matter how or in which direction the mirror has been distorted. Does this make any sense? Say no to drugs, kids.
—JulieVictim, Aug 23 2004
   

       Pointing down you're not going to be able to tell if it's making you appear skinnier or fatter - only shorter or taller. Think of a mirror concave along the vertical axis. You'll look thinner, but the laser will hit directly next to the mirror at the bottom. All you need to do to fix this idea is aim the mirror horizontally. If that laser touches the mirror then it is making you look thin.
—Worldgineer, Aug 23 2004
   

       The laser should have an additional setting for incinerating dishonest store owners. Trust me Jules, husbands everwhere will rejoice...   

       A small camera designed to measure how many times the sales person rubs their hands together might help in detecting the other problem.   

       Alternately, you could just locate some hideous item, and ask the sales person about it. When they say "Oh, you would look lovely in that camouflage prom dress..." you know what you're dealing with.
—ye_river_xiv, Jul 16 2007
   

       Why not just hold up any straight or flat object you carry on your person against the mirror? If it doesn't sit flat, the mirror is dishonest.
—notexactly, May 28 2019
   


 

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