New Body Scanner Helps Women Buy Clothes

It's pretty easy for us guys. You go into a store to buy a pair of jeans, and you pretty much know that you need a 32 waist and a 34 length. Right there on the shelf, you find jeans labeled 32/34. Pick your color and head to the checkout counter. Done.

For women, it's not so easy. Are you a size 4 or a size 6? Maybe you're a size 4 in one store and a size 6 in another. It depends on the brand you're buying. Do you need the jeans in petite length or average length? Or are they labeled short, medium, and long?

It's easy to see how frustrating it can be to shop for clothing if you're female. I watch my wife do it on occasion, and she hates shopping for clothing. One of the main reasons is having to try on 3 or 4 different sizes in each brand. I can empathize.

Now there's a company that is aiming to help, with a body scanner. MyBestFit is now in select malls with their new scanner, which not only scans for detailed body measurements, but stores the correct sizes for those measurements from numerous brands and stores! This thing will tell you to try on a size 4 at Old Navy, and a size 6 at American Eagle.

I think it's a great idea, and apparently women are responding favorably. The scanner is set up as a booth. You step inside and a wand rotates around you emitting radio waves. It takes all of 30 seconds to do the job, and then it matches your measurements to clothes in its database. You get a printout suggesting which sizes you should try on in approximately 50 different stores. Pretty cool. No pat downs, no guesswork; just the right size at your favorite store. You can see more on the new scanner at nytimes.com where I found the story.

You can also read all about the new scanner on the MyBestFit website.