So when Mybestfit by Unique Solutions Design made its mall debut at King of Prussia during September's Fashion's Night Out, I bristled. Even when publicist Lindsay Thompson called and invited me to check it out with company owners Tanya Shaw and Bob Kutnick, I remained hesitant.
"This is different," she told me.
For one thing, she said, I could leave all my clothes on. (Back in North Carolina, I had to wear a very flattering black bodysuit.) And after being scanned, I would receive a list of jeans perfect for my body and the stores in the mall that sold them.
"I think you should do it," my editor said.
So on a rainy Thursday afternoon, I made the trek to the second floor of the Plaza (the only mall to house the $100,000 contraption), where the pink-and-silver, 10-by-15-foot kiosk stands - think futuristic Barbie dollhouse furniture.
Kutnick explained that this machine employs millimeter radio waves - the same technology used by airport security scanners - that penetrate clothing and bounce off the moisture in the skin, taking 200,000 measurements to create a 3-D picture.
The beautiful part: Instead of receiving a blobbish image that does not resemble what you think your body looks like, you are handed a bar code. Scan the bar code, and within seconds you have a printout of all the stores that sell jeans - including styles, washes, and prices - that are just right for you. At the time I went, only 22 brands were included in the database, and it served only women. But eventually, Unique Solutions hopes to help men and women find the perfect shirts, jackets, trousers, and even bathing suits.
"We do three things," Kutnick said. "We get measurements of the body, measurements of clothing, and we play like a Match.com and find the clothing that looks best on you."
