A teenager claims they were "humiliated" after being thrown out of a dressing room as they tried on a prom dress in a Birmingham branch of Monsoon. The non-binary identifying student said they were told: "Males aren't allowed to try our clothes on".
18-year-old Charlie and a friend had been shopping for a sixth form prom outfit when the alleged incident, which is now under investigation, happened at the Grand Central store on Monday, April 11. "We picked up some dresses and went into the changing rooms' individual cubicles. There's only one area, it's not labelled", the teen told BirminghamLive.
"We each went into a cubicle and then as I was putting it on, this voice, which turned out to be a staff member from outside, said: 'Excuse me, males aren't allowed to try our clothes on'.
"I was set back by that, but not wanting to grossly embarrass myself or draw attention, I complied. She said: 'Can you wait outside for your friend'. I waited on a bench outside the cubicle."
Charlie said five minutes later, the same member of staff told them to move out of the changing room altogether. Charlie's friend doesn't identify as female but presents "in a more feminine way", and was allowed to try on the dresses without any issues.
Charlie, who is studying A Levels at a sixth form in Birmingham, said the store was the first where they found any suitable dresses for the summer prom, which is being held at Edgbaston Park Hotel. But feeling hurt, unwelcome and embarrassed, the pair decided to leave the store and even cut their shopping trip short, ditching plans to head to Selfridges.
Charlie said they were previously made to feel welcome when trying on skirts at stores like Primark and H&M. The sixth former, who realised their 'mind and body didn't align' in primary school, is currently raising £1,200 funds for gender affirmation hormone therapy via GoFundMe .
"It would be daft to assume it doesn't take a person any amount of courage to walk into a shop like that and try on a dress if they are typically male-aligning," they continued. "So to be told A) no and B) you're not welcome here, that's a lot of built-up courage that is immediately knocked down. Also, it's very embarrassing. I felt humiliated and like I wasn't welcome or wanted.
"It feels very hurtful and wrong. They need to be open about whether it was that member of staff or if it is company policy.
"If it is store policy, I think questions should be raised around whether that policy is compliant in the 21st century."
The teenager later shared part of their experience to Twitter, politely asking whether the incident had happened as part of 'store policy'. It sparked a huge 'Twitter storm', receiving more than 400 retweets and prompting over 2,000 replies within less than 24 hours.
Monsoon apologised, opened an investigation and offered to help Charlie find their "perfect prom dress" free of charge. A spokesperson for the chain replied: "Hi Charlie, we’re sorry to hear of the experience you had in one of our stores. Our fitting rooms are open and available to all our customers and we have opened an investigation into this incident.
"We’d like to explore this further with you so please could you email customerservices@monsoon.co.uk so we can find out more of your experience? If you would be comfortable to do so, we would like to welcome you back into our store where we would be happy to help you find your perfect prom dress, and it’s on us.
"Everyone deserves to feel magical for prom so we hope this get your prom journey on the right foot again and hope you find something you love. We look forward to hearing from you soon. Many thanks Monsoon."
BirminghamLive has contacted Monsoon for a statement.
