Does wearing jewelry in stores get you better service?

I agree with your cousin's wife. THe better dressed (define that any way you want.. make up, jewelry, trendy clothing; an upscale brand name handbag) the more interest the sales staff has in me.

I don’t know about jewelry specifically but years ago DH and I were invited to a wedding where there was a big time gap between the ceremony and the reception. It was too far away from home for us to justify going home in between so we went to a Best Buy in our dressy wedding attire. It wasn’t five minutes before the sales people were all on us like dogs fighting over a piece of stolen steak! We’d been shopping for some stereo equipment several weeks prior at a different Best Buy dressed in regular jeans and t-shirts and couldn’t get anyone to even give us the time of day. It was truly eye opening for both of us.

Having worked in a bank for years, I noticed that the people with biggest bank accounts typically didn’t look or dress like someone you would assume was rich. The people with the flashy clothes and lots of jewelry often were the ones coming in wondering why they were getting overdraft notices. Something I read somewhere once said that to tell if someone has money, look at their shoes. A lot of wealthy people don’t really care what their clothes look like but they generally do spend money on quality shoes.

Never judge a book by its cover.

My husband’s parents were living in Conrad mt. They were friends with one of the richest men in Montana. Well Bob, the rich guy decided his wife need a new flashy diamond ring to go with his big new flashy check.
He came into town wearing his oil field clothes, dirty as a mud hen, driving that beat up pickup. Bob stopped at the first jewelry store was looking at those big old flashy diamonds. The salesman walk over to him and said you should leave , you can’t afford anything here. Bob stared at him, and quietly walked out and right into the next store, where he bought a necklace, earrings, bracelet and a broach to go with that flashy diamond ring. Total price ?$25,000. On the condition that the salesman go back to the other store and thank that first salesman.

I feel like I have only been judged for what I was wearing at one store ever. (Well two, but the other one was Forever 21 so who cares?!) It was a high end furniture store & I happened to be dressed like a scrounge that day. The sales lady looked me up & down & proceeded to ignore me. Little does she know I could have written a check to buy the whole f'ing business, lol. (Just kidding, but you know what I mean.) I've never stepped foot in the place again and I've spent a shit ton on expensive furniture elsewhere since then.

I was shopping with my well put together & wealthy friend at a Coach outlet store. I love Coach perfume & was looking to purchase some. They fawned all over her & basically ignored me. She had to ask them to help me. Mind you, I was nicely dressed, makeup etc, but not in designer clothes.

It depends. As somebody mentioned above, the best dressed people are not usually the richest, but from a sales person's perspective, the don't need the richest customer, they need the one who spends money. So fancy clothes and a lot of jewelry could indicate somebody who will buy.

I don't wear a lot of jewelry - usually my wedding ring, a bracelet and a pair of non-dangling earrings. The bracelet is from Cartier. It means a lot to me. It is a piece of jewelry that I had long admired, and aspired to own, but it was way out of my price range when I was young and when I was older there were other priorities. When I had my twins and graduated with my MBA within a couple of months of each other DH surprised me with it and I have worn it nearly every day for the last 18 years. I don't put on more jewelry to shop, as I feel that advertising "I like to spend," might bring faster service, but in a bargaining situation may work against me. A number of years ago I was in Vegas with two girl friends. We went into the Cartier store. We were dressed in shorts and t-shirts as we had been at the pool and had yet to go back to our room and change for the evening. My friend wanted to see something and was kind of being ignored. I am louder and pushier than she is. I said, "excuse me, we would like to see this necklace." the store had three sales people and only one other customer. One turned around upon hearing me, but her body language was not enthusiastic. Until her eyes caught the bracelet on the wrist of the hand I was pointing with - her entire demeanor changed. I went from person in shorts, t-shirt, flip flops and baseball cap to "person who can afford to shop here."

IDK, I was dressed cute and carrying a nice handbag the other day, and was completely ignored. I spent nothing.

My DH feels this way about clothes, I'm not completely sold on the idea.

That said, I can be a chameleon when it comes to looks and I think that plays a bigger part of it in my life - i.e. I'm an ugly shrew but comb my hair, add some makeup and viola - pretty enough. When I am baseball capped, glasses on, no makeup I get worse service than if I am pretty-fied up. Even with a hat on if I am made-up I get better service. If I know there will be a salesman I will do my best to exploit my feminine appearance. Honestly, it saves me money. DH is a horrible negotiator. He isn't allowed to buy cars anymore. He can pick it out but then he leaves and I do the rest. Salesmen do not like this but he sucks and I got tired of paying way more than necessary because he hates confrontation. I'll gladly slap on some mascara and comb my hair to pay less each month on a car. But clothes and jewelry are not part of the overall package for me.

I haven't noticed better or worse service based on what I am wearing. When shopping I prefer no service for the most part though and will seek it out when needed, I don't like being fawned over or hounded when I am just looking. Have never had a disparaging remark or bad service by those who might perceive me as a lesser customer.

D/H and I do not wear any jewelry and are both pretty casual dressers, he jeans and tee shirts and I usually wear jeans or shorts with Vans or Converse. I can't speak to retail experience but real estate is another story.

We spent the last year house shopping and visiting open houses every weekend. We visited a house in our targeted neighborhood which is a tad on the higher end. The realtor was dripping with gold and diamonds in his bright pink Vineyard Vines outfit gave us a bit of a flat greeting. I assume he took one look at D/H in his Bass Pro Shop tee shirt and me in my well worn Converse and he stated "are you really interested in this neighborhood and are you sure this house is in your price range?". Shocked, we just looked at him and asked if this was his standard greeting to everyone that visited the open house and we left. We ended up buying a house in the neighborhood just down the street.

This is so true.  

Like others have mentioned, somtimes plain people might have a lot of money to spend.  I live among some very wealthy people that all dress alike- Amish.  I know not all Amish are rich but the ones in my area are loaded!!!!!!!

For discretionary spending I think shoppers dressed or carrying trendy, expensive items identifythemselves as spenders. They are the people that buy. However, any retailer should assume anyone in their store is a potential customer and treat them accordingly. Best service I ever received was at the Tiffany flagship in NYC. My cheap little bracelet that needed a link added and I was treated as if I brought in the Hope Diamond for service.

I don’t know about that. But in my experience growing up, wearing clothes that are work uniforms or work clothes for blue collar jobs can often result in less service. Heaven forbid my dad stop in a store on the way home from work and his button down work shirt had his name across the pocket. Sales people scatter asap. Even in sears. That is until Lowe’s & Home Depot came on the scene. *I* am invisible in Home Depot, salesman congregate to see if my dad was going to buy a lot. Lol

It never seemed to outwardly bother my dad. Bothered crap out of me. But he did stop shopping for stuff. He’d hand one of us cash and send us.

Lord & Taylor in Chicago -- the best customer service experience of my life -- a girl group, looking for a ladies room and a sit down and potentially a restaurant recommendation -- a manager who was so totally sweet - gave directions, found the lounge, got us gift bags and generally fluffed and folded. We were dressed respectably but not hi-end, it was a Chicago summer day and we'd been trudging the Magnificant Mile, so we weren't the freshest -- Lord & Taylor gained customers that day -- professional women needing clothes customers!