‘Got absolutely called out’: A woman tried on a red dress at a thrift store. Then she left embarrassed without buying anything

A thrift-store try-on clip posted by Chloe, who uses the TikTok name @generationchloe, has drawn 2.6 million views after an employee spoke to her while she was wearing a red dress. On-screen text at the start of the video reads, “Got absolutely called out at the thrift today for no reason.”

In the clip, Chloe holds up a long red dress on a hanger, then puts it on over a polka-dot top and a pink skirt and adjusts the straps. Further on-screen text reads, “wait for it.” She poses in the dress before an off-screen employee speaks.

The employee says, “Okay, we are closing in 10 minutes.” Chloe turns and walks away from the camera toward a mirror, and the employee continues, “This is not a fashion show either.” Matching text appears on screen during that exchange. She comes back into the frame looking shocked. Later text reads, “I was so appalled/embarrassed I put all my clothes back and left.” She stands with her hands on her hips, then walks closer to the camera before the video ends.

A follow-up video and a caption edit set out the timeline she described

In a follow-up TikTok on the original caption, Chloe wrote that she used to work in retail and understands respecting employees’ time. She added that she timed herself and started trying on clothes 30 minutes before closing. 

According to the follow-up, the red dress was the last item she tried on, and the store was technically closing in 20 minutes at that point, though she presumed the employees were giving themselves a 10-minute cushion for people checking out. She noted that she was too uncomfortable to buy anything, but that she put the clothes back properly.

Hours after the first post, she shared a follow-up captioned “Replying to @Tristian.” The video opens with the red-dress footage and the employee’s lines, then cuts to Chloe speaking to the camera in front of window blinds. She explained that the clip was going viral and that a lot of people were angry at her in the comments, so she wanted to clarify a few things.

She described arriving more than an hour before closing, knowing she had a little more than an hour, and timing herself so she would be trying clothes on 30 minutes before close. She pointed to past retail work and how frustrating that job can be, and said she was trying to be mindful of the employee’s time.

She told viewers she was “bringing receipts” because people had accused her of lying in her captions. She showed a screen recording of her photo library marked Saturday 5:35 p.m., and identified that as the moment she started trying on clothes. 

That recording shows her in a store fitting room in a white tank top and pink skirt. She then pointed to another recording marked Saturday 5:43 p.m. of her holding the red dress, and stated that the dress really was the last piece she tried on.

From those timestamps, she calculated that she spent 8 minutes in total trying on the clothes and was done shopping a full 17 minutes before closing. She described the store as technically closing at 6 p.m., and suggested the employee was trying to give staff another 10-minute cushion to check out remaining customers.

Chloe acknowledged that she was filming in the store. She noted that she makes content, and also that all the mirrors were taken, and she did not want to be rude to other customers, so she found a corner where nobody was shopping. She explained that she figured she could look back at the videos to see if she liked the clothes on her. 

She described feeling mortified at being called out, which left her too uncomfortable to buy anything, while insisting she had not gone in only to film and leave without buying. She added that the comments were freaking her out a little, and closed with, “there’s much bigger fish that we could fry in the world.” 

Viewers split over the employee’s words and the timing. One commenter treated the “fashion show” line as misplaced in a clothing store and wrote, “Yes t–f it is it’s a clothing store.” Another wrote, “‘It’s not a fashion show’ then open your fitting rooms. Like what?” 

A third asked what shoppers are supposed to do if fitting rooms are gone, writing, “w–f do they expect people to do when they got rid of all of the fitting rooms.” Some shoppers say a store’s response can make or break the experience, such as when a young woman insisted she brought her own slushy into the store and the clerks’ response left her with nothing. 

Other commenters sided with the staff. One wrote, “Yall they wanna go home. They d—f about your views or likes. Don’t go in so close to closing and then make freaking try in videos. That’s disrespectful.” Another wrote, “Doing this when they close soon IS rude !!”

A separate commenter split the two remarks, writing, “closing announcement is perfectly fine, the ‘fashion show’ thing…. horrible.” One viewer read the exchange as jealousy and wrote, “sounds like jealousy.” Another asked Chloe to name the store so people could complain, writing, “Tell us what thrift store it was so we can call and complain on your behalf.”