FITTING CONCLUSIONS : In finer dressing rooms, pampering is free. Try these services on for size. : What’s going on in there? Big rooms feature huge mirrors, comfy seating and soft, adjustable lighting. Personal shoppers flit in with tea and cookies as well as accessories.

For some shoppers, a dressing room is simply a clean, well-lighted place in which to try on clothes.

They obviously haven’t taken a peek inside some of Orange County’s finer dressing rooms. These are not dressing rooms in the traditional sense, but elegantly appointed quarters equipped with frills such as telephones, full-size couches and antique writing tables. They make ordinary ones with swinging doors or curtains look closer to whitewashed barnyard stalls.

Retailers know that big decisions on whether to buy a garment are made in dressing rooms. A dressing room with a huge mirror and soft lighting that takes 10 years off a woman’s face can make her feel like buying the whole store. Likewise, a claustrophobic cubicle with fluorescent lighting that turns her skin an unhealthy shade can make her look horrible in any outfit--and that means no sale.

Gloria Gellman of Newport Beach, president of the guild alliance of Opera Pacific, favors the dressing rooms at Saks Fifth Avenue’s Fifth Avenue Club in South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, because, she says, they make her feel like a diva.

“They offer tea and a personal shopper and your own sofa,” she says. “You feel pampered and special.”

The Fifth Avenue Club, a personalized shopping service open to everyone, offers a spacious room furnished entirely in beige, with a small sofa in striped moire, walls covered with water silk fabric, a massive three-way mirror and flattering recessed lighting.

The rooms also have adjustable lighting. The personal shoppers will even dim the lights for customers who just want to pop in for a cup of coffee--a relaxing break from shopping, especially around the holidays.

There’s a marble-top coffee table stocked with perfumes for customers’ enjoyment, a phone and a pair of shoes handy lest shoppers who came in wearing flats want to see how their outfit looks with heels.

Personal shoppers hurry in and out to meet customers’ every need, offering tea and sweets at no charge from the nearby kitchen and combing the entire store for anything customers might want to try on--from ball gowns to flannel nightgowns.

“Spaciousness is important. We can pull a lot of merchandise and bring it up to the club,” says Stephanie Wilcox, director of the Saks Fifth Avenue Club With a personal shopper at the ready to fetch a dress in a different size or find an accessory to match, shoppers can experiment with all kinds of looks without leaving the dressing room.

“It’s one-stop shopping. They only need to take their clothes off once,” Wilcox says. “We also have robes if they’re between outfits.”

There are no such “suites” in Sak’s men’s departments, although men have ventured through the women’s evening wear to use these plush accommodations. Husbands accompanying their wives while shopping can also relax in the dressing rooms or an equally comfortable waiting area outside.

By comparison, men’s dressing rooms are rather plain. Dressing rooms at Ermenegildo Zegna, the menswear boutique at South Coast Plaza, are simply furnished with a small bench and two hooks. The reason: Men don’t like spending a lot of time in dressing rooms trying on clothes, say salespeople.

“They’re out of there immediately and in front of a tailor,” said Amy Vizek, store manager of Ermenegildo Zegna.

The Chanel boutique at South Coast Plaza has dressing rooms for women that match the sophisticated buff-and-black decor of the store. Each room boasts a three-way mirror, recessed lighting, soft music and padded walls covered in buff-colored suede. The largest of the three rooms has a black leather sofa and an end table furnished with a contemporary lamp and a phone that shoppers can use to ring up a spouse, an agent or perhaps a credit card company to inquire about their limit.

Dressing rooms at 341 Bayside in Newport Beach offer a romantic getaway: They feature upholstered chairs, crystal ceiling lamps that bestow a soft light, beige damask wallpaper and antique tables.

“It’s very soft and subdued so the clothing will stand out,” says Mona Angell, manager of 341 Bayside. “You don’t want the room to upstage the clothes.”

Candy and fresh flowers greet customers at Escada’s dressing rooms in South Coast Plaza. The all-white rooms are done in a contemporary style, with a clear Lucite counter, white marble floor, white leather chair and huge mirror.

Of course, the true test of any dressing room is how one looks while trying on a bathing suit. The Everything But Water swimsuit stores equip their dressing rooms with tinted mirrors that give customers an artificial tan.

Customers “like it--especially in winter when they’re white,” says Rachel Childers, sales associate at Everything But Water in the Brea Mall.

One need not frequent only tony boutiques to find inviting dressing rooms. Some stores with moderately priced merchandise are encouraging customers to stay longer--and spend more--by revamping their dressing rooms. JCPenney in the Brea Mall, which opened in July 1993, has the kind of updated dressing rooms seen in the chain’s newer or renovated stores.

Gone are the old 4-by-4-foot stalls that made one feel, quite literally, like a clothes horse. In their place are individual 5-by-6-foot dressing rooms decorated with wood trim, an understated light beige carpeting and decorator wallpaper. Artworks hang in the hallway.

“The dressing room kind of finishes off the sale,” says Price Parker, manager of the Brea store.

Dressing rooms are important because it’s there that shoppers can really critique clothes, says Dianna Pfaff-Martin, founder of California Image Advisors, an image consulting company in Newport Beach.

“The dressing room is an extension of the establishment and should be given as much attention as anything else,” she says. “I’ve seen some rooms where the clothes are left hanging everywhere or the mirrors are warped so they make you look fat.”

A good mirror is essential--shoppers should use it to closely scrutinize the fit and silhouette of the clothes, Pfaff-Martin says. The rooms should also be well-lighted so one doesn’t choose something that’s the wrong color.

“When I’m concerned about color, I’ll walk out in my tennis socks to the exit doors so I can see what the clothes look like in a true light,” she says.

Finally, she suggests that shoppers know when to turn a deaf ear to salespeople who visit dressing rooms to push merchandise.

“Too many salespeople go into dressing rooms and offer compliments to get a sale,” she says. “You have to trust your own judgment.”

Views From the Rooms

Times fashion writer Kathyrn Bold visited various dressing rooms in Orange County. Here’s her assessment:

Five Favorite Dressing Rooms

1. Saks Fifth Avenue’s Fifth Avenue Club--Attentive salespeople, tea service, complimentary perfumes.

2. Chanel--Skip the two smaller rooms for the penthouse with the leather couch.

3. Nordstrom--Dressing rooms vary by department, but those in Special Occasion are spacious, attractive and visited regularly by salespeople who are attentive but not in your face.

4. Escada--With the candy and fresh flowers, I could forgive the unflattering lighting.

5. Victoria’s Secret--The romantic decor of these lingerie boutiques carries through into the dressing rooms, which often boast gilded mirrors, fabric wall coverings and upholstered seating.

Five That Need Make-Overs

1. Neiman Marcus--If this wasn’t Neiman Marcus (in the evening wear department, no less), these rather average dressing rooms would be acceptable. Alas, it was, and they weren’t.

2. Bullock’s--The Mission Valley store had fairly Spartan quarters, considering the establishment.

3. Robinsons-May--Points taken off for neatness.

4. Target--The decor says army barracks, and the lighting is awful.

5. Price Club/Costco--You say they don’t have dressing rooms? My point, exactly.