It’s all about baby steps when trying to make the leap out of the 7th century.

(JPost) — As of Wednesday, decades of embarrassing sales pitches from men over panties, bras and negligees officially come to an end in Saudi Arabia as a government decree that salesmen must be replaced by saleswomen comes into effect.

The kingdom’s lingerie shops are expected to hire some 28,000 women to take over jobs from men in over 7,300 shops. The move is expected to boost employment for the country’s women, even if they still have to be driven to their place of work because the country still bans female drivers.

King Abdullah, who has promised to improve the status of women and create more jobs for Saudis in the private sector, last summer issued a list of decrees pertaining to employment in the kingdom including an order to “feminize” women’s clothing shops.

The decree came after a successful boycott campaign, including on Facebook, by women tired and embarrassed by having to shop for intimate apparel in the presence of men. Still, it took nearly half a year to put the decree into practice.

“Jan. 4. Women officially allowed to work openly in malls!” tweeted Eman Al-Nafjan, a Riyadh-based blogger and feminist activist.