Is American clothes getting bigger?
annie_858
Posts: 80 Member
Sizes do not seem the same. I don't mean at a particular size or brand, I mean in general. What do you think?
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American clothes run larger. For instance, an extra large in Italy would equate to a small in the US. I know this from personal experience.1
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I think it's due to vanity sizing. To make a person who wears a size 6 feel better they label it as a size 4, making your proper size 6 seem too big if that makes sense. And given that size varies between brands and even different styles of the same brand it's just an unreliable measurement. A size 6 in one brand can be fit the same waist circumference as an 8 in the other brand and a 4 in yet another. frustrating for clothing shoppers for sure.1
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I think it's due to vanity sizing. To make a person who wears a size 6 feel better they label it as a size 4, making your proper size 6 seem too big if that makes sense. And given that size varies between brands and even different styles of the same brand it's just an unreliable measurement. A size 6 in one brand can be fit the same waist circumference as an 8 in the other brand and a 4 in yet another. frustrating for clothing shoppers for sure.
That's why I try to buy the same brand goal shirt every time I get a new one. Have to buy the same cut too cause that can make a huge difference.1 -
I see that all the time on here and it may be true, but I have new jeans that are size 8 and jeans that are about 20 years old that are size 8 and they both fit comfortably. But maybe the vanity sizing started > 20 years ago.2
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Women's clothing? Yes...vanity sizing...I have learned here on MFP that this is very important to women.1
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I think it would be good if sizes just ran like how men shop for pants (by waist and leg inseam).
ETA: but yes it does seem like sizes are a bit bigger in the US, like brb said, vanity sizing.2 -
It's called vanity sizing. Today I'm 138# and wear a size 12. 30 years ago, I was 138 and wore a ladies 34 (I think that's today's size 16).0
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I dunno. Vanity sizing yes.I think it would be good if sizes just ran like how men shop for pants (by waist and leg inseam).
ETA: but yes it does seem like sizes are a bit bigger in the US, like brb said, vanity sizing.
Rule of thumb is add 20 to the women's sizing. Woman's Size 12 (+20) would be a men's 32. A Woman's Size 8 (+20) would be men's 28. And my wife would agree with you. She's of shorter stature and would love it if she could buy pants off the rack with her inseam length in mind. That's the only reason I know about the +20 rule. She can buy a 32/xx and it should fit her.0 -
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I shop at LOFT for jeans every Black Friday because the sale is great. How this has gone:
2012: 121 lbs, 25" waist, snug size 4
2013: 124 lbs, 25.5" waist, loose size 4
2014: 125 lbs, 25.5" waist, comfortable size 2
2015: 128 lbs, 26" waist, eff it, the size 2s are falling off of me and nothing looks right anymore
FFS. I've gained weight and an inch on my waist, and my jean size is getting SMALLER?
This isn't universal; if I shop at boutiques that have US clothing with universal tags, I often have to go up to a 6 or S instead of 4/XS. But big chain American clothing brands are definitely centering around a larger "average" and cutting out customers on the small end.0 -
Yes, clothing sizes have changed, IMO. I have old size 3 Levi's jeans that fit just right. I have new size 3 Levi's jeans that are baggy. And for jeans it's due to the material changing, also. It's much stretchier now which I dislike. I want actual denim! Not spandex. End rant.4
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Yes they are! And I'm already crazy short (4'11") so even when I was chunky I was still small sizes. Now that I'm not chunky I can't find anything small enough for me. I hate it.0
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Yes they are! And I'm already crazy short (4'11") so even when I was chunky I was still small sizes. Now that I'm not chunky I can't find anything small enough for me. I hate it.
Yep, and things that ARE small enough are generally not age-appropriate. I don't know how old you are and you look young, so maybe that doesn't apply to you but I've encountered this problem.1 -
Yes they are! And I'm already crazy short (4'11") so even when I was chunky I was still small sizes. Now that I'm not chunky I can't find anything small enough for me. I hate it.
Yep, and things that ARE small enough are generally not age-appropriate. I don't know how old you are and you look young, so maybe that doesn't apply to you but I've encountered this problem.
Yes! Kid clothes are cheaper but they fit weird and no one wants to look like a kid when they're already the height of one.
Also you can't really wear kid clothes to work and be taken seriously.3 -
Yes they are! And I'm already crazy short (4'11") so even when I was chunky I was still small sizes. Now that I'm not chunky I can't find anything small enough for me. I hate it.
Yep, and things that ARE small enough are generally not age-appropriate. I don't know how old you are and you look young, so maybe that doesn't apply to you but I've encountered this problem.
Yes! Kid clothes are cheaper but they fit weird and no one wants to look like a kid when they're already the height of one.
Also you can't really wear kid clothes to work and be taken seriously.
One of the questions that has nagged at me since vanity sizing got so out of control was "so, what do the people who used to wear those sizes wear now?" I mean, I'm small, but I'm not tiny. I'm just under 5'4" and I wear a 2-4 depending on the manufacturer. I bought new jeans a couple of weeks ago and I had to get the smallest size they make in that brand, so... Yeah. And I'm still trying to drop about 5 more pounds.2 -
Mouse_Potato wrote: »Yes they are! And I'm already crazy short (4'11") so even when I was chunky I was still small sizes. Now that I'm not chunky I can't find anything small enough for me. I hate it.
Yep, and things that ARE small enough are generally not age-appropriate. I don't know how old you are and you look young, so maybe that doesn't apply to you but I've encountered this problem.
Yes! Kid clothes are cheaper but they fit weird and no one wants to look like a kid when they're already the height of one.
Also you can't really wear kid clothes to work and be taken seriously.
One of the questions that has nagged at me since vanity sizing got so out of control was "so, what do the people who used to wear those sizes wear now?" I mean, I'm small, but I'm not tiny. I'm just under 5'4" and I wear a 2-4 depending on the manufacturer. I bought new jeans a couple of weeks ago and I had to get the smallest size they make in that brand, so... Yeah. And I'm still trying to drop about 5 more pounds.
Exactly and I'm too cheap and lazy to have stuff altered.0 -
I've noticed it on actual measurements, too...say, a "32" waist or a "36" waist. I can have two pairs of pants that are two different brands that say the same measurements, but one will fit better than the other. Bras, too! I'd love to have it be streamlined so they were the same. Also, I feel that I should not be a "large" when I'm 200 pounds--200 pounds is obese, and not just a little. No way that's just a large. Sizing has changed a lot since I was really small (about 12 years ago).2
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Vanity sizing for sure.
I have lived for a very long time and have clothes to prove it.
My wedding dress in 1975 was a size 12. I was 120#
Now I am wearing a size 10 @ 130#.
I told my sister I never wore a size 10 in my life. I skipped right by that size.
Medium size shirts and was always a large back then.0 -
Yes they are! And I'm already crazy short (4'11") so even when I was chunky I was still small sizes. Now that I'm not chunky I can't find anything small enough for me. I hate it.
Yep, and things that ARE small enough are generally not age-appropriate. I don't know how old you are and you look young, so maybe that doesn't apply to you but I've encountered this problem.
Yes! Kid clothes are cheaper but they fit weird and no one wants to look like a kid when they're already the height of one.
Also you can't really wear kid clothes to work and be taken seriously.
I've heard Uniqlo is a good spot for tiny people. It's an Japanese retailer and my Asian friends (mostly Chinese women, not Chinese-American, and very petite) love it.
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I'm 5'8" and around 140 to 142 pounds depending on the day and in some clothes I am a size 2 and others a size 6. Total vanity sizing!0
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Yet another reason that I am so glad that I am male. At least when I buy some damned 34 inch waist pants, they're going to be close enough so as not to matter.1
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Yep...I am Canadian an had to buy my BraS in Texas online. My best in could only buy her gitchies and tshirt from the States.0
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It's a thing for women's clothing.
Men's clothing tends to be measured in actual inches, so aren't likely to be vanity sized, although some brands just don't fit the same as others even if they are nominally the same size.0 -
It may be vanity sizing. Or it may be because there is really no codified size standard. It's up to the individual designer to decide what's a size 2 or 8 or whatever, and the cut of the item makes a big difference too. Drives me nuts, so I hate to shop!!!! I bought 2 pairs of jeans- same brand, same "model" number, same size, same fabric composition. One was made in Morocco, the other Mexico I think. One fit, one was too tight. Drives me mad.0
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Yes, clothing sizes have changed, IMO. I have old size 3 Levi's jeans that fit just right. I have new size 3 Levi's jeans that are baggy. And for jeans it's due to the material changing, also. It's much stretchier now which I dislike. I want actual denim! Not spandex. End rant.
I'm with you on this! I can't stand stretch in jeans. Not everyone wants every curve and crevice highlighted. And the material is so thin these days... I look at jeans that have been in the closet for a gazillion years and they are so much thicker. Can't wait to drop another 20 lbs and get into them!
(Edit- crevice spelling, though crevasse might apply too. 
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15 years ago, I was 160lbs, and a junior's size 11. Now the same weight, I'm a misses size 8, juniors size 7 between 150-155lbs.
I found a pair of super skinny jeans i wore three times that are 14ish years old, juniors size 9. They were tighter than my current 7's.0 -
15 years ago, in high school, I wore a size 8 jeans. Now I'm 30 pounds heavier (and it's NOT muscle), and I wear a size 6.
But at the same time, in one brand of t-shirts I wear a large, and in another I wear an extra small.
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cwolfman13 wrote: »Women's clothing? Yes...vanity sizing...I have learned here on MFP that this is very important to women.
#notallwomen
I think vanity sizing is ridiculous. 2
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