Vanity Sizing Out of Control?

nowine4me

I have some 5-6 year old jeans in a 10, some 4 year old size 8 some 1 year old size 6 and brand new size 4 all from Old Navy and they all fit.

jennybearlv

sarahthes wrote: »

tiffaninghs wrote: »

sbrownallison wrote: »

After a lifetime of being overweight/obese, I finally achieved a normal/healthy weight and have kept it off for four years. And, of course, with the help of My Fitness Pal and hyper-vigilance in my diet, plue exercise. Yay, me, right?

Buying clothes now, while easier than at a size 20, still remains a mystery. There is no consistency is sizing, and it seems to be ever-changing. Vanity sizing is real, folks! Today, I went to Old Navy (a good sale) to look for a pair of jeans. I haven't shopped for clothes there in years but -- a good sale, remember -- thought I'd try it out again. I've been wearing a size 8 lately, so took a pair of those into the dressing room. I have gained 5 lbs over the last year, so was a bit worried they might not fit. Swimming in them. What's going on? Went back out and got a size 6, a size I've never ever fit into, ever. They were OK, but big enough in the waist that I thought: I don't want to have to be hiking these up every 10 steps. Back to the rack and tried on a 4. Found the fit to be acceptable in all ways. Ridiculous.

Has anyone found this kind of issue in other stores? Is this just an Old Navy thing? Really, what is going on?

honestly Old navy is the worst for this!!!

I think you mean the best . Love that I can shop there and find something that fits. Sadly the local plus sized places also vanity size and I find even their smallest size 12 is a little big in most of their brands... And I'm 5'4" and 200 lbs. I should still fit some of their stuff at this size.

Yes! I loved this when I got into running and needed appropriate clothes I could afford to shrink out of. I originally went to ON online to check their plus size gear, but opened the size charts and discovered their XXL's fit my measurements. It has made me a happy exerciser. I wouldn't touch their casual clothes though. The models all look like they're wearing tents.

bnovak226

I went shopping today and ended up with Lucky Brand skinny jeans size 6..... I have NEVER been a size 6 and all my old jeans I wear are 8's and by no mean loose fitting. Also all the jeans I tried on today were stretchy material......???? WTF

ronjsteele1

Look_Its_Kriss wrote: »

When i was a teen, i dreamed of being able to shop at the mall with all those stores that always stopped at size 13.

Now that i am a size 7/8 i've gone in once. Everything was bland and beige.. maybe i just picked the wrong day to shop.. but i honestly wasn't even remotely interested in anything..

now that i am petite, i find my favorite place to shop is the second hand store here, value village
I let everyone else find the cute colored and fun stuff and wait for them to donate it. lol
I can sweep all the sizes, all the brands and try everything on in one store. And granted my sizes are all over the place too.. but my jeans are usually consistant, i take a large in womens t shirts and tank tops, xs in yoga pants, medium/small in hoodies..

Value Village.........a woman after my own heart. :-D Love that place!

kcmsmith0405

OMG I thought this was just me! On top of the actual sizing issues - I am also tall so finding jeans that fit and are long enough... nightmare city. I actually buy old navy - AFTER I go into the store and try on the equivalant regualr length to find the right size then I order them in long from the website. However right now old navy doesn't have a size that fits me - so I am looking for somewhere else to get some jeans.

sammyliftsandeats

I bought size 6 jeans and size 4 dress pants from Old Navy in the same day LOL.

That place makes me laugh. I have to take in 3 sizes of the same style into the fitting room to find what fits.

elisa123gal

i just had the shocking realization of vanity sizing a few weeks ago. i was fitting into a size ten jeans again and thought.. wow.. i'm doing great. Then i got on the scale to weigh myself which i wasn't doing because i didn't want to get discouraged. I expected to see a way lower number because my jeans told me i was getting back to my normal weight. not so.. still 20 pounds away. .

kristikitter

Ohhh the vanity sizing!! (In the UK here, but still). Size 18s, size 16s, size 'M' or 'L' or 'XL' - who knows!!

As long as it looks good on me I don't care about the label - have learned to accept that NO ONE can see it except me anyway!

HeliumIsNoble

flaminica wrote: »

Vanity sizing makes sense when you remember that sizes are tailored not to women's bodies but to the desired demographic of the retailer. This is why a Medium at Forever 21 (age demographic 16-25) is much smaller than a Medium at Reitmans (where the age target is 35-50). Because an average twenty year old is a different size and shape than an average forty year old.

Old Navy clothing is enormous. I don't know what they're up to. H&M is teeny tiny; it's where my 85 lb mother shops because it's the only store that carries pants small enough.

This video explains it well. Fun trivia: In 1947 a size 8 was equivalent to a modern 00.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=7QwlT5f7H1c

This. So much this.

Retailers aim to sell clothes to fit their customers, how big or small the population is. Taking Old Navy for a minute, don't think of their size numbering system as meaning something objective. Those numbers aren't particular sizes, and they should be read as "Much Smaller than Current Average Old Navy Customer", "Smaller than Average Old Navy Customer", "Current Average Old Navy Customer", "Larger than Average Old Navy Customer", "Much Larger than Average Old Navy Customer", and so on. It is simply convention that most stores have always numbered their best-selling sizes, instead of labelling them XXS, XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL.

mlinci

Banana Republic had a closing down sale here in the U.K. - I'm a UK size 10-12 now, and I thought I'd fit 6-8 in Banana Republic sizes - ended up buying a couple of items in size 4, and one skirt I tried best fit me in size 2!!!

(I'm 5'5 and 142 pounds)

LivingtheLeanDream

Vanity sizing is a thing, in the UK we have it too - when I was (much) younger and 9 stone/ 126lbs I was a UK size 12, I am now back at around 126lbs and now a size UK 8 - 10 - so in 20 yrs there has been a huge difference to clothing sizes....maybe if they keep going by the time I'm 60 I'll be a size 0 .

MissMaggieMuffin

Look_Its_Kriss wrote: »

When i was a teen, i dreamed of being able to shop at the mall with all those stores that always stopped at size 13.

now that i am petite, i find my favorite place to shop is the second hand store here, value village
I let everyone else find the cute colored and fun stuff and wait for them to donate it. lol
I can sweep all the sizes, all the brands and try everything on in one store. And granted my sizes are all over the place too.. but my jeans are usually consistant, i take a large in womens t shirts and tank tops, xs in yoga pants, medium/small in hoodies..

Sidebar comment on this thread - LOVE shopping at Value Village - not something you can do when you're in a hurry and have to find something, but I have found some fantastic 'deals' there. Often, NWT!

wellthenwhat

I HATE vanity sizing! give us measurements like mens clothes, that would be great!

maybe1pe

I honestly don't have this problem with Old Navy. I wear a size 12 there and a size 12 every where else too. I wear a size large in tops there and a size large every where else too..... Maybe that's just me

bfanny

Haha you just made me want to run to Old Navy, I'm a size 6 so maybe I'll fit into their "2"

SparklyBubblyBabe

sbrownallison wrote: »

Vanity sizing is real, folks! Today, I went to Old Navy (a good sale) to look for a pair of jeans. I haven't shopped for clothes there in years but -- a good sale, remember -- thought I'd try it out again. I've been wearing a size 8 lately, so took a pair of those into the dressing room. I have gained 5 lbs over the last year, so was a bit worried they might not fit. Swimming in them.

See, now I feel bad because in other stores I'm a size 10 right now, but I'm still between a 12-14 at Old Navy, but everyone else seems to be having the opposite problem

GoldBikiniGoals

I'm a retail manager for a store that carries a lot of branded jeans (Silver, Mavi, Guess etc) and I always tell customers not to bother trying to pull their own jeans. I figure out what size they wear in one brand and then know what sizes to grab them in everything else. Vanity sizing is real, but sizing in general is just incredibly inconsistent and a lot of it has to do with the differences in how fabrics and key items are made; Denim in the 1970s had virtually no stretch to it (lycra/spandex etc) which left your size very stable, a jean with 2% spandex is going to accommodate a larger person than one without spandex. The cut of an item greatly effects it's size as well; I have large hips, so if a jean sits mid-rise or higher I tend to take a 27 or so; low rise and I may struggle to fit in a 32.

I will say though, it's not just on the women's side anymore. I see it all the time with mens' clothing as well.

zyxst

wellthenwhat wrote: »

I HATE vanity sizing! give us measurements like mens clothes, that would be great!

Only jeans I can't find to fit me in the men's department. I have a big butt and gut and men's jeans don't accommodate both. If I want to go plumber's cracking around, I'd be great.

The biceps fitting in women's is horrible.

MaybeLed

GoldBikiniGoals wrote: »

I'm a retail manager for a store that carries a lot of branded jeans (Silver, Mavi, Guess etc) and I always tell customers not to bother trying to pull their own jeans. I figure out what size they wear in one brand and then know what sizes to grab them in everything else. Vanity sizing is real, but sizing in general is just incredibly inconsistent and a lot of it has to do with the differences in how fabrics and key items are made; Denim in the 1970s had virtually no stretch to it (lycra/spandex etc) which left your size very stable, a jean with 2% spandex is going to accommodate a larger person than one without spandex. The cut of an item greatly effects it's size as well; I have large hips, so if a jean sits mid-rise or higher I tend to take a 27 or so; low rise and I may struggle to fit in a 32.

I will say though, it's not just on the women's side anymore. I see it all the time with mens' clothing as well.

You know now that you say that it makes so much sense. Made me think about when I bought my wedding dress. I started telling her about my sizes, and she was like nah. Just measured me got a bunch of dresses after checking some sizing tables and every single one fit perfectly, but they were all different sizes.

Queenmunchy

Old Navy is the worst. I wore my size 4 jeans (they're my bigger jeans) until I was about 22 weeks pregnant, and I'm not small!