vanity sizing
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I used to say I was a size 10 even when I weighed 185 pounds at 5'5".
And no *kitten* I was a size 10....everything has stretch in it. I could gain another 20 pounds and be a size 10 still. In reality. Remove the stretch and I was more like a size 12 or 14.
Who are we kidding here...lol ourselves obviously.
I have lost 32 pounds and I went to a thrift store looking for some high end jeans, brands such as - 7 for all mankind, Hudson, Banana Republic. They are super cute. They retail $100 and up brand new. This thrift store sells them for 10-30 dollars and they are in great shape.
I looked for a size 29/8 knowing they would likely fit due to the 1% stretch they adding in the material. Well, they came on and fitted like a glove. I didn't even have to force them over my hips this time and holding my stomach in to button them. I had to do a double check on the size. So that was a nice surprise.2 -
It's stupid and annoying because you can't buy anything without trying it first.1
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I've always been roughly around the same size/weight, within a pretty narrow range, and in high school in the 1990s I was an 8 and am now a 4. But if I shop at Target or Old Navy, it's even smaller. My wedding dress was the only couture thing I ever owned, and it was a 12!!! So who knows. I think it's more of an indication of progress if something that you owned which used to be too tight is now too loose than if the new dress you just bought is a smaller size than usual.0
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It's so annoying!! I can wear a 2 with room to spare, at Old Navy. I know I'm thin, but I'm not that thin! And it doesn't make me feel any better about myself. I know what they are doing haha! I have pants in sizes 2, 4 and 6. They all fit. I take the average as my starting point at most stores, so I usually start with a 4. But I won't shop online because who knows what size it really is?! I tried on 2 pairs of pants at the Gap, both size 2. One fit, one was way too tight. I give up!0
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I was at Kohl's this weekend and tried on a 10, which has been pretty snug since being a lazy tracker the last few weeks. It was too big and I needed an 8! I definitely know I am not a "real" 8.0
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fitoverfortymom wrote: »I was at Kohl's this weekend and tried on a 10, which has been pretty snug since being a lazy tracker the last few weeks. It was too big and I needed an 8! I definitely know I am not a "real" 8.
Kohls is the worst!! I tried on a few dresses in a small and they were hanging off of me. Come on!! I am definitely not small enough to be sized out of the store. I'm 5'7" 140lbs. Right in the middle of a healthy BMI. So frustrating.3 -
spiriteagle99 wrote: »...I won't buy online because I have no idea what the sizing will be like...
This. It's like rolling the dice. No online clothes shopping for me.
get a measuring tape.
i have no problem buying online. i know my measurements and go by that, not by size4 -
spiriteagle99 wrote: »...I won't buy online because I have no idea what the sizing will be like...
This. It's like rolling the dice. No online clothes shopping for me.
get a measuring tape.
i have no problem buying online. i know my measurements and go by that, not by size
Same.
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I had bought a vintage NY fashion house silk dress ten years ago. I never fit in that dress. I just tried it on a few weekends ago and I now fit in it. My regular clothes are three sizes smaller than this dress. I remember what I was in high school (I'm 56 now) and I was in a larger size in high school and weighed 23 pounds less. But like you say, go by how you feel...at least my age you do.0
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spiriteagle99 wrote: »...I won't buy online because I have no idea what the sizing will be like...
This. It's like rolling the dice. No online clothes shopping for me.
get a measuring tape.
i have no problem buying online. i know my measurements and go by that, not by size
^I've actually had more luck online shopping using my measurements than shopping at a store in person.3 -
I HATE vanity sizing. I wish that it all had to be related to a standardized measurement at certain points of the garment.
If the garment is made for women with wider hips then it can be a size 2 at the waste with x inches at the hip.
That way if I have to go up a size I am given accurate feed back. IMO Vanity sizing should be illegal because frankly it's a form of manipulation and almost has a gaslighting effect on women. It's confusing and makes shopping a pain in the *kitten*1 -
It also stinks because if you’re in the smaller size range, you sometimes can’t find clothes small enough. I’m now in maintenance (110-115 lb, just under 5 feet tall), and some “small” clothes are still too big. I’ve found “small” clothes that I could have worn 100 pounds ago.
Do you buy petite? Anne Taylor Loft and Talbots are great for those sizes.0 -
It also stinks because if you’re in the smaller size range, you sometimes can’t find clothes small enough. I’m now in maintenance (110-115 lb, just under 5 feet tall), and some “small” clothes are still too big. I’ve found “small” clothes that I could have worn 100 pounds ago.
I believe this for sure. I am 5'8 around 170 lb with big hips and bust, and I have a few S shirts and lots of M in my closet. I am NOT small or medium by any stretch of the imagination! It does happen with guys clothes sometimes too. When my husband was 190-ish at 6'2" with a broad chest, he had several S/M men's shirts and not just t-shirts...nuts. He has gained some weight and has mainly LT now...but there are XL shirts that fit snug and XL that swim on him.
This vanity sizing stuff is so crazy sometimes that I truly do feel for those of you who are actually SMALL people!3 -
I love that horseback riding pants are all by waist size. First time I ever walked up to a rack and had 15 pairs of pants that fit. I got to choose between colors and features instead of trying to find something that didn't gap in a weird way.
Quickest shopping trip ever!1 -
tmoneyag99 wrote: »It also stinks because if you’re in the smaller size range, you sometimes can’t find clothes small enough. I’m now in maintenance (110-115 lb, just under 5 feet tall), and some “small” clothes are still too big. I’ve found “small” clothes that I could have worn 100 pounds ago.
Do you buy petite? Anne Taylor Loft and Talbots are great for those sizes.
Yup, and petites are still too long. Petite clothes are made for people who are about 5'2". The pants still have to be hemmed. At Ann Taylor I *almost* got it right. I bought petite "ankle pants" which worked perfectly at first...except that I have big runners' calves and they ride up. Now those just look like weirdly short pants.
The best I currently have is Old Navy pixie ankle pants. Banana Republic "girlfriend" jeans are also good if I unroll the cuff. I wear 00 or 0 in both. All my pants have a gap in the back, but I'm used to that.
Edit: And boys' jeans! This is *very* hit or miss depending on your shape, but some "husky" jeans will accommodate hips. I have a pair of size 8 Husky boys' jeans.2 -
WickedPineapple wrote: »spiriteagle99 wrote: »...I won't buy online because I have no idea what the sizing will be like...
This. It's like rolling the dice. No online clothes shopping for me.
get a measuring tape.
i have no problem buying online. i know my measurements and go by that, not by size
^I've actually had more luck online shopping using my measurements than shopping at a store in person.
Yep. I only shop online. instead of trying on 100s of pieces in a badly lit dressing room and feeling bad about myself, I can order clothes online while sitting in my PJs with a cup of coffee.
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DancingMoosie wrote: »Idk... I wear an xs top or 2 in old Navy Rockstars, but I also wear similar sizes at other stores I go to...and I have a few older banana republic and gap bottoms that seem a similar size. I do think there is vanity sizing over the years and it probably gets worse as the size increases. I had to measure my husband to order a jacket the other day, turns out his waist measures 40 in and he wears 38 jeans.
Yeah, I don't find this rampant problem between me in Old Navy and everywhere else... and a 12 in the 80's now a 00? That's a bit extreme. Because I wore a 12 in the 80's and I can't wear a 00 now and I was fatter in the 80's by 20 pounds than I am now.
I'm depending on the store and the article of clothing, anything from 0-4. Even at Old Navy, I'm not consistently in the same size from garment to garment, nor am I in any other store. One cut of jean may fit me in a 2, in another, I'll fit in a 0.1 -
Yep, the States is the worst for vanity sizing, which has been going on for ages but really did get worse in the 90s. UK/Australian sizing is what USA and Canadian sizing used to be 20 years ago; 10 years ago a UK 14 was a US 12 and now a UK 14 is supposedly a US 10.
When I was in high school in the 70s and 80s I was 5' 5" and 115 pounds and a perfect size 10
. The smallest size you could buy was a 6, and it was almost impossible to find them in department stores.
How? I was 5'3" and 140 and wore a 12. I don't understand.0 -
tmoneyag99 wrote: »It also stinks because if you’re in the smaller size range, you sometimes can’t find clothes small enough. I’m now in maintenance (110-115 lb, just under 5 feet tall), and some “small” clothes are still too big. I’ve found “small” clothes that I could have worn 100 pounds ago.
Do you buy petite? Anne Taylor Loft and Talbots are great for those sizes.
Yup, and petites are still too long. Petite clothes are made for people who are about 5'2". The pants still have to be hemmed. At Ann Taylor I *almost* got it right. I bought petite "ankle pants" which worked perfectly at first...except that I have big runners' calves and they ride up. Now those just look like weirdly short pants.
The best I currently have is Old Navy pixie ankle pants. Banana Republic "girlfriend" jeans are also good if I unroll the cuff. I wear 00 or 0 in both. All my pants have a gap in the back, but I'm used to that.
Edit: And boys' jeans! This is *very* hit or miss depending on your shape, but some "husky" jeans will accommodate hips. I have a pair of size 8 Husky boys' jeans.
I've had good luck with pants from Maurice's - though I do have sizes ranging from 0 to 7/8 right now since I've gained some weight, ugh.
Anyway! Some of their jeans come in XS - extra short - which bring off those extra couple of inches. I'm 5 feet tall on a good day and the XS is perfect.
If you have a Maurice's in the area, stop in and see if any of the sizes work. It would be worth a shot!
~Lyssa0 -
@macgurlnet Lee’s also has “short petite” in some jean styles. Kohl’s occasionally carries them, and I’ve found them on Amazon. Unfortunately they only go down to a size 4, so after losing weight I couldn’t wear them anymore.0
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That happened to me with Levis jeans. I wear a size 6. Confident in that sizing, I bought a pair of Chinos from Target, brought them home, cut the tags off and threw be away the receipt. Imagine my surprise when I went to put them on for work one day and I couldn't pull them above my knees lol
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To take something of a tangent, in addition to sizing frustration (which I share), I’m also sad to see fewer and fewer ready-to-wear styles in a somewhat tailored fit. I’m not talking skin tight or anything, just fitted enough to have a waist vs. me looking like a sack of potatoes. I’m an hourglass, and hips are the biggest part of me, so if there isn’t a hint of waist, I look like a sack.
I think the reality in the US market, anyway, is 2/3 of people are overweight with half of those being obese. There are evermore apple shapes out there. If a brand intends to address a mass market, they have to design styles overweight and obese people will buy, because they outnumber thin folks. So even if a garment fits, it’s likely to be apple shaped in a smaller size. last summer I looked and looked for a replacement for a chambray sleeveless top I had worn easily >10 years (threadbare ). It was definitely in OT. I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I finally bought a $20 target top that I planned to have altered. I could tell from the photos it had no waist and was way too long to work the way my old top did, but it was the right idea. Shock when the tailor told me it was $70 to alter! I wore the heck out of that thing all summer and joked with my family my tailor takes a $20 shirt and makes it a $90 shirt. Yeah, I’m altering more stuff on my own, now. It would help if I had a serger.3 -
I feel like the style at the moment is for looser flowy tops and not as fitted. Just as bell-bottom jeans used to be in style and now skinny jeans are still hanging on. Fitted tops pair better with larger fitting pants, looser tops pair well with leggings/skinny jeans. I am not sure @ahoy_m8 statement about obese people causing looser tops is really the best explanation. I feel like more obese people in the US has made plus size section of stores larger and more stores that cater to their sizes.
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I feel like the style at the moment is for looser flowy tops and not as fitted. Just as bell-bottom jeans used to be in style and now skinny jeans are still hanging on. Fitted tops pair better with larger fitting pants, looser tops pair well with leggings/skinny jeans. I am not sure @ahoy_m8 statement about obese people causing looser tops is really the best explanation. I feel like more obese people in the US has made plus size section of stores larger and more stores that cater to their sizes.
I was in a store several years ago (about 50 lbs. ago for me). and the saleslady was telling me that tops were now looser and a different shape because of more overweight women wanting to hide their bellies. This was not in the "plus-size" part of the store but in the regular sizes.
FWIW I don't wear jeans anymore because I find denim uncomfortable, and have never worn leggings with a top, only under a dress. I personally wouldn't wear skinny jeans (if I still wore jeans) unless I was actually skinny! I also don't agree that skinny jeans should go with looser tops. If one is actually thin and wears them, and has tight abs, why would you want to wear a loose top?4 -
Good points @kballsocc . My daughter says exactly the same thing about pairing pants/tops.0
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To take something of a tangent, in addition to sizing frustration (which I share), I’m also sad to see fewer and fewer ready-to-wear styles in a somewhat tailored fit. I’m not talking skin tight or anything, just fitted enough to have a waist vs. me looking like a sack of potatoes. I’m an hourglass, and hips are the biggest part of me, so if there isn’t a hint of waist, I look like a sack.
I think the reality in the US market, anyway, is 2/3 of people are overweight with half of those being obese. There are evermore apple shapes out there. If a brand intends to address a mass market, they have to design styles overweight and obese people will buy, because they outnumber thin folks. So even if a garment fits, it’s likely to be apple shaped in a smaller size. last summer I looked and looked for a replacement for a chambray sleeveless top I had worn easily >10 years (threadbare ). It was definitely in OT. I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I finally bought a $20 target top that I planned to have altered. I could tell from the photos it had no waist and was way too long to work the way my old top did, but it was the right idea. Shock when the tailor told me it was $70 to alter! I wore the heck out of that thing all summer and joked with my family my tailor takes a $20 shirt and makes it a $90 shirt. Yeah, I’m altering more stuff on my own, now. It would help if I had a serger.
I'm an hourglass and have really struggled to find well fitting/flattering clothes the last 2 years. It sucks!!
My thought on the current trends is that it is much easier and therefore cheaper to make.6 -
tropicalchicy wrote: »To take something of a tangent, in addition to sizing frustration (which I share), I’m also sad to see fewer and fewer ready-to-wear styles in a somewhat tailored fit. I’m not talking skin tight or anything, just fitted enough to have a waist vs. me looking like a sack of potatoes. I’m an hourglass, and hips are the biggest part of me, so if there isn’t a hint of waist, I look like a sack.
I think the reality in the US market, anyway, is 2/3 of people are overweight with half of those being obese. There are evermore apple shapes out there. If a brand intends to address a mass market, they have to design styles overweight and obese people will buy, because they outnumber thin folks. So even if a garment fits, it’s likely to be apple shaped in a smaller size. last summer I looked and looked for a replacement for a chambray sleeveless top I had worn easily >10 years (threadbare ). It was definitely in OT. I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I finally bought a $20 target top that I planned to have altered. I could tell from the photos it had no waist and was way too long to work the way my old top did, but it was the right idea. Shock when the tailor told me it was $70 to alter! I wore the heck out of that thing all summer and joked with my family my tailor takes a $20 shirt and makes it a $90 shirt. Yeah, I’m altering more stuff on my own, now. It would help if I had a serger.
I'm an hourglass and have really struggled to find well fitting/flattering clothes the last 2 years. It sucks!!
My thought on the current trends is that it is much easier and therefore cheaper to make.
I may have learned that lesson the hard way. I wish I had better skills (and confidence).0 -
I feel like the style at the moment is for looser flowy tops and not as fitted. Just as bell-bottom jeans used to be in style and now skinny jeans are still hanging on. Fitted tops pair better with larger fitting pants, looser tops pair well with leggings/skinny jeans. I am not sure @ahoy_m8 statement about obese people causing looser tops is really the best explanation. I feel like more obese people in the US has made plus size section of stores larger and more stores that cater to their sizes.
I definitely think that is true about the plus size stores/sections. I wore plus sizes from 1992-2013 (at ages 16-37) and my options went from very few stores & ugly matronly clothes (Lane Bryant finally started getting a few things right in the later 1990s with younger styles) to really a LOT of selection and a very wide range of styles. Especially the juniors plus stuff today...nothing like that back in my teen years, that is for sure. But I look at teens now and a lot of girls are plus-sized compared to back in my high school days, when out of 800 in my graduating class I could probably count only 20-30 girls who weren't skinny (not even saying they were plus sized, that number would be even smaller).
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lucerorojo wrote: »I feel like the style at the moment is for looser flowy tops and not as fitted. Just as bell-bottom jeans used to be in style and now skinny jeans are still hanging on. Fitted tops pair better with larger fitting pants, looser tops pair well with leggings/skinny jeans. I am not sure @ahoy_m8 statement about obese people causing looser tops is really the best explanation. I feel like more obese people in the US has made plus size section of stores larger and more stores that cater to their sizes.
I was in a store several years ago (about 50 lbs. ago for me). and the saleslady was telling me that tops were now looser and a different shape because of more overweight women wanting to hide their bellies. This was not in the "plus-size" part of the store but in the regular sizes.
FWIW I don't wear jeans anymore because I find denim uncomfortable, and have never worn leggings with a top, only under a dress. I personally wouldn't wear skinny jeans (if I still wore jeans) unless I was actually skinny! I also don't agree that skinny jeans should go with looser tops. If one is actually thin and wears them, and has tight abs, why would you want to wear a loose top?
That's the style I like. I see it as balance; fitted in one area not so fitted in the other. Like the rule I use for showing skin: if I'm wearing a shorter skirt I'm not going to wear a deep v too.4 -
lucerorojo wrote: »I feel like the style at the moment is for looser flowy tops and not as fitted. Just as bell-bottom jeans used to be in style and now skinny jeans are still hanging on. Fitted tops pair better with larger fitting pants, looser tops pair well with leggings/skinny jeans. I am not sure @ahoy_m8 statement about obese people causing looser tops is really the best explanation. I feel like more obese people in the US has made plus size section of stores larger and more stores that cater to their sizes.
I was in a store several years ago (about 50 lbs. ago for me). and the saleslady was telling me that tops were now looser and a different shape because of more overweight women wanting to hide their bellies. This was not in the "plus-size" part of the store but in the regular sizes.
FWIW I don't wear jeans anymore because I find denim uncomfortable, and have never worn leggings with a top, only under a dress. I personally wouldn't wear skinny jeans (if I still wore jeans) unless I was actually skinny! I also don't agree that skinny jeans should go with looser tops. If one is actually thin and wears them, and has tight abs, why would you want to wear a loose top?
That's the style I like. I see it as balance; fitted in one area not so fitted in the other. Like the rule I use for showing skin: if I'm wearing a shorter skirt I'm not going to wear a deep v too.
I think it’s preference. I always wear loose tops because I can’t stand the feeling of tight clothes. I never buy fitted tops because I find them uncomfortable.0
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