Height? Weight? Do you feel that online clothing charts match your actual size?

gana2win
gana2win Posts: 14 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Summer bathing suit season is almost here. I am ordering bathing suits online and my size is all over the charts.
I am 5' 7" @ 160lbs. I thought I wear a size 12.
Different websites have clothing measurement charts that suggests that I either wear a size medium or a large or even an Extra large. Sizing ranges from a women's 10 to 14
I have tried to order clothes online only to have the suggested sizes be completely wrong.
Since most brick and mortar clothing stores don't allow you to try on clothing because of Covid, it has been a challenge for me to find the right size online. Even when I am familiar with the brand, the size can be affected by the style, cut and material used. I seem to be in a revolving cycle of buy, return, buy again.
Do you feel that online clothing charts are accurate and match your clothing size?

Replies

  • GummiMundi
    GummiMundi Posts: 396 Member
    I don't rely much on size numbers because they vary so much it becomes insane. Just to give you an example, today I'm wearing a sports top size XL and a women's t-shirt size S. They both fit perfectly, neither of the two were mislabeled (I checked), and both were bought on the same day, at the same store. It can be *that* laughable. :D
  • gana2win
    gana2win Posts: 14 Member
    wunderkindking wrote: »
    I have had to realize that size varies entirely by manufacturer and sometimes even within them - medium means the medium size of that range for a given product. '8' means nothing. I have to use actual measurements. Using those I am usually pretty close to right - and by that I mean my waist/hip/bust/inseam/whatever.

    But using that means I have size 8s and size 16s and *they both fit* exactly the same way.

    Heck I just bought two pair of shorts with a 32" waist from old navy in different styles. One was a 14, one was a 12.

    Yep, that's exactly what I mean. Even within the same brand I can range between 3 or 4 different sizes. I now have to buy multiples of the same top, bottoms or dress just to get the right fit. Then return what didn't fit or didn't work. I really miss shopping and trying on clothes at a Brick and Mortar store.
  • wunderkindking
    wunderkindking Posts: 1,615 Member
    gana2win wrote: »
    wunderkindking wrote: »
    I have had to realize that size varies entirely by manufacturer and sometimes even within them - medium means the medium size of that range for a given product. '8' means nothing. I have to use actual measurements. Using those I am usually pretty close to right - and by that I mean my waist/hip/bust/inseam/whatever.

    But using that means I have size 8s and size 16s and *they both fit* exactly the same way.

    Heck I just bought two pair of shorts with a 32" waist from old navy in different styles. One was a 14, one was a 12.

    Yep, that's exactly what I mean. Even within the same brand I can range between 3 or 4 different sizes. I now have to buy multiples of the same top, bottoms or dress just to get the right fit. Then return what didn't fit or didn't work. I really miss shopping and trying on clothes at a Brick and Mortar store.

    Me too. Especially now that my size has changed and body is still changing. I don't have the foggiest CLUE what to wear or works anymore. Frustrating as heck.
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,753 Member
    Amazon has try on before you buy and their returns are super easy.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,226 Member
    I don't find that the same size number/letter will be the same between manufacturers. Usually within one manufacturer, a similar style will have a similar fit to something I already have from that manufacturer in the same size number/letter. If the styles differ dramatically, maybe not.

    I don't find that the size charts (with body measurements) are particularly accurate, though they can be somewhat close (+/- one size), if I consider:

    * Type of clothing. Technical athletic wear often seems to run small, for example. (Why do women's *workout* jackets have sleeves designed for skeletons, though?!).
    * Ways in which my body is weird (OK, non-average). For example, I have reasonable lats (those muscles that make a sort of triangle shape between torso/shoulder/arm when one flexes). If a style looks to have closely-fitted upper sleeves where it meets the shoulder, odds are good I'll need a bigger size than bust/waist/hips/arm length kind of measurements suggest.
    * Fit of the specific style. For example, if someone has slightly wider hips but not wide shoulders or big bust, a dress with a flared or full skirt, that's not nipped in at the waist, will probably fit even if hips are a bit bigger than charted. If a sheath or pencil-skirt type thing, no way.

    This is hard, after weight loss. I was lost, for a long time . . . and I hit goal when we could try things on.

    Bathing suits are hopeless, IMO . . . but in my case, I may be biased by having had bilateral mastectomies, no reconstruction, and not wearing prostheses to swim. I can. not. imagine. how I would've bought a swimsuit at goal weight without trying it on. I tried on dozens, I swear. I fell in about a 3-size range across manufacturers and styles, even ignoring the breast problem. Add that, and it was a total crapshoot.
  • gana2win
    gana2win Posts: 14 Member
    wunderkindking wrote: »
    Swim suit?

    ...I bought men's trunks and a rash guard. Next year I'll try harder. Maybe.

    That's exactly what I wore last year to play in the water. However, now I have gotten serious about swimming for exercise, I now need a Speedo type (reduces drag) formfitting swimsuit for doing laps. I am still working on losing another 10 -15 lbs , so still expect big and small changes to my body as I continue to lose weight.
    Buying clothes online is a bit tricky for something as specific as a swimsuit.
    For casual clothing, (since I have been going down in size) I have been going to thrift stores. Though I can't try the clothes on, I can do a better guesstimate by holding the clothes up to my body, than the speculation of online buying using measurements that sometimes don't work for my body type. My bits and pieces no longer hang in the same spots as when I was younger. ;)
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    Most of the time I go down 1 size and it fits perfectly.
  • claireychn074
    claireychn074 Posts: 1,608 Member
    I have the same size issues (difference between stores and even in same stores) but I also lift. I’m short anyway which always causes issues (things fit wrong - like waistbands being up to my boobs) and then throw in chunky thigh muscles, small waist, big lats and deltoids with not much upper body fat, and I’m stuffed 🤷‍♂️
  • penguinmama87
    penguinmama87 Posts: 1,155 Member
    goal06082021 wrote: »
    I generally only buy clothing online that has a size chart with actual measurements in inches or cm, not just size conversions between the brand's size and different countries, but I have done so and been successful. I bought my wedding dress online going off of a size chart and it fit perfectly right out of the box. I've even bought a couple of questionable dresses from Amazon (they kept showing up in Buzzfeed lists of great work dresses, I was weak), and they fit well.

    I take measurements regularly, so I have those numbers handy. You also have to look at the ratio of the measurements - some garments are simply made for bodies of a different shape than the one I have, no matter how much I weigh.

    This is my strategy. I frequently shop in thrift stores too, so the tags might not reflect how an item may have shrunk due to laundering, too. Then I have to try on. Right now I wear a range that is truly astonishing - medium to XL, 10-18. Some of it might be vanity sizing, I don't know. Nobody's who's looking at me knows what the tag says.

    In general, I prefer clothing that is not very tight. I don't mean baggy, I just mean not ultra-fitted. That kind of style is just going to be really difficult to fit well for the vast majority of people due to differences in shape. I plan on wearing that style of clothing when I am lighter too, so it's not a shame thing. Just like to keep a little mystery. ;)
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    when shopping online (which i do a lot of) - i ALWAYS go by measurements. I have clothing that fits me currently in everything from a small to a 3x.
  • dragon_girl26
    dragon_girl26 Posts: 2,187 Member
    edited March 2021
    If I went strictly by numbers, then based on what's in my closet I'm a size 6-16..lol. Size charts are your friend and now is a good time to start learning how to measure yourself (I say that because you'd be surprised how many do not know how to find their measurements).
  • 1poundatax
    1poundatax Posts: 231 Member
    I am so glad to see this post. I thought I was the only one this happened to. I have lost 30+ pounds and I'm trying on some of my old clothes as well as buying some new pants. I tried on a size 18 capris that I couldnt wear last year- they just fit now. I've also bought size 14 pants recently. My current size range seems to be L-XXL. I want to buy some new sun dresses but I have no idea what size. I hate buying things over a size L but I guess I just need to look for other ways to validte my weight loss.
  • Mouse_Potato
    Mouse_Potato Posts: 1,512 Member
    I always check the size charts, but even then I've had some bad experiences. I find most clothing to be cut a little more generously than stated, but once in a while it's the opposite and I get a tourniquet instead of a tank top. :lol:
  • gana2win
    gana2win Posts: 14 Member
    Mouse_Potato wrote: »
    I always check the size charts, but even then I've had some bad experiences. I find most clothing to be cut a little more generously than stated, but once in a while it's the opposite and I get a tourniquet instead of a tank top. :lol:

    Same here. I have a long torso but even though I measure myself and it seems I meet the size measurements -
    Well, I have just received 4 simple styled swimsuits ( for lap swimming) sizes 12, 12L, 14, 14L, the same style, same maker and had to send them all back. Chest size too small or too loose, bottoms too tight or too loose, straps too long, torso too short or too long. UGH - so frustrating.
    I received a rash shirt size 14 Tall, from a company I have shopped from regularly over the years. The shirt I received was 2 inches shorter than the same ones I bought 2 years ago from the same company.
    I could tell immediately that the length was wrong. Even when using the site's measurement charts as a reference, there can still be discrepancies between the chart and what is actually delivered.
    I realize there can be differences between manufacturers and how items can be different even within the same lot, but to be 3 to 4 different sizes makes it frustrating to shop online.
    I hope to be down 10 - 15 lbs by November and I probably will still wonder "What size do I wear?"
    It's just a number and as someone else stated, nobody knows what the tag says.

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