Ridiculous clothing sizing in shops.

AngelAura777
AngelAura777 Posts: 225 Member
in Motivation and Support
So I thought I have been making good progress lately and im feeling good and I went into a store and tried on a medium and it was too small then I tried a large and it was still ridiculously small! yet when I buy gym clothes im a small - medium its ridiculous the discrepancies between stores and their clothing sizes! some items in my wardrobe are size 8/ small and some are up to size 12/ large! I think I should just cut off all the tags of my clothes and wear what feels good. **** societies idea of what is small or what is large! I know im not a fat person any more I have worked my *kitten* off and im not going to let a size tag at a shop define who I am and how I feel about myself!
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Replies

  • annette_15
    annette_15 Posts: 1,657 Member
    Sorry I got nothing to add. You're very pretty tho :)
  • AngelAura777
    AngelAura777 Posts: 225 Member
    Thanks lovely! =]
  • louisedavies311
    louisedavies311 Posts: 110 Member
    you are not a number that's what I think when I stand on the scales same with clothes you have done so well x
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    I think I should just cut off all the tags of my clothes and wear what feels good.

    This is a good idea. You don't even need to cut the tags. Just wear what feels good. Sizing varies for many reasons. You are still the same person with the same body whatever the clothing size is. The number or size is not important.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    So I thought I have been making good progress lately and im feeling good and I went into a store and tried on a medium and it was too small then I tried a large and it was still ridiculously small! yet when I buy gym clothes im a small - medium its ridiculous the discrepancies between stores and their clothing sizes! some items in my wardrobe are size 8/ small and some are up to size 12/ large! I think I should just cut off all the tags of my clothes and wear what feels good. **** societies idea of what is small or what is large! I know im not a fat person any more I have worked my *kitten* off and im not going to let a size tag at a shop define who I am and how I feel about myself!

    My two pairs of jeans that fit perfectly, one is from a UK teenager brand and is supposedly a size 6 in US sizes, the other is from a French women brand and it claims to be a US size 10...just ignore the tags :)
  • Chezzie84
    Chezzie84 Posts: 873 Member
    Its the same here in the UK.
    In 1 shop I am 14, in another a 16 and in another an 18.
    Its stupid
  • 3laine75
    3laine75 Posts: 3,069 Member
    Its the same here in the UK.
    In 1 shop I am 14, in another a 16 and in another an 18.
    Its stupid

    Haha - go to M&S, youll be a 10 or a 12 there (there's not much I like but it's great buying a 10). I stear clear of new look and la senza - they would have me buying 18s, the b@stards.
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
    I have clothes in UK sizes 10, 12 and 14. It doesn't matter, just wear what looks good! I'm pregnant, and it's the same with maternity clothes, you end up with a variety of sizes.
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,467 Member
    Have you tried Jaeger? Their sizes are huge! Much bigger than M&S even.
  • xX_PhoenixRising_Xx
    xX_PhoenixRising_Xx Posts: 623 Member
    In my wardrobe I have a size 10 skirt and a size 16 pair of pants. Their waistbands are the same size. I think that says it all. Definitely just wear what's comfortable!
  • Eleonora91
    Eleonora91 Posts: 688 Member
    The only thing I've learnt about sizes during my weightloss journey is that it's all INSANE.
    I'll never rely on sizes to value my weight or my body or my weightloss ever again. Go cut all of the tags if you want to, that's perfectly reasonable and I can completely understand.
  • Chezzie84
    Chezzie84 Posts: 873 Member
    Thing I worry about is young girls. They are so impressionable that the numbers matter. It's all about being the perfect 10.
    Even if they are perfect, the numbers don't back it up and they get a warped impression body image ie: I have to wear a size 16 so I must be fat!!
    Scary really.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Were you in Charlotte Russe?
  • LearnFromTheRed
    LearnFromTheRed Posts: 294 Member
    Its the same here in the UK.
    In 1 shop I am 14, in another a 16 and in another an 18.
    Its stupid

    Haha - go to M&S, youll be a 10 or a 12 there (there's not much I like but it's great buying a 10). I stear clear of new look and la senza - they would have me buying 18s, the b@stards.


    Unless you have big thighs and are 5', in which case good luck fitting into jeans smaller than a 14 when everyone else says you are a 10!

    I have honestly been close to tears of frustration in M&S fitting rooms (sorry to the staff in M&S Birmingham).
  • yasminedanielle14
    yasminedanielle14 Posts: 6
    Its the same here in the UK.
    In 1 shop I am 14, in another a 16 and in another an 18.
    Its stupid

    I was absolutely thrilled the other day, when I walked into Topshop and bought a size 14 jumpsuit and a size 14 pair of trousers.
    Went next door to River Island, and the leggings and top I bought were size 16/18.
    I think they all just make up their own sizes, I wonder wether there are actual size guidelines retailers are supposed to follow?
    Also, Next have huge sizes haha.
    Would love to get down to a size 10-12 and ditch the stretchy pants and baggy jumpers but I suppose you should go more off how you feel rather than get too attached to numbers.
  • sarafischbach9
    sarafischbach9 Posts: 466 Member
    I know. Before I lost weight I was about 136 lbs and would range from a size 4 to an 8 ( major vanity sizing ). I am just under 5'4". Right now I am about 122 lbs and probably a 2-4 in women's and a 3-5 in juniors/teens.

    Some stores run ridiculously small as if they are made for young teenagers. Or other stores everything runs so big and you have to buy an XS and a size 0 when you're really like a 4 everywhere else. I know in women's clothing I sometimes I have to buy an XS, but I know in Juniors I wear a small or a medium. ( and on rare occasions when something runs ridiculously small ) a large.

    BTW, I'm in the US. I know that US and UK sizing is different.
  • GSXRGIRL61
    GSXRGIRL61 Posts: 6,489 Member
    Many of the shops in the U.S., such as Banana Republic and Ann Taylor, have different cuts of pants for different builds. There are pants for curvy, boyish, somewhere-in-between, and now they have a really slim cut. A size 2 in City will not fit someone who can wear a size 2 in Signature.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I agree, it's ridiculous. I don't care one bit what size I am, but it's just annoying when you have to try on everything before you buy them. So I just tend to stick to one brand now... at least I know what my size is in those and I can order online.

    I'm everywhere from a 4 to a 10 depending on the brand here. And S, M or L. It makes no sense whatsoever.

    I don't understand why they use measurements as sizes for men but not women. Bleh.
  • nbdiamond
    nbdiamond Posts: 9 Member
    It's called Vanity sizing, google it! It's done to make women feel good about themselves. Over the years clothing measurements have gotten larger but the size number has remained the same. Ex: 1995, I was in high school/college 5"8.5 weighed 112 lbs and wore a size 4. Now fast forward , after having 2 kids and gaining 23 lbs I wore a size 2..huh? That's impossible!! My wedding dress is a size 6 which was true to size because wedding dress makers use standard sewing patterns.
  • Athena53
    Athena53 Posts: 717 Member
    I graduated from HS in 1971 (yeah, I'm Old) and wore a size 12 back then. I weigh a little less now than I weighed back then and the last few pairs of pants/jeans I bought were size 8. If I liked them tight I could get into a 6. I'm 5'7 and 130 lbs. and that's just downright silly.

    The trend has been towards "vanity sizing" over those years, I think- they label something a 10 but cut it large enough for a size 12, who will be so thrilled she can "get into a size 10" that she'll buy it. (This is especially true of more expensive brands.) Maybe now the trend is saving a few cents on each garment by cutting it smaller and thus using less fabric. And at Chico's I buy Size 1!

    Ignore the size labels. They're crazy. Wear what fits and flatters you.
  • RadioactivePirate
    RadioactivePirate Posts: 212
    It all varies. Yesterday I bought a fleece lined hoodie in an XS and put it on over my t-shirt sized XL, and then picked up a size 6 dress and a size 12 pair of dress pants. You just gotta go with what fits.
  • GSXRGIRL61
    GSXRGIRL61 Posts: 6,489 Member
    Oh yeah, and thanks. This thread made me go to the Ann Taylor site to check out pants. And yes, I did order a pair. So wasn't going to do that.
  • Cathalain
    Cathalain Posts: 424 Member
    I'm with all of you in that clothing sizes are just downright frustrating. I have everything from a 8/10 to a 16 in my wardrobe - it's absolutely ridiculous. My Hanes sweatpants are a medium (8/10), my Izod workout shorts are a medium (8/10), yet my Lee Riders (jeans) are a 16, and I wear a 16 (almost 14) in Old Navy.

    It's absolutely RIDICULOUS. It's never this hard for men - my husband wears a size 32 in pants, period, no matter who makes them or what they are. Is it some kind of conspiracy in the fashion world to make women feel like utter poo about themselves? Ugh.

    I just wear what fits me. I don't care what the number says. But it would make it so much easier for me to know one number, flat out, so that I could shop online for what I need. Right now I just make a note of the brand name, size number, and do it that way.

    Very frustrating.

    ETA: I'm thinking about learning how to sew so that I can just make my own damn clothes - sizing be damned.
  • birdiecs
    birdiecs Posts: 237 Member
    Vanity sizing is my pet peeve. No way am I a size 4 at 128lbs when I used to wear a size 2 in high school (1988) and was an itty bitty 98lbs. There was no such thing as a size 0 back then either. Wish they just kept sizing how it used to be, It doesn't make me feel better knowing my pants are conspiring to lie to me :laugh:
  • YearsWorthOfFAT
    YearsWorthOfFAT Posts: 210
    I can wear my mom's 36 size pants, while my own pants are like what, 40 to 42?

    And sometimes i get really sad when i see something cute but they don't have my size ;(.
    And i'm only 2 kg overweight.
  • Buddhasmiracle
    Buddhasmiracle Posts: 925 Member
    don't let clothing sizes derail you. You're a lovely looking young woman. Choose comfort and styles that you are confident in and enoy wearing.
  • annie61702
    annie61702 Posts: 120 Member
    Yes, sizing is crazy. The only place I'll order pants online from is the LOFT. Their 8 curvy fit pants almost always fit me perfectly. Other than that, it's a crap shoot. You would think retailers would realize that if all clothes actually conformed to the same standards, people would order more online. Anyway, don't let the size bother you. Go with what looks good on you.
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    I'm a small-XL in the same shop.

    I wouldn't let a label upset my identity, but since my range is so ridiculous, it's not like I could take it seriously anyway.
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    Yes, sizing is crazy. The only place I'll order pants online from is the LOFT. Their 8 curvy fit pants almost always fit me perfectly. Other than that, it's a crap shoot. You would think retailers would realize that if all clothes actually conformed to the same standards, people would order more online. Anyway, don't let the size bother you. Go with what looks good on you.

    Or should we start the conspiracy theory that they do it on purpose, banking in that we'll not return them (because I will be that size one day) and end up buying more clothes?
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    It actually doesn't bother me when the clothing runs small. I need it to run small in order to find something that actually fits. If someone much larger than me (and I simply mean frame size, and do not in any way mean over weight) is wearing the small, then what am I going to wear. I would not worry about the sizing. Just be glad if we can all find something that fits. And as other people said... in North America I wear a 00 to a 2 (and in some stores the 00 is too big). But, in Europe I'd probably wear a 2 to a 6. I honestly see no purpose in aiming for a size. It has a lot to do with frame size. So, whatever size you are does not matter, only matters that you are fit.

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