Vanity sizing?? Do we like it or not?

jooleeyah

I'm currently 5'2 1/2, 125 lbs and I can wear anything from a size 0-6. I think I genrally average a size 4 but at certain store ei: Anne Taylor, Old Navy, etc. I can wear a size 0-2. I guess it kind of makes me feel good but I also know in my head that this is completely ridiculous!! I am NOT a size 0 and I will never be no matter how much weight I lose thanks to my wider bone structure, and I'm okay with that!

I feel like clothing companies purposely size their clothes this way to trick us into buying more because we feel 'better' about ourselves. I wish women's pants' sizes were more consistent like the way mens' pants are and with different inseams because I'm so damn short!

How does everyone else feel about vanity sizing?

PaulaJKelly

Not so fond of it even though I like being a 2 petite or a 4 petite. It is difficult to know if I am what I used to be or smaller given the sizeing Have they changed them that much which is what someone who is micro-sized told me - burst my bubble after I had worked so hard.

What kills me is negative sizing. How can you be a negative 0, or 1 or 2 ? (-0, -2, -4). How can you be a negative person? Crazy stuff.

meerkat70

I don't like shopping, so do most of my shopping online. It can be very, very annoying how little consistency there is in sizing. It would be so nice if you could reliably predict that a UK 16 was actually a UK 16.....

Beezil

I totally agree with you. I was just talking about this the other day actually, I do wish they sized women's pants the same as men's. Just a length and waist size please. I mean, different styles would still be nice for different body shapes but as far as the actual sizes go, they need to be more consistent. :P

kneeki

I feel this way about cardio machines at the gym. Every model the "max" number gets higher and higher. This type of marketing has been around for a long time.

DannyMussels

Earlier this year I bought a dress shirt, it was a 14"-15" or so in the neck..and a size 'small'.

I'm 6'0", 220lbs...and am in no way small.

What would an average guy wear? A womans shirt?


You're preachin to the choir sister.

Tiffanydepiano

I think vanity sizing is really misleading.
I would rather face the fact that i wear a bigger size than be allowed to think I am smaller.
Marilyn Monroe was a size 12. Today we call that a 8-10.

I can't really back up my facts except that I was told that by a nutrition teacher. :happy:

Hottness4Lyfe

I really wouldn't call it that.... Women come is all different shapes... It has nothing to do with shape. My daughter is a size 0 and she weighs 110. Sometimes she wears a 00. It just all depends on the designer and cut. Some people make clothes to flatter the curves of a woman and some don't. Just don't get hung up on clothing sizes as mush as the fit of the clothes and how you feel in them.....

xinahay123

drives me crazy! I am 5'7", 167 and wear anything from a 6 to a 10. I am very muscular, but a true 6, no way!! Consistency would be lovely!

lausa22

I totally agree! I wish it was like boy sizes where a size 12 is always a size 12!
I have a pair of size 16 shorts that fall off of me all the time. And I size 16 that fit perfectly. I also have a pair of size 12 jeans that fit perfectly too!
I know I'm never going to be a size UK 6 or whatever, but I'd at least like to be a 12 in every shop I go to!

dmpizza

My wife wears current sizes 0-4 and my mom buys her gifts that are 8s or 10s and it infuriates my wife. My mom doesn't understand that sizes change. Even when explained to her.

adjones5

I would say that victorias secret is the most guilty of this. A Victorias Secret size C bra in reality is a size A.

katismiles

I feel the same way, generally I wear a size 2 but I fit into 0, and 4's are good. I don't understand how, but it makes me feel proud. I am in no way the Hollywood idea of a size 2. It confuses me. I also have trouble finding longs.

InvictusPheonix

I HATE it! I'm a 5' 8", there is no way I should be fitting into the sizes I do. I'm not saying that to be vain/low self esteme, it's just, I'm not, and shouldn't ever be, a size 2.
I fit into them though. Which is bizzare. I can't imagine where some of the extremely thin girls shop.
I wish sizing for women ran like sizes for men!

TripleJ3

I think vanity sizing is really misleading.
I would rather face the fact that i wear a bigger size than be allowed to think I am smaller.
Marilyn Monroe was a size 12. Today we call that a 8-10.

I can't really back up my facts except that I was told that by a nutrition teacher. :happy:

Actually, she was a 14 and a 14 back then was about a size 7 in todays standards.

That just shows how much sizing has changed and how unimportant it is. Its hard, I look for comfort and fit and will go up a size but theres still that part of you that takes gratitude when you wear a vanity smaller size. I do wish I didn't have to take 3 different sizes of each style of jeans into a dressing room.

soniaa777

dont like!!

it sucks that we put a lot into the size number. knowing about vanity sizing we should just use size as a guidline to what should fit. nowadays you cant really know who to believe when it comes to the correct size pants. just buy what fits and look more to how you look in your clothes and body. like everyone else- why cant women's sizes be like mens. consistancy

1grammie

My closet has everything from size 6 to 14, all of which fit. Makes it difficult to order anything online unless its a brand you have bought before. I don't like it and wish there was some consistancy.

DisneyMommy

I was caught up in this too while losing weight. So recently I went on a "am I really a size 4?" quest. I went to many different stores and tried on every jean type and brand you can think of. All size 4's, all fit with one exception, Old Navy. In Old Navy's world I can wear a size 2 but I think their jeans have always been cut more generously than others. Having been to stores where the jeans are not sold in "sizes" but rather by your waist measurement, I can also conclude that I am a size 4. So while vanity sizing does exist, I don't think it's as bad as we tend to believe it is. Find clothes that are cut in a way that suits your figure and don't worry so much what the number on the tag says. If you know you are a healthy weight, that is all that truly matters.

Happy Shopping!!!!

jerber160

HATE IT! this 'loose fit' business is crazy.

withchaco

I don't care what number they assign to a specific size. Do I wear a "4" or a "100" (Korean sizes run 77, 88, etc)? I don't care. I just want them to be CONSISTENT!!

tladame

I think it's frustrating. I usually have to take 2-3 different sizes of pants into the fitting room to see which one actually fits. Recently I bought a pair of Calvin Klein jeans in a size 4 (I think I'm closer to a size 6). Nobody else is going to see the size tags, so I don't care what size they are. I just want them to fit, and I'd rather not spend 20 minutes going back & forth getting more sizes! :mad:

fiberartist219

If sizing were standard, I might actually buy clothes online. However, since it's not, I have to try a bazillion things on before I find a decent fit.

bloodbank

It doesn't bother me - I'm fine with having clothing in all different sizes that all fit the exact same. I don't get giddy when I fit into (what the tag says is) an 8 and I don't get upset when I fit into (what the tag says is) an 18.

I guess some consistency would be nice, but honestly, when I go clothes shopping, I don't have a problem spending a few minutes trying on different sizes... and usually I can eyeball what will fit the best before I try it on anyway.

sleepytexan

Yes, it's very silly. Recently I saw a 00. really?

Some years ago I inherited some lovely and very expensive designer cocktail dresses from the 1950s. They are all marked sizes 10-12 and fit me nicely, though with today's vanity sizing I wear a 4. They didn't even have a size 4 in the '50s; the smallest size used to be 8.

Have you ever tried Italian clothes? SO SMALL! Ha.

Also, in 2008-9 I spent a lot of time in Armenia. One of the many occasions when the airline lost my luggage, I still hadn't received it by the 5th day so I went shopping for a skirt -- at 5'4 and 127 lbs, I couldn't fit in size large there. hmmmmmmmm.

LorinaLynn

I only care how my bum looks in a pair of jeans. It doesn't matter if it's a size two or a twelve as long as it fits and flatters.

I'm somewhat annoyed that I seem to be in the smallest size available in the misses' department in Kohls. I don't think I'm so tiny that smalls should be huge on me, and the selection absolutely SUCKS in the smaller sizes. It was much easier to shop as an 8 or 10 than as a 2 or 4. But the dimension of my booty and hips make shopping in the juniors department a no-go.

SueInAz

I was caught up in this too while losing weight. So recently I went on a "am I really a size 4?" quest. I went to many different stores and tried on every jean type and brand you can think of. All size 4's, all fit with one exception, Old Navy. In Old Navy's world I can wear a size 2 but I think their jeans have always been cut more generously than others. Having been to stores where the jeans are not sold in "sizes" but rather by your waist measurement, I can also conclude that I am a size 4. So while vanity sizing does exist, I don't think it's as bad as we tend to believe it is. Find clothes that are cut in a way that suits your figure and don't worry so much what the number on the tag says. If you know you are a healthy weight, that is all that truly matters.

Happy Shopping!!!!

I love that you did this!

However, I think the concern is not that sizes aren't relatively similar across brands, but that a size is no longer the same measurements it was a decade or two ago. I have a tendency to buy good quality, classic clothes and I keep them for a long time. My size 4 pants that have been sitting in my drawer for awhile because they were too small are still too small, yet I can buy size 4s now that are too loose.

My main concern with this is that many stores don't carry anything smaller than a 2, or maybe even a 4. I'm in danger of getting small enough that I can't buy clothes from my favorite stores? At 5'3" and 123 pounds? It's really sort of ridiculous.

Wynterbourne

Absolutely loathe it. I want actual measurements. I don't want to spend an hour trying everything on brand to brand. Let me see a number, grab it off the shelf or hanger and go. Don't coddle me with made up numbers.

kyylieeeeee

It bothers me, too...so very much! And it seems like stores now aren't even making appropriately sized clothing for smaller people. New York and Company is a good example of this. They have such cute business clothes, but nothing there fits. I'm a size XS in shirts and dresses, a 2-4 in pants, a 2 in pencil skirts...and I'm really NOT that small. The shoulders on the blazers do not fit me, either. Then across the way in the mall is H&M, where I am an 8-10 in their pencil skirts. Which seems like a much more realistic number than the size 2 pencil skirt that I have from NY&Co. I've never bought anything other than shoes online, for this very reason-- you never know.

ajbeans

I wouldn't care if stores were consistent. But I have a pair of pants that I bought at Old Navy a couple of years ago, and they're size 6. They're so tight I have a hard time wearing them even now that I've lost weight. But then I just bought some jeans from them last week, and they're size 6, and they fit like a dream. Same store, same number size, but clearly not the same actual size. It's irritating.

DisneyMommy

I love that you did this!

However, I think the concern is not that sizes aren't relatively similar across brands, but that a size is no longer the same measurements it was a decade or two ago. I have a tendency to buy good quality, classic clothes and I keep them for a long time. My size 4 pants that have been sitting in my drawer for awhile because they were too small are still too small, yet I can buy size 4s now that are too loose.

My main concern with this is that many stores don't carry anything smaller than a 2, or maybe even a 4. I'm in danger of getting small enough that I can't buy clothes from my favorite stores? At 5'3" and 123 pounds? It's really sort of ridiculous.

I did keep some size 8 Levi's from 13 years ago. They are to big on me now. So this whole sizing thing has been going on for a while. I think vanity sizing is an issue but I think some of us on here, our bodies are changing in ways they haven't before, thus sizing is going to be different. It's a two part problem for those of us who are getting in amazing shape AND trying to buy clothes.

Shopping is still fun though so go out and have a blast!!!

AlsDonkBoxSquat

Vanity sizing bugs the crap out of me because every piece of clothing I put on fits differently than the last piece of clothing I put on. I want to walk into a store, pull a pair of pants, a dress, or a skirt off the rack, and try it on. As it stands I have to pull in at least 2 sizes of everything that I want to try on, which means more trips back and forth to the racks in stores that limit the number of pieces that you can take into the dressing room.