Vanity sizing?? Do we like it or not?

ritajean3

To be honest it is more common to find small sizes here then vanity! I am now averaging a 12aus 14 if it is small sizing but I have had some 14s I can't even get on let alone zip up. It's truly rediculus then you want to add in vanity sizes to make it even more difficult!

On a side not most stores don't even stock the equivalent to US size 0 and you would have to search for a 2.

Kikilicious84

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

LMAO :laugh:

maryloo2011

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!

I echo both points!! Drives me nuts - because stores are different (Gap vs Express vs Macys for instance) I can NEVER feel confident purchasing jeans online. Would love it if yes, sizing for women ran like Men's.

maryloo2011

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.

Can you expand on this? I joined an additional gym and even though there are the same weight machines at both places, I can lift heavier at one as opposed to the other (consistently). I would think that the new-ness of the machines shouldn't matter because after all, a pound of weight is a pound of weight. FWIW, I can lift heavier with the "older" machines.

Not to hijack the thread or anything just curious if this is the same as the newer cardio gyms and the "max" number you speak about is a similar concept... even though in this case it would be reversed. Hmm....

godblessourhome

i'm not a fan. i wish it was more consistent as well. i fit in a 2-8, depending on the store/brand. i never feel comfortable buying online because of it.

significance

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!

Come to Australia! I'm about your size (5'1.5, 122 lbs and pretty active) and I'm pretty consistently size 10.
(But yep - when I find an 8 that fits me well, I feel the same way!)

significance

Mind you, even without vanity sizing, it wouldn't be as straightforward for women to clothes shop as it seems to be for men. Our curves vary more, so we're always going to have to try things on. (Dress A fits my hips but is baggy at the waist, dress B fits at the waist and flows around the hips, but gapes at the breast, and so on...)

NotGoddess

I'm up/down on it. I get a kick out of being a 4 petite now, but I've still got at least 15lb of fat on me, more likely 25. There's no way I'm -really- a 4. It makes me wonder if I'll be a 0 when I'm finally fit.

Vanity sizing is affecting men's clothing too, even with the waist/inseam measurements. I bought my eldest a 30/32 pair of jeans and they were very loose at the waist. We took a tape measure to it and it turned out the waist was actually 33 inches buttoned, not 30.

zoink66

Honesty, I like it. :blushing: :blushing: :blushing:

I mean, I know I shouldn't; I know it's all mental; I know it's marketing; I know I shouldn't feel that way but...

I still like it. :blushing:



However, I'd be happier with consistency from brand to brand.

funkycamper

Vanity sizing is crazy. In my teens/young adult years, my measurements were 36-23-37. I wore a size 11 or 12. Was always trying to fit into a 9 or 10 but rarely could. Now my waist is about the same measurement as my hips used to be yet I can almost wear a size 12. Yeah, right.... No way are those 12's even close to the same size as 12's used to be.

I wish sizing was the same so I could judge better just how big I am now as compared to before. It actually makes it harder for me to maintain my weight loss motivation because a part of my brain wants to convince me if I'm almost a 12 now so I'm the same size as I was in my teens. But, of course, the scale and the measurements tell me a very different story. it's confusing.

PinkAndSparkle

I find it infuriating. I think I'm around a 4/6, but sometimes a 0/2, or sometimes a 6/8. And in dresses, a whole different story.
I MOSTLY hate when a single brand is inconsistent. At the Gap, I'm usually a 2...but recently tried on a pair of jeans and couldn't get them over my thighs. Or I have a pair of dress pants from BCBG that are a 4, and another pair that are the same style in a 2 and they fit the same way.
When I was in Europe a few summers ago, everything was teensy...even the jewelry! I wanted a ring at this little jewelery store and he had to dig out all his drawers to find one that fits me...I wear a 6.5 which is totally standard in the states.
UGH Being a girl is so frustrating sometimes

Lyadeia

I don't like it at all for all of the reasons already listed. I just wanted to add one more story...

My sister-in-law is currently losing weight. She bragged about wearing a size 12 that was "falling off of her" without a belt. Which is all great and wonderful...except for the fact that her waist is AT LEAST 6 inches bigger than mine, not to mention her huge butt and hips (no, I am not making fun...) and I was wearing a size 10 while she said that. So, she can wear a size 10 now, even though she's around 50 pounds heavier than I am and much wider in the lower body??? And I'm still in a 10 trying to lose weight...hmmm???

It just doesn't make sense. I'm glad she's feeling good about herself and losing weight. Yay for her! But then there's me that can't possibly wear the same size as her, but yet...I do wear the same size??? I guess I should go shopping, huh??? I wonder what crazy small size my 38 inch hips would squeeze into these days?