vanity sizing

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Replies

  • RobinvdM
    RobinvdM Posts: 634 Member
    Yep, not a surprise. Shop at more than 1 store for the same size and you are going to get a reality check pretty quickly. Eg. 2 stores say I am an XL top and 2X bottom, a 3rd and 4th store think I am more a 2X/1X top and tottering on the border or 3X/2X

    can you guess where I shop more regularly? >.>
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
    I am a guy, but I suspect that some bra manufacturers are making vanity cup sizes so a B cup can think she is a D cup.
    Do any women agree or am I crazy?

    You are absolutely right, and I'm glad I shop at a place where the owner knows all the brands and how they fit so I don't have to do the guesswork.
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
    I am a guy, but I suspect that some bra manufacturers are making vanity cup sizes so a B cup can think she is a D cup.
    Do any women agree or am I crazy?

    You're crazy :-) Cup size is relative to the band size. So, a B cup with a 38" band, is the same as a D cup with a 36" band. The cup size is the number of inches bigger than the band size. 1" per cup size. The band sizes are pretty much exact to the measurements.

    This is how it's supposed to work, but as any women can tell you, try on the same size bra in different brands and, just like pants, they're gonna fit differently! Example: when I measured a solid 34C, at Victoria's Secret I had to buy a 34D. I laughed and called my sisters, cuz smallish boobs run in our family and the thought of any of us being an actual D is preposterous. Now I measure a 32C supposedly, but the bras I recently bought at Target are 34Cs and tightish in the band, no matter what the tag or the measuring tapes say!

    I find that this is usually an issue based on the type of fabric the bra is made from. Less stretchy fabric and I have to size up the band. If the band has some stretch to it, my actual measurement is accurate for the bra size. Years ago, they would actually tell you to add 2 to 4 inches to your actual measurement to determine the band size. But with all the stretchy fabrics and laces now, that's not usually necessary.
  • Pema91
    Pema91 Posts: 44
    Vanity sizing has been known for years. Sizes have been getting smaller in general but also some stores will size their clothes so you feel better in them than in others. No longer competing in price but how small a jean you can get into!!
    Example: I am a size 8-10 in H&M but more like 12-14 in Topshop!

    The same with bras (sorry I do have a boob obsession, it always comes back to boobs..), which is ridiculous when you think that an ill fitting bra can effect your health!
    Example: In Bravissimo I am a 28FF, but for my shock absorber sports bra I am a 32E and in Ann Summers I am a 30H!

    WHAT?!
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
    I am a guy, but I suspect that some bra manufacturers are making vanity cup sizes so a B cup can think she is a D cup.
    Do any women agree or am I crazy?

    You are absolutely right, and I'm glad I shop at a place where the owner knows all the brands and how they fit so I don't have to do the guesswork.

    The only issue I've had is when switching between US brands and European brands. a DDD in the US is the same as an E in European brands. Once you know what scale they use, it hasn't been much of an issue for me. However, I buy very expensive bras (usually European brands because they have really cute ones in the giganto size I need LOL), so it could be an issue with cheaper brands.
  • Seriousmom3
    Seriousmom3 Posts: 164
    Vanity Sizing has been going on for a long time in women's clothing. In fact, there have been a few threads on it already. One thing that really irks me about the whole thing is that I do not want false motivation (which only leads to let downs). On the other hand, there really is no governing rule about sizing, as each brand seems to have their own take on "sizes".

    Best thing to do, use a soft tape measure to track progress (and a full length mirror) vs clothing or scales.

    /rant

    Yes...I try not to look at the numbers, I go with what fits well and looks good.
  • fishgutzy
    fishgutzy Posts: 2,807 Member
    Been covered in many "news" venues for a while. The most annoying thing about it is that it makes ordering clothes on-line damn near impossible.
    I have some 38's that fit and some 40's that are too small. So I just have to try everything on before I buy.
    I think it is a conspiracy with retail stores to force us into the malls.
    I'd rather just be able to by it all on-line. I have liked going to a mall since I was about 19. :explode:
    Now I have to take my teenage kids.
  • gddrdld
    gddrdld Posts: 464 Member
    Heard the NPR story this morning, too. What really makes me mad is that even within a brand that you've worn for a long time you just can't trust their sizing. Not even from their body measurement suggestions on a sizing chart. What do I care if my pants say size 2 if it took three purchases to get it right since I thought I was a 6? How flattering is that 2 when you had to add size 000 to your clothing line? Ridiculous. Where it gets silly is in historical references when people say things like "Marilyn Monroe was a size 10!". Not a 2012 size 10, morons. She had a 22 inch waist.

    THIS. I want to smack people when they say that about Marilyn Monroe. Idiots.
  • msiamjan
    msiamjan Posts: 326 Member
    I had a very petite friend who was rather annoyed with vanity sizing. She was down to a size 0, which made her mad, because she does exist.
  • cici1028
    cici1028 Posts: 799 Member
    In the 1930s, I would have been a size 18. Size 4 now. So that makes sense. :) I get obsessed with sizes like everyone else, but when it comes down to it, it really doesn't matter.
  • DoomCakes
    DoomCakes Posts: 806 Member
    Hm, that's a very interesting read. I agree with it though. It'd be nice if things were uniform in size though so people can be more conscious of what they are doing to their bodies. I rather think "I'm a size 20, I need to lose weight" not "Oh, it's ok, I'm still a 16..." Because then somewhere in your mind you already think it's ok to get a soda on the way out of the store, or something like that. Compared to the feeling of "hmm, this size 16 is tight... maybe I should watch what I eat" then leave the store with that in mind. As far as food wise, it is gross how much the serving sizes have changed over time..
  • lgoldgirl
    lgoldgirl Posts: 7
    Due to vanity sizing, I can no longer buy retail clothes, or even shoes. Everything has to be ordered online. I am a smaller woman. At 5 feet tall with a small-medium bone frame and good muscle tone, my healthy weight is at about 107-115 and it's only that high because I am so muscle dense and fairly large chested. Vanity sizing has be at a 00-0, or even lower. This is the same size I wore 13 years ago, when I was 16, 92 lbs, had hips and a waist that measured 4-5 inches smaller than they do now and had not yet developed breasts (I was a gymnast and a late bloomer). My true size is about a 4-6 now, not that you would now, but the 4-6 they stock in most stores are really about a size 8-10.

    I am so sick of people complaining about "fatitude" or discrimination against the overweight when everything is increasingly geared towards this. Yes, the average in this country is overweight, but that doesn't make it normal, healthy or something to be encouraged, which is what vanity sizing does. I walk into a store and get attitude from people who tell me "maybe I should shop in the kids department" or that "I look like a stick". I have D cup boobs and a 7 inch hip to waist ratio. I am hardly a stick, nor do I resemble a child. I am a professional woman who deserves to be able to walk into a store and be a valued customer. I am not though and will not be unless I become an unhealthy weight.

    This is all part of the Marilyn Monroe syndrome. Women like to claim current standards are "unrealistic", call her the "ideal" and then claim that she was anywhere from a size 12-16. First, a 12 + inch hip to waist ratio is far more unrealistic than being a healthy weight. Second, Jezebel had a great article http://jezebel.com/5299793/for-the-last-time-what-size-was-marilyn-monroe, where they talk to her costume designers. Marilyn Monroe was at her TOP weight 5 ft 5 and a half inches and 140 lbs. At tops, that was an American 8 in her era. An American 4 is about what an American 8 was then, so if Marilyn Monroe lived in modern times, she'd be about a size 4.

    How are we supposed to be healthy as a society if we keep lying to ourselves or passing the blame to outside sources?
  • k7n2w3
    k7n2w3 Posts: 241 Member
    I had a very petite friend who was rather annoyed with vanity sizing. She was down to a size 0, which made her mad, because she does exist.
    Yes I have that problem now. I have been down to about a 0/2 for over a year now after losing 45 pounds (down from a women's 14) and ten years ago (before I gained and lost it) that was more like a 2/4 (I kept the clothes). Now some women size 0s are too big and i know i'm not a stick! I wish sizes were consistent so I could shop without bringing 3 sizes into the dressing room. (Also so people will stop saying Marilyn Monroe was a size 14 but that's for a dif thread of course.)
    Although i do love that i just bought a junior size XS dress (although I know it's definitly not sized properly.. i'll smile anyway when i put it on)
  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
    The way I feel about vanity sizing right now:

    Would you lie to me, baby?
    Would you lie to me?
    Would you tell me I'm a size 10,
    When I'm really a 12?
    Would you lie-aye-aye-aye- to me!


    It's a pain in the butt when it comes to shopping online or in a Goodwill that doesn't have a dressing room, though.
  • lgoldgirl
    lgoldgirl Posts: 7
    I am a guy, but I suspect that some bra manufacturers are making vanity cup sizes so a B cup can think she is a D cup.
    Do any women agree or am I crazy?

    You're crazy :-) Cup size is relative to the band size. So, a B cup with a 38" band, is the same as a D cup with a 36" band. The cup size is the number of inches bigger than the band size. 1" per cup size. The band sizes are pretty much exact to the measurements.

    Agreed; you are crazy. It's the measurement from the underbust to the fullest part of the breast that makes the cup size: a 4-5 inch difference is a D. I'm a 30-32 D and a 36 C looks noticeably larger than what I am toting. However, try to put me in a 34 C (the size that would look = to my 32 D) the band is too large and I overflow out of the cups.
  • cmcollins001
    cmcollins001 Posts: 3,472 Member
    Just last night I was trying on pant sizes I haven't worn since high school...20+ years ago...and I was happy...but thanks for this.

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  • Zangpakto
    Zangpakto Posts: 336 Member
    I wear size 28 or 30 in mens... I think it is inches our sizes here still...

    But yea I would hate vanity sizing, I mean your fat, get over it... don't need to be a negative number or wear kids clothes because some of us are naturally actually.. "small" it is just not fair...

    I sometimes can't buy clothing at 26 or 28 so just pick up 30/32 and wear with belt... annoying, but yea what can i do... apparently they do not make clothing that small.
  • bokodasu
    bokodasu Posts: 629 Member
    Wow, just found a great example of this - I joined Rent the Runway when they first started offering delivery in my area, because they don't let you see what they offer unless you join. (It's free, but they spam you constantly afterwards.) Anyway, their dresses don't go above a 12, so I checked them out once and never looked again, until last night when I was thinking, hey, I might be able to squeeze into one of their 12s now, and I need a dress for NYE.

    And they've added this feature where women who rent the dresses can upload pics of themselves in them, plus their body stats so you can see how they fit on different body types, which is genius. But I'm looking and going, "she's a 6? Her arms are the same size as mine!" And yeah, a lot of them are "5'4", 145 lbs, 34B, usually wears a size 6" - I'm 5'4", 153 lbs, 34B (ish, I need to go get fitted), and I wear a size 12. I think. Apparently the more you pay for your dress, the smaller the number gets - who knew all you had to do to drop 4 dress sizes was to pay an extra $2k? (If I spent $10k, would I take a size 0?)

    So I'm going to talk to one of their stylists, because I do actually want to wear a fancy designer dress, but I have no idea how to figure out what I am in rich people sizes. It all seems pretty ridiculous.
  • p0tt3rgl33k
    p0tt3rgl33k Posts: 54 Member
    Hence the reason that I try on EVERYTHING!!!! The only time when I don't is at yard sales..... (because I cannot....) I got a size medium and an xl that both fit perfect..... From the same store.... on the same day.....
  • gddrdld
    gddrdld Posts: 464 Member
    I am 5'5" and currently 133#. I can buy anywhere from a size 2 to a 6 depending on the brand. I own vintage clothes that are size 12 and equal in size to most of my 4's.

    I am guilty of falling for vanity sizing...Not that I don't know the game they are playing. I'm well aware...Haha.. But I still shop at Ann Taylor Loft and Jones New York for business clothes because I can where a size 2! Wrong...I know.

    When I was down to 118 lbs., I actually had a hard time finding clothes that were small enough in some stores. Definately a sign of our times.

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