Vanity Sizing - Friend or foe?

kristen6022

It's not really vanity sizing, it's just luck. One store I may be a 6, one a 4, but who cares just so the item fits? The number on the measuring tape didn't change or the number on the scale. I'm usually within 1 size smaller or larger of a size...it's not that hard to take 2-3 sizes into the fitting room or have the attendant grab a different size. To get the proper fit in any garment you HAVE TO TRY IT ON.

Yes, I agree sizes have changed over the last 30-40 years, but it's not like if you are a 12 in one store you can go into another and wear a 4...

I'm sorry, us women get all bent out of shape by a number and think it would be easier to standardize sizes, but mens are "standarized" and they are all over the board. My boyfriend might need a 34/34, a 36/34, 34/32, or a 36/32 in any given pant on any given day. Some L fit, some XL fit. Depends on the cut, just like women's clothes.

knk1553

I HATE how there is no standarization among clothing...just for example here is my size dependong on the store:

Express: 2 or 4 depending on the jean and the fit, usually a small in tops
White House Black Market: XS or Small in Tops, 0 in most bottoms
Loft: 2 or 4 petitie depending on the fit, 6petite in a lot of skirts because of my hips, 0 or 2 in regular fit.
Old Navy: Anywhere from a 2 to a 6

As far as stores like H&M or Forever 21, I can range from a size small to a size large, I don't generally buy pants from places like that.

Ultimately I hate the fact that I can't walk in most stores and just grab something off the rack and go without trying it on. I hate how I even vary in a store. I'm not trying to brag or sound vain (I'm 5'3 and very petite in general) but its REALLY hard on me to have to pick up a size L or even a M in something when I was a S a week ago. Its not that the size matters, but it is hard going up a size when you thought you were getting smaller but in all reality its just the store thats sized different.

Don't even get me started on bridesmaids or formal type dresses, I have tried on formal dresses that I'm a size 12 or 14 in, how on EARTH am I that much bigger in a dress than I am in the pair of jeans I'm wearing?? I don't understand why we can't just have sizing like men, it would be SO much easier

Coryd2012

i hate it i have 6 different sizes of jeans in my closet and can wear all of them come on this is crazy

JustJennie1

Foe. I hate having to try on a billion different sizes of pants that are the SAME BRAND just to find one that fits.

jenniferinfl

Some of it isn't vanity sizing but just the cut of the garment.

Some are cut more generously in the hips and more narrow in the waist proportionately.

I find most pants that fit me are an 18, but, they only fit me in the waist, they are huge everywhere else. I found a pair of Nine West jeans that fit in a size 14. They have a larger waist, but the rest is sized like a 14. Finally a pair of pants that fit me appropriately! Am I really a size 14 waist? Nope! but I am a size 14 butt and thighs.. lol

So, for that I am glad for the inconsistency. If all size 14 jeans had the same waist measurement my pants would always look sloppy and oversized.

If your a pear shape with a small waist, you can easily wear a skirt that is much smaller than your pants size. Then fitting a pear shape butt into a pair of jeans means having the gapping waistband problem. But, not if you shop around and find the pants cut more generously in the hips than in the waist.

There just is no standardization of womens clothing sizes, we have too much variety in our shapes especially as you move above a size 4.

ahviendha

foe.

so is spandex in jeans. bought a size 10, stretched out soooo far with 1% spandex. should have bought a size under 10. totally messing up my head.

LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo

Foe

I absolutely hate that.

schondell

It's mostly marketed to women because we're more prone to purchase an item if we feel cute and small and tiny in it.

punkinkat

Agreed, ladies! I'm surprised this antiquated system wasn't amended when women got the vote

Truly, women's clothing sizing is the most sexist thing I encounter on a daily basis.

Wel, you can't really have the same sizing for women as for men. Men generally -- probably 99% of them -- are straight up and down. Women are sometimes straight up and down, sometimes curved. And even the women with the curves curve differently. We're all over the place in terms of body shape.

Why can't men's sizing work for women? 40-inch hips are 40-inch hips, why must women's clothing invent their own sizes? It's as if we should be ashamed to say out loud what our *true* measurements are. Believe me, it doesn't actually make being overweight any easier -- buying a Size 16 doesn't feel so good when there are 0s in the rack.

If women's sizing were based on actual measurements, there would be no such thing as a Size 0. In all honesty, shouldn't Size 0 mean that you're invisible? The fact that we've had to invent Double 0 for those who are even slighter makes me want to jump off the Earth and see what life is like in Outer Space. Absolutely ridiculous.

lacurandera1

I hate it. A friend of mine gave me some jeans that don't fit her anymore. They were size 11, which is what I wear, except for 1, which was a size 8. This size "8" was not only about 3 inches too wide in the waist, it was too big everywhere else, too.

I want to be able to pull a pair of jeans off the rack that actually fit me, first try. Not have to try an 11, oh maybe a 10. Wait, an 8? Damn, still too big? A 6? Yeah right, guys. I've never been a 6. You're not fooling me.

gr8pillock

I once heard Trinny and Susannah say that the best possible thing a woman could do for her wardrobe is the cut the sizes out of all her clothes. We all fixate on the size and some will wear a tight, ill fitting size over the flattering size up because of the number mentality. I completely agree with that notion. I'm wearing size ten jeggings right now because the size 8 jeggings were too tight around my dancers calves. Waist is looser, but the jeans look and feel amazing... not bothering me in the slightest.

rml_16

Agreed, ladies! I'm surprised this antiquated system wasn't amended when women got the vote

Truly, women's clothing sizing is the most sexist thing I encounter on a daily basis.

Wel, you can't really have the same sizing for women as for men. Men generally -- probably 99% of them -- are straight up and down. Women are sometimes straight up and down, sometimes curved. And even the women with the curves curve differently. We're all over the place in terms of body shape.

Why can't men's sizing work for women? 40-inch hips are 40-inch hips, why must women's clothing invent their own sizes?

One woman with 40-inch hips might also have a 40-inch waist, while another woman with 40-inch hips might have a 30-inch waist (or smaller). So where does that leave us?

And dresses? The woman with the 40-inch hips and 30-inch waist might wear a 32A bra or a 32DD or a 38DDD.

So, dear, with all your wisdom, what standard size do these four different women with 40-inch hips wear?

punkinkat

Agreed, ladies! I'm surprised this antiquated system wasn't amended when women got the vote

Truly, women's clothing sizing is the most sexist thing I encounter on a daily basis.

Wel, you can't really have the same sizing for women as for men. Men generally -- probably 99% of them -- are straight up and down. Women are sometimes straight up and down, sometimes curved. And even the women with the curves curve differently. We're all over the place in terms of body shape.

Why can't men's sizing work for women? 40-inch hips are 40-inch hips, why must women's clothing invent their own sizes?

One woman with 40-inch hips might also have a 40-inch waist, while another woman with 40-inch hips might have a 30-inch waist (or smaller). So where does that leave us?

And dresses? The woman with the 40-inch hips and 30-inch waist might wear a 32A bra or a 32DD or a 38DDD.

So, dear, with all your wisdom, what standard size do these four different women with 40-inch hips wear?

I'd rather you told me, with all your wisdom, how calling a pair of pants a Size 16 instead of Size 40 makes any difference at all with respect to how the garment fits?

rml_16

I love when people answer a question with a question.

punkinkat

*yawn*

sillygoosie

I have to try it on anyway so it doesn't really bother me. Sizing is just as inconsistent as anything else from brand to brand.

buzzcogs

Vanity sizing also confuses me. What about people who really are a size 0 or 2? Does their size go into the negatives now? Like size -2?

Because if I can fit into a size 8 somewhere (and I'm really a 10+) then I'm assuming the size 2 person would become a size zero and the size 0 would be come a what?

sdurrahMpls

I was looking at workout pants the other day and they were labelled at size M. The tag also had sizing in other countries and most read a L or XL. That blew my mind. We are getting ridiculous with vanity sizing here in the US. Don't quote me on this, but I believe the tag even said XXL for Japan. When an M here is equivalent to an XXL in another country, we know there's a problem!

phillips0911

FOE!

I cannot stand buying jeans at one store in say a size 4, then ordering online at another and it either being a size too big or small. I would like to see a standard size. I'm tired of guessing if I am a 2,4, or 6 when buying clothes.
It either makes me so happy to know I gained 5 pounds yet fit in a 2, or lost 10 and barely fit in a 6... lol total mind games!

BinaryPulsar

Vanity sizing also confuses me. What about people who really are a size 0 or 2? Does their size go into the negatives now? Like size -2?

Because if I can fit into a size 8 somewhere (and I'm really a 10+) then I'm assuming the size 2 person would become a size zero and the size 0 would be come a what?

This is correct. The size 0 has become a 00 (double zero). And they might have to start making negative sizes, which is just crazy so I don't think they will actually do that. For the smaller people, we just can't even shop in a lot of stores now.