Have Sizes Changed Over THe Years?

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Replies

  • fitfreakymom
    fitfreakymom Posts: 1,400 Member
    Stores like sears do not seem to vanity size but the garage and zellers do
  • cuterbee
    cuterbee Posts: 545
    Back in the 50s, a size 12 meant a 30.5 inch bust with correspondingly small waist and hip (I'm not sure where my vintage patterns are, or I'd get those measurements for you). The size 10s I wore in the 70s fit my adult daughter who wears a size 4 in today's sizes. Women's clothing sizes change constantly.
  • fitfreakymom
    fitfreakymom Posts: 1,400 Member
    I think they should have left the sizes alone, if you are a 4x then you are a 4x, if you are a 2 then you are a2
  • Klem4
    Klem4 Posts: 399 Member
    Yup... just go to a vintage store and try on the size you currently wear, bet it won't fit. lol. Its super annoying how sizes are not very standardized. I admit though, I get caught up in it still. Still lusting and trying to move towards that size 4 tag. :-P
  • Robin_Bin
    Robin_Bin Posts: 1,046 Member
    I really think it is more a function of the style more than anything. Yes, I now wear a "loose fit 32" @ 224 lbs where I used to wear a regular 34 @ 170 lbs... Of course, I actually AM smaller than I used to be at 225 since I initiated weight training... Some styles I can wear up to a 36 in but most styles I am squarely in 34. Depends on the style.

    For women's sizes this used to be true. For instance, woman with a big bust might wear a smaller size in an item that was looser there. As I said above, on a single day, I've fit into clothes that were 4 sizes apart because of different styles.

    But it truly is a matter of different sizes now. Like the original poster, and as I said above, I have older clothes in my closet, and unless they magically shrunk as they hung there, they are still very different from the clothes I can buy in similar styles (sometimes even the same brands) now. This trend is fairly well documented (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanity_sizing, http://www.webmd.com/healthy-beauty/features/vanity-sizing, http://shine.yahoo.com/fashion/what-size-are-you-really-the-truth-behind-vanity-sizing-2532831.html), although there is some disagreement and some argue, as you do, that the styles are changing (mostly with "loose fit" and stretchable cloth to accommodate a larger population) or that it's a myth (http://www.vanitysizing.com). Some women's stores, like Chico's, have given up on trying to match a changing "standard" and created their own, new sizing.
  • fitfreakymom
    fitfreakymom Posts: 1,400 Member
    It's like cookbooks if you look at a cookie recipie in a new cook book and compare the same recipie to one in a cook book from 20 yrs ago the older makes more cookies with the same amount of ingredients.

    I have a book here from around the 70's and one from a couple yrs ago and compared a chocolate chip cookie recipie and the older one made about a dozen more cookies.
  • Robin_Bin
    Robin_Bin Posts: 1,046 Member
    The real size change has been the size of the plate! Today's dinner plate is notably larger. Our concept of a serving has been adversely affected as a result.
    ...
    Very true. (As was also pointed out in the posting about cookbook portions. Thanks for pointing that out!)
    One term for this is "portion distortion". Do a Web search for lots of interesting examples, or take the quiz at http://www.choosemyplate.gov/supertracker-tools/portion-distortion.html.

    I hope this isn't a spoiler for the quiz, but one example is that a standard muffin in 1984 was 1.5 ounces or 210 calories, but in 2004 it was 3.3 times larger at 5 ounces and 500 calories! (Again, if you look on the Web, you'll find many other examples of how "standard" portions have changed. No wonder there's a growing problem with weight!)
  • catmanor
    catmanor Posts: 85 Member
    Oh yes sizes have changed.. back when Cindy Crawford was the top model she was a size 10 and that was "the perfect size" now days she would be classed as a plus sized model..

    Talk about screwed up!!
  • altinker
    altinker Posts: 173
    Yep, it's called vanity sizing. Look it up. Somebody can go to K-Mart and buy size 6 clothes and then go to Nordstrom and buy size 2's that are too big. Bra sizes have also seemed to change as well.
  • BrendaLee
    BrendaLee Posts: 4,463 Member
    Most definitely! You really see the difference when you start trying on vintage clothing.
  • Hazel2005
    Hazel2005 Posts: 175 Member
    There is no regulatory body that governs sizing of anything. This explains why if you try on two pairs of pants, exactly the same size, style and make and they fit differently. Kind of like your weight. Don't let the numbers get to you.
  • CristinaL1983
    CristinaL1983 Posts: 1,119 Member
    Yep, it's called vanity sizing. Look it up. Somebody can go to K-Mart and buy size 6 clothes and then go to Nordstrom and buy size 2's that are too big. Bra sizes have also seemed to change as well.

    I'm curious about the bra sizing thing. I definitely went up a cup size (d to dd) when I gained a bunch of weight but I'm pretty sure a 34D is still a 34D. 34 inches around the ribcage, 38 inches around the largest part of the breast.
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    Yep, it's called vanity sizing. Look it up. Somebody can go to K-Mart and buy size 6 clothes and then go to Nordstrom and buy size 2's that are too big. Bra sizes have also seemed to change as well.

    I'm curious about the bra sizing thing. I definitely went up a cup size (d to dd) when I gained a bunch of weight but I'm pretty sure a 34D is still a 34D. 34 inches around the ribcage, 38 inches around the largest part of the breast.

    Yeah, I'm not really sure how the bra sizing works. My rib cage measurement is 26 inches, but I wear a 28 band in bras and it fits very well (does not feel big). But, I suppose it needs to have a little room to allow for the natural expansion of breathing and movement. I would think bra sizes have not changed. The only thing that has changed is that most of us now understand better how to measure for our bra size and to search and find stores that sell our size.
  • AuntieMC
    AuntieMC Posts: 346 Member
    Thank you all for the fascinating replies! I can't believe there is actually a phenomena called "vanity sizing" at the bottom of all this! I also found people's comments about the growth in portion sizes of various foods, and in things like a standard meal at McDonalds. It is amazing! No wonder Americans are so much heavier now!
  • cgfol1
    cgfol1 Posts: 179 Member
    Sizes can depend on a variety of things, including the fit model.

    For example, the Kookai brand here in Australia runs on the 0, 1, 2, 3 sizes, so a 0 would be an Aus 6-8 (US 2-4) and the fit model kept loosing weight therefore the clothes kept getting gradually smaller. She was a 1 and the 1 clothing ended up being the size of the 0!!

    It can feel very disheartening when you go in and you fit in one store but then can't at all in the next!!

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