Womens pant sizes are confusing!!

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  • rieann84
    rieann84 Posts: 511 Member
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    Tell me about it.. I still wear junior's sizes because I'm 28 and I can't let go.. so for that I will be anywhere from 7 to 11!

    In women's sizes I could be a 4, a 6, an 8, a 10!

    I have shirts that are both XS and L.

    Even pieces from the same store for example H&M, I have 4 and 6 tops that fit fine, a 12 dress that I have to squeeze into and an 8 dress that is sort of loose. What?! The 12 is from a few years back and the 8 more recent. Goes to show that sizes are shifting faster than ever. Obviously, anyone would know that a size 8 from the 1950s does not equal today's size 8..but NOW, you have to second guess each year's new line?

    Edit: And if sizes are shifting for the sake of the increasingly "larger" population..what about those of us who are taking our health seriously and slimming down? Sometimes I wonder if I make it to my goal weight..will I be wearing children's clothing? Could be cost efficient I guess.
  • sarah44254
    sarah44254 Posts: 3,078 Member
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    I fit in a 4, a 10, and a 14.

    I am more than a little confused when I need to buy new pants.
  • MMark2012
    MMark2012 Posts: 142 Member
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    I used to work, for many years in retail. As a new/old trend since the 1990's clothing company after clothing company started making their sizes bigger. They did this for psychological reasons. The buyers(us, especially women) were growing bigger and bigger in different age groups that used to be smaller. The clothing companies felt it was in their best interest to make us the buyer happier, AND want to buy more if the sizing said 6, or 8: insteat of 10. or 12. I believe Abercrombie & Fitch may have been the first company to do this
  • rinnismom
    rinnismom Posts: 190
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    Gets even harder when your waist/hip measurements are not "average" ratios. size 8 waist with a size 14+ hip means no pants ever fit and if they do, they don't look good.

    you too, huh?

    i got the badunka going on and when i find a pair of pants that fit my hips, i get the gap at my lower back. i'm about to give up on denim. i look like plumber tom every time i bend over. no thanks, lol.
  • RoadsterGirlie
    RoadsterGirlie Posts: 1,195 Member
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    Pants sizing don't make any sense at all. I wear anything between a zero and a six depending on the brand. That's a huge range.

    That said, I seem to be consistant with a juniors size 7. When buying pants, I've learned that's the best place for me to go. Juniors sizes are far more consistent.
  • SabrinaJL
    SabrinaJL Posts: 1,579 Member
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    I agree! The pants sizes drive me crazy. I know when I was in high school back twenty years ago nobody wore a size 0. At one point I weighed 95 lbs at 5'6" and the smallest I wore was a size three. I wore a 9/10 at 135 lbs. After I graduated high school I was 125 lbs and 17% body fat and wore a size 5. Then I see people on here saying they weigh 140 lbs and wear a size 5. If somebody doesn't own a scale they could very easily delude themselves over how much weight they have gained over the years.

    I actually still have a pair of shorts from about 20 years ago. They were what I wore at my smallest (150 lbs) and they were a size 13. I'm 173 lbs and can get them buttoned and zipped fairly easily but they're still too snug to wear comfortably and muffin-top is not cool. I recently tried on jeans at Target and fit into a 10. Vanity sizing pisses me off.
  • lovechicagobears
    lovechicagobears Posts: 289 Member
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    So true. According to Lane Bryant, I wear a size 24 in their Right Fit jeans, but my size 20s require a belt. If I go to dark rinse, 20 is too tight. If I change style, 24 is too tight. It drives me insane. Sometimes, two jeans of the exact same brand/fit/color from the same rack will fit differently, even if they're the same size. Grrrrr.

    I refuse to order pants online for this very reason. I try everything on.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    womens clothing sizes in general are ridiculous! its impossible to know if something will fit without trying it on these days.. I did hear something about it being part of the fact that a lot of clothes are imported so the sizings are dodgy, that as well as the vanity sizing..

    I doubt it's the foreigner makers - they are specked by US companies.

    I buy most of my new clothes at Landsend or LL Bean because I need talls. Both have clothing that is exactly to the measurements that they put in their sizing charts. But those charts are generous!
  • missabeez
    missabeez Posts: 280 Member
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    Wow....I had never heard of vanity sizing before until everyone started to talk about it. It totally makes sense but it really scares me!!!! Keeping the population in denial about the obvious truth that we are getting larger and larger by the year is not going to encourage us to become more healthy. I guess I will have to just go by my measurements, the scale, and my body fat % to determine my overall health and progress. Saying that I want to be able to fit into a certain size seems ridiculous and arbitrary after hearing all this :)

    It reminds me of the yogurt commercial (I think) that shows a woman looking at her pant sizes and they say things like size "fabulous", "smoking hot", etc. I like that idea :) We are beautiful and we don't need clothing companies to define what size beauty should be.

    It also makes me think to an old vintage poster I saw that was an advertizement for a weight gain pill. Yup, in the 20's?, women were concidered too skinny and were expected to be larger. Oh how we have changed. We need a healthy middle ground.
  • etynda6116
    etynda6116 Posts: 27
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    I ca fit from a 6 to a 12 comfortably without uncitely rolls and they are so confusing. but in shorts it ranges from an 8 to 12 sometimes 14.
  • kaylaannmarie93
    kaylaannmarie93 Posts: 15 Member
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    this reminds me of my senior prom. I ordered a dress online and measured EVERY part of my body so I got the right size... I ended up having to get in taken in three sizes. I don't trust those charts anymore.
  • evansproudmama
    evansproudmama Posts: 496
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    Im right there with all you ladies.. Ive lost 50lbs from being preggo and im still in a size 10/12 jeans on my stupid hips but they sag off my my butt and thighs so i look sooo dumb.. i stick to leggings for now cause I refuse to be in denial and rock the muffin top eww
  • aki7chien
    aki7chien Posts: 85 Member
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    I have pants that fit from size nine to size 4 and all of them fit the same, all of them too short. I used to wear men's 33-34 but they were "poochy" when i sat down, but FINALLY the length that i need. frustrating
  • Nina2503
    Nina2503 Posts: 172 Member
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    Drives me mad and the thing I hate most about shopping! I don't have time (or the inclination)to try on 3 different sizes in each shop just to find something that fits so often go home with nothing! I suppose though since losing weight my sewing machine has become my best friend and I take my most of my clothes in to fit now,
  • justgowithit17
    justgowithit17 Posts: 1,392 Member
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    that's weird, my hips measure 42.6" but i wear a size 8/9/10 depending on the brand. and i'm 5'7", which is pretty tall. hmm, i just think everyone is different.
  • MrMeowGi
    MrMeowGi Posts: 171
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    I tried buying my ex ex ex a pair of jeans that she had been eye'ing - along with LINGERIE ( - Which is spelt so EFFING oddly) , anyways, walked into the shop, asked them how much, then heard the reply "what size is she?" .... Headshot , gg boom , game over cheers.

    Myself: "Um well she is small ... but tallish, but errr ..............................."
  • slkehl
    slkehl Posts: 3,801 Member
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    I'm curious as to what I'd be according to standard size charts. Right now I have a size 6 that is so saggy I have to wear a belt and a size 8 that I can barely wriggle into. Both from the SAME brand!
  • paleirishmother
    paleirishmother Posts: 242
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    In my closet I have jeans size 6-10..they all fit me the SAME. I hate it. I also have 6's that are BIG on me (imagine that!??) A size 9 that is too small for me to wear comfortably. I was just talking about this today. It is aggravating.
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
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    I'm small and I can wear a size 00, an xs, and sometimes a 0, everything else is too big. If the smallest size pants in the store is a 2 or a small, I can't shop there. Except yoga pants, actually I can wear a 2 in yoga pants (and I don't like them too tight anyway). But, I am probably a 00 because of vanity sizing, they needed to make that size when the sizes got bigger. And actually I think vanity sizing may be worse in the States. I was there on a trip recently and even a lot of the 00's were too big for me.
  • Mitzimum
    Mitzimum Posts: 163 Member
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    Gets even harder when your waist/hip measurements are not "average" ratios. size 8 waist with a size 14+ hip means no pants ever fit and if they do, they don't look good.

    you too, huh?

    i got the badunka going on and when i find a pair of pants that fit my hips, i get the gap at my lower back. i'm about to give up on denim. i look like plumber tom every time i bend over. no thanks, lol.

    lol omg me too, its so frustrating, and every time i DO find a pair that actually fit I wear them so often they die within a couple of months :P

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