Why am I a size 16?

I am 38, female, 5' 6". Waist 28.5cm and Hips 37.5cm and weight 10st 10lb. So how am I a size 16 when the size guides I have looked at say at most I should be a 12. What is wrong with me?

Replies

mforsis

Lucky anyone who can buy size 16 in their own town. I can't. They don't sell size 16 where I live. The biggest size in the stores here is 12. I shop when I travel. What I find really curious is that there are lots of 000 - 4 sizes left on the rack. Someone gets a real deal at sale time. Sigh. It has been years since I bought clothes at a sale.

Doctorpurple

Lucky anyone who can buy size 16 in their own town. I can't. They don't sell size 16 where I live. The biggest size in the stores here is 12. I shop when I travel. What I find really curious is that there are lots of 000 - 4 sizes left on the rack. Someone gets a real deal at sale time. Sigh. It has been years since I bought clothes at a sale.

I'm just curious may I ask where you live. I've never lived in a city where all the stores only go up to size 12. Even stores in Beverly Hills although rarely you will find sizes larger than a 12.

freelancejouster

...you can wear righter pants, but I doubt that's what you're going for, hahah

slkehl

Just buy the size that fits properly, don't worry about "ugh, I don't want to buy an 18!" or "I need Levis because then I'm a size 12!" You always look better in clothes that fit you properly, and no one sees the tag, so buy based on what it looks like, not the number!

Agreed!

LiziAB

Lucky anyone who can buy size 16 in their own town. I can't. They don't sell size 16 where I live. The biggest size in the stores here is 12. I shop when I travel. What I find really curious is that there are lots of 000 - 4 sizes left on the rack. Someone gets a real deal at sale time. Sigh. It has been years since I bought clothes at a sale.

I'm just curious may I ask where you live. I've never lived in a city where all the stores only go up to size 12. Even stores in Beverly Hills although rarely you will find sizes larger than a 12.

I once walked into an Anne Taylor store and asked for a size 14 and the salesperson gave me a dirty look and said "We don`t carry those LARGE sizes here". Never been back, even now that I can fit into their size 10 or 8.

annanderson77985

I'm completely baffled by women's clothing sizes.. I've read several threads where women my height have lost weight, and gone down to the 150 lb. range, and proudly (rightly so) proclaim that now they wear a size 8 or 6.. I've never worn smaller than a size 10 in my life, even when I was at my fittest when pushing troops in the Army, and size 10 was considered the 'perfect' size for a woman.. At 150, I was wearing a size 16 to 18...

fittocycle

Another factor may be how much loose skin you have after loosing weight. I have enough on my thighs to keep me from ever wearing anything smaller than an 8 in most sizes!

morgennn

When I weighed 115lbs, which isn't a lot, I couldn't fit into anything smaller than a size 10 pair of jeans (UK sizing) because my hips are so big haha! At 176lbs I was wearing a 14 and now at 159lbs I'm still in a 14! Sizing is a strange thing, I try not think about the number on the label of my clothes now.

Doctorpurple

Lucky anyone who can buy size 16 in their own town. I can't. They don't sell size 16 where I live. The biggest size in the stores here is 12. I shop when I travel. What I find really curious is that there are lots of 000 - 4 sizes left on the rack. Someone gets a real deal at sale time. Sigh. It has been years since I bought clothes at a sale.

I'm just curious may I ask where you live. I've never lived in a city where all the stores only go up to size 12. Even stores in Beverly Hills although rarely you will find sizes larger than a 12.

I once walked into an Anne Taylor store and asked for a size 14 and the salesperson gave me a dirty look and said "We don`t carry those LARGE sizes here". Never been back, even now that I can fit into their size 10 or 8.

Wow that's awful.

CristinaL1983

I just bought a pair of jeans in a size 8. I have a 27" waist and 41" hips and weigh 166 (I'm 5'7''). Having said that I'm about 12+ lbs heavier than my "healthy" weight and I had a lot more lean muscle mass then (I used to lift 6+ times a week as opposed to my 3 times a week now). At one point I went into an Express store and bought a pair of size 12 pants that didn't fit me when I weighed 152/4 and had a 25" waist and 36(ish)" hips. I'm sure they still wouldn't.

For me it depends heavily on the shape of the pants and the brand. I'm sure that I would easily be a 14+ in some brands/ styles of fit and am an 8 in others. It's a strange world we women live in where size doesn't really mean anything.

Umeboshi

There's nothing wrong with being any size. Don't worry about the number on your clothes.

ami5000psu

It's hard to not pay attention to the size sometimes. I totally get that. Between sizes varying from store to store and vanity sizing it's enough to drive you insane.

A good example of this is when I was in college. My best friend and I were approximately the same weight. She's 5'2" and I'm 5'4". She carries most of her weight in her stomach whereas I carry most of mine around my hips. As a result, she was still a size 6 or a size 4 and I was a size 12. Crazy, right?

Don't stress over the size. It's really only a number and it doesn't define who you are as a person. Like someone else said before, you will look better in clothes that fit you well no matter what the number on the tag says.

sskilton

Wow thank you for all the replies. I don't get alerts telling me anyone has posted so sorry for not responding. I did mean inches not cms and love the pics of different women who all weigh 150.

I have just bought a pair of jeans Size 14 that fit beautifully and have another pair of 14 trousers that dont go near me. 2 pairs of black trousers same make both 16 and one pair fits the other to big so go figure.

In Next a 14 is far to small yet a 16 too big. So I am definitely not going to worry any more it is bonkers.

bearwith

everyone's boy is a different shape. Look at colour me beautiful book.

blobby10

As well as your shape, build etc it also depends on how tight you like to wear your clothing! My friend still claims to be a size 10 because even though she has put weight on her hips she wears her trousers and skirts very tight. If I was her I would be wearing a 12 if not a 14! However I prefer my clothes to be on the big side so usually take a 16 even though I could probably 'squeeze' into a 12 if I didn't mind everything showing!
x

dmpizza

Its all about fit, not #'s.

coatsie79

It all depends on the shape of your body. I have to wear size 16 (UK) tops because of my big bazookas, but my clothes are baggy around the waist.
All shops are different too. Sometimes I have to get size 16 jeans too because of my thighs, but then they are loose around the waist.

Try not to get too hung up on what's written on the tag

Vailara

I've found this site useful because it gives the measurements for different brands

http://sizes.darkgreener.com/

But you don't sound like a 16 in any brand! I'm shorter than you but with bigger measurements and I wear 12 - 16 (the 12 is from Jaeger, which I recommend for vanity sizing! :laugh: ).

Edit: I put your measurements and you come out a size 10 - 12 in most brands. For the bottom half, anyway. Maybe you are large-busted, and that's why you need a bigger size? You seem to be a perfect size going by your stats!

dixiewhiskey

Wow, I'd love to have your stats... 28.5", 37" .. damn

I wouldn't be upset because you don't fit a size 2.. these days, clothing companies and designers don't make clothes for real people anymore anyway. I can't really remember the last time I went jeans shopping, I'd say atleast 5 years ago because I never can find jeans to fit my thighs and waist.. one always fits but the other doesn't.

skinnyinnotime

I have 4 pairs of size 10 skinny trousers/jeans from the same store and they all fit differently, from snug, to normal to baggy!

hazypea

Stop worrying about sizes.... they don't mean anything... well fitting clothes are what you need... regardless of size.... we all have curves, hips, busts and are all different... I have jeans in 12 and 14, dresses in 12, tops in 14, and I wear big big jumpers... i also live in mens hooded jackets :-)

dad106

Last time I weighed what I do now(which is around 150) I was wearing size 10-12 clothes.. Even when I gained weight, I was still wearing that.

Fast forward 30 pounds gone with some exercise and strength training, same 150 pounds but I'm wearing a size 4.

So many factors go into clothing sizes that it's crazy, but I can generally tell what will fit and what won't. Mainly because I only shop at a few stores, and get to know the brands pretty well.

cityjaneLondon

I came down from 197 lbs and a very tight 16 to 157 lbs and I'm still in 16s in most brands UK although they are now comfortable. Only a few of my old fat clothes are unwearable. It's a bit frustrating as I would like to wear 14s. Some brands, like Boden are quite small though I do like their stuff and some, like M & S a bit bigger. They do stretchy jeans with different sized waists for different shapes. I am currently in ones called Eva which have a larger waist for the hip. I may be going in to a 14 soon, hooray!

baileybiddles

I am 38, female, 5' 6". Waist 28.5cm and Hips 37.5cm and weight 10st 10lb. So how am I a size 16 when the size guides I have looked at say at most I should be a 12. What is wrong with me?

Quit obsessing over size. It won't help you.

Lose weight. Track. Exercise. Your size will go down.