Has U.S. pant sizes changed or am I CRAZY!

2

Replies

  • PJilly
    PJilly Posts: 22,178 Member
    I remember when I had my first son I was 22 and the same weight I am now. I wore a 9/10 juniors and thought I was huge :laugh:

    I am now an 8p. I have tried on pants from size 6-12 that fit! Gloria Vanderbilt can kiss my tuckus with her size 12's :laugh: but I bet her company is the same today as it was 30 years ago (and they were small then too!)

    Just wondering if it is all the manufacturers or just a few.
    Have you tried Gloria Vanderbilt lately? They just happen to be the size 6's that are too big for me now.
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
    I remember when I had my first son I was 22 and the same weight I am now. I wore a 9/10 juniors and thought I was huge :laugh:

    I am now an 8p. I have tried on pants from size 6-12 that fit! Gloria Vanderbilt can kiss my tuckus with her size 12's :laugh: but I bet her company is the same today as it was 30 years ago (and they were small then too!)

    Just wondering if it is all the manufacturers or just a few.
    Have you tried Gloria Vanderbilt lately? They just happen to be the size 6's that are too big for me now.

    :noway: No! I swear they are made smaller............tried a pair on over a year ago and hers were size 12's and I was wearing 10p in all other brands.

    Wear those sixes girl!! :glasses:
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
    But, wasn't it wonderful when we could buy the 'smaller' size 20 instead of having to purchase a 22 or 24?? lol Can't imagine the size I would have had to buy if it wasn't for the 'vanity' sizing...guess I am thankful for that! This subject can be looked at several ways...but, it does make it hard to shop online.

    Ugh, I hate it! When Lane Bryant changed from regular sizes to 0-1-2-3-4-etc I was completely annoyed. I used to be able to walk in, grab a pair of size 18 jeans, and buy them without trying them on. Now that they have silly vanity sizes plus 3 different colors to dig through I have not been able to figure out what size/color I should be in. I go to their outlet stores that still sell the regular sized clothing instead of messing with that system. I think they do the same in Fasion Bug and Torid. The smaller number doesn't make me feel any better about myself. It just means I can't find pants!

    For the reason I refuse to buy any more pants from LB. I can NEVER find my size. Nothing fits right anymore there!

    Are they owned by the same line as Chico's? They are the same way.......The clerk followed me around 'braggin' I was a 0.........No, I am not! I am an 8-10..............I hate being treated like I am stupid:grumble:
  • SayRah
    SayRah Posts: 104
    It depends on where you buy it. Some brand tend to run a little big or a little small. I fit anywhere from size 8 to size 10.
  • lessertess
    lessertess Posts: 855 Member
    I don't know about recently but I purchase a lot of vintage clothes. If you purchase a size 12 or 14 from the 60's and 70's it is usually equivalent to today's size 8 and 10.

    So the short answer is YES sizes have changed drastically over time. The other complication is that different manufacturers size clothing differently. right now I can wear anything from a size 8 to a size 14 depending on the style and who made it.....
  • swimmstar92
    swimmstar92 Posts: 5
    I think it all depends on where you are buying from and when you are comparing to. I am going to be a sophomore in college this year and I would like to fit in to the jeans I wore my freshman/sophomore year of high school which were a size 3. It seems that I went up at a pretty steady rate, but I would like to point out that even back then when I was a "size 3" I owned jeans that were mostly size 3 and 5 but I had to get a size 9 from Walmart. There's just not really any standardizing.
  • a1schwei
    a1schwei Posts: 617 Member
    i've found that a lot has to do with the cut too...with lower rise jeans/pants i need a bigger size than with a medium rise...and how they are cut against my hips and thighs makes a difference too (because no matter what i do my legs will always be muscular and my hips will always exist in excess ;) haha)...oh and juniors sizes can do a number on one's self-esteem!! what i find interesting though is that sizes seem to differ slightly from fall to spring...a pair of jeans in the exact same style/cut/wash that i bought in the fall are much looser than a pair a bought in the spring...and i have had this happen multiple times...weird!! overall though i have to admit that most of the time i am okay with the 'vanity' :)
  • lcwiney
    lcwiney Posts: 11 Member
    WELL, I KNOW THAT I RECENLTY REALIZED THAT A SIZE 11/12 JUNIORS IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CUT THAN A MISSY'S SIZE 11/12.....IF THAT'S NOT THE CASE FOR YOU...DON'T KNOW.....LET'S JUST CELEBRATE THAT YOU ARE A SIZE 6 GIRL!! YAY!!!
  • rcatr
    rcatr Posts: 374 Member
    Like everyone has said, they have absolutely changed. My grandmother was such a fashionable young woman and kept most of her clothes in amazing condition. I have been lucky enough to inherit some amazing pairs of dark rinse jordaches (think skinny jeans waaay before they were popular) and awesome sun dresses and they're a size 8 but i wear a 2 or 4 anywhere else. Go figure. But like someone earlier said, I think how your clothes and (I might add) how you feel in your clothes matters a whole lot more than the number on the tag.
  • kgrutch
    kgrutch Posts: 223
    i have teenagers so i understand the junior sizing. Juniors are 0, 1, 3, 5, 7 , 9 ,11, 13. regular womens clothes are sizes 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14. they do not compare. i can wear size 4 womens jeans and 7 or 9 in juniors. often though i like the way the juniors fit (even though i dont like looking at the higher number). try different sections, especially pants vary so much from juniors to womens. also i have found that the bealls do not carry ant clothes smaller than a womens 8 (except in the juniors section). good luck with looking good ladies!!
  • JJs25th
    JJs25th Posts: 204 Member
    Juniors sizing does not work for me -- too many natural curves in the back, even after lossing over 20 pounds. I also noticed on a trip to Bealls with my mother in April that they don't stock much of anything below an 8. I had an awful time finding shorts and finally ended up with only 2 pair -- the only two pair that fit and the last two pair in that size (4). if this keeps up I am going to have to go back to making all of my clothes.
  • david1956
    david1956 Posts: 190 Member
    The kind of stuff that woman have always complained about is permeating men's clothing too. Last summer every short-sleeved shirt I Iiked was some new bizarre fad called "slim fit". Which almost means just add a size on to what you'd almost wear, which is pointless so far as I can see. But the other "feature" is insanely tight sleeves, even if you get the next size. Like a shirt that fits me nicely, I can only just get my upper arm into and the minute I bend my arm the sleeve rides up and jams above my bicep. Surely to God I am not the only person in the universe with slightly big biceps, so whay the hell is everything that looks otherwise nice suddenly designed for someone with pea-sticks for arms? Do NOT tell me everyone has suddenly become skinny!
  • LotusF1ower
    LotusF1ower Posts: 1,259 Member
    :wink: So after now losing 32 lbs I am now a size 6 sometimes a 7/8, but I mostly have been just buying 6's and they fit really nice. Either way I LOVE it and I am proud of myself!!!:drinker:
    BUT...
    I am wondering if the sizes in the US have changed to make us feel better...I know all through high school I was a 7/8 and weighed 120 to 125. So how is it that after 4 kids and weighing in at 144 I am now a 6.

    Have they changed and has anyone else noticed this change or am I just weird???? I am NOT complaining by any means, I love to say I am a 6:drinker: but I am just curious abotu the difference:wink:

    Yes they did change all the sizes and they did the same in the UK too. It annoys me when they do that because it is completely deceiving.

    I think they are going to bring out a ruling whereby instead of sizes on clothes, the waist and hip measurements will be there and there will be strict rules to make sure everything is correct.
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
    :wink: So after now losing 32 lbs I am now a size 6 sometimes a 7/8, but I mostly have been just buying 6's and they fit really nice. Either way I LOVE it and I am proud of myself!!!:drinker:
    BUT...
    I am wondering if the sizes in the US have changed to make us feel better...I know all through high school I was a 7/8 and weighed 120 to 125. So how is it that after 4 kids and weighing in at 144 I am now a 6.

    Have they changed and has anyone else noticed this change or am I just weird???? I am NOT complaining by any means, I love to say I am a 6:drinker: but I am just curious abotu the difference:wink:

    Yes they did change all the sizes and they did the same in the UK too. It annoys me when they do that because it is completely deceiving.

    I think they are going to bring out a ruling whereby instead of sizes on clothes, the waist and hip measurements will be there and there will be strict rules to make sure everything is correct.

    Honesty....now isn't that a novel idea!? :laugh:

    When I was at my heaviest I was going shopping with my friend. She is 6' tall and wide shouldered....I was 5'2" and round.......When I refused to go into Lane Bryant, which she loved because they have talls there for her, she asked why. I explained I did not want to buy anything from there because it puts me in the plus sizes...........just as innocent as can be she says "But aren't you in plus sizes? How does a store or size change your weight?" I LOL at this because I am a rather say it like it is person, and she is sweet and would never hurt me...............but here she was saying it like it was! I was 170 pounds whether the size said 12/14 or 16 in Lane Bryant!! :laugh:

    I would rather measure and go in and buy some clothes...........I mean I can see I am still fluffy......I know I am not truly a 8p.....not yet!
  • sandra80
    sandra80 Posts: 308 Member
    Ugh, I hate it! When Lane Bryant changed from regular sizes to 0-1-2-3-4-etc I was completely annoyed. I used to be able to walk in, grab a pair of size 18 jeans, and buy them without trying them on. Now that they have silly vanity sizes plus 3 different colors to dig through I have not been able to figure out what size/color I should be in. I go to their outlet stores that still sell the regular sized clothing instead of messing with that system. I think they do the same in Fasion Bug and Torid. The smaller number doesn't make me feel any better about myself. It just means I can't find pants!

    just went to LB for a pair of jeans and they have gone back to the normal 14-28 sizes now but tehy still have the 3 color system going. i hated the stupid system when it first started. 1st i had no clue what size i was anymore and the staff didn't know what to tell me either. 1 measured me and assured me i was a 9 blue another said an 8 yellow finally through trial and error i found i was an 8 red. now that i finally had that system down and was ready to go down to the 7 red, there were no more, they said they were changing the system again. it's atleast a little easier now that they got rid of the 0-9 sizes, i mean really, we're shopping at LB, we are not 0s. that's just silly.
  • PJilly
    PJilly Posts: 22,178 Member
    I would love it if they went by measurements! There's no judgment there either like there is with a size. Just the facts, ma'am. They could do that with shirts too.
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
    I would love it if they went by measurements! There's no judgment there either like there is with a size. Just the facts, ma'am. They could do that with shirts too.

    I went to buy a bra at Victoria Secret........the sales lady approaches, I tell her 36c.....she insists to measure me.............she says I am 38D (this is after weight loss)...........I LOL and say "I will not buy more bras simply because you say I have a bigger rack than I actually do! Now please get me a 36c in beige and I will be on my way!" Will NEVER go back there again!
  • LotusF1ower
    LotusF1ower Posts: 1,259 Member
    I would love it if they went by measurements! There's no judgment there either like there is with a size. Just the facts, ma'am. They could do that with shirts too.

    Absolutely!

    You know, when you think about it, all this changing the sizes so as to make people "feel better" has in actual fact, not done them any service whatsoever. What it did do was fool people into thinking they were still the same size they always were and if that unfortunate person was one of those that never jumped on the scales, they might not realise they had gained a significant amount of weight until a lot later on, when if the sizes had been honest, it would have been much more beneficial to the public.

    Now that really would have been doing everybody a service!
  • Barneystinson
    Barneystinson Posts: 1,357 Member
    I would love it if they went by measurements! There's no judgment there either like there is with a size. Just the facts, ma'am. They could do that with shirts too.

    I went to buy a bra at Victoria Secret........the sales lady approaches, I tell her 36c.....she insists to measure me.............she says I am 38D (this is after weight loss)...........I LOL and say "I will not buy more bras simply because you say I have a bigger rack than I actually do! Now please get me a 36c in beige and I will be on my way!" Will NEVER go back there again!

    I had the same thing happen there recently. I need to find a new source for bras!
  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
    I've found stores have a pretty big variety in sizing from my shopping experience in the past few weeks. I can fit in size 14 shorts from Old Navy, size 12 jeans from Gap, size 12 skirts from J.Crew, and size 10 jeans from Tommy Hilfiger. It's a bit range, but stores are all different. And I have heard that in general sizes are bigger than they used to be.

    Tommy Hilfiger's pants are definitely vanity sizing. Their 14s are labeled 12s (I compared the waist measurements of all the brands I own that fit me. I'm in all 12s of Tommy pants (about 4 or 5 pairs but about 2 different cuts) but medium and 12s in skirts and shorts of Old Navy (smaller waist than Tommy's). My levis are 14s and the waist measurements per size are the same as Old Navy (which I consider "accurate"). Hopefully that makes sense.

    I don't know if it's actual vanity sizing as it I think a lot of it is just difference in cut and style...

    Also something to consider when you guys say "I was an 8 in high school and now I'm a 6"... if you've lost weight from working out as well, you've gained muscle and lost body fat, whereas before, you were probably just "skinny" and you're smaller now. I know I am! I've lost 18 of the 30 lbs I gained (aiming to lose 40)... I'm smaller NOW than I was before I gained the 30 lbs, which would be 12 lbs. below where I'm at now. SAME clothes, different body.
  • JJs25th
    JJs25th Posts: 204 Member
    I would love it if they went by measurements! There's no judgment there either like there is with a size. Just the facts, ma'am. They could do that with shirts too.

    I went to buy a bra at Victoria Secret........the sales lady approaches, I tell her 36c.....she insists to measure me.............she says I am 38D (this is after weight loss)...........I LOL and say "I will not buy more bras simply because you say I have a bigger rack than I actually do! Now please get me a 36c in beige and I will be on my way!" Will NEVER go back there again!

    I had the same thing happen there recently. I need to find a new source for bras!

    I refuse to shop there. The salesGIRLS (and they are GIRLS, not ladies or women) are not interested in you, but only n pushing product. I have also had one insisit on measuring me. She said I was a 36D. I said I was a 34DD with an extender in the back. (I am wider across the back than the front; and no matter how much my weight has shifted "the girls" have never migrated around to be under my arms.) She insisted that I was the 36. She then said it didn't really matter because a 34DD was actually the same size as the 36D!!! Funny, they don't measure the same when you compare two of the same brand & style. She deposited me in a dressing room with a true gem of a bra you couldn't fold or crush -- or wash -- in the 36!. And left me there unattended for over 20 minutes. I don't know anyone that takes that long to try on one bra! That was over 5 years ago, I have never been back.
  • tigerblue
    tigerblue Posts: 1,526 Member
    I know that sizes have changed. It has happened gradually over the past 20 years--I am a packrat, and put away and get out my old clothes as my weight has gone up and down, and there is probably a two-size difference over sizing in the 80's.

    I also think that even 20 years ago more expensive brands "ran" larger. (Heaven forbid that some rich gal would have to wear a large size!!) So now the cheaper brands have started vanity sizing just to sell.
  • Sara1978
    Sara1978 Posts: 213 Member
    If you guys think regular clothes are bad about this, try ordering scrubs these days!

    Despite wearing a size 8-10 at most places, I'm apparently considered a "small" according to the scrub company my office orders from. For the first few years that I was working there, I was stuck in BIG scrubs that were practically falling off because I had ordered the same size that I would have purchased at a regular store. Finally got the budget to order new ones and I'm anxiously awaiting the day when I won't have to worry about losing my pants in the middle of an appointment. lol.
  • heathersmilez
    heathersmilez Posts: 2,579 Member
    Come to Canada! Our sizes start at 0! Ridiculous.

    Yea, I was going to say US sizes start at 4? We've got 00 over here!

    Canada doesn't have "juniors sizes" although we do have odd number sizes depending on where you shop. I've found that although I am 5'8 and a 5/7 in Canada I'm a size larger (a 9) in juniors US but I have no problem with that considering juniors is well, what it sounds like, for young women. I also hear that a juniors 9 is equivalent to a size 4-6 misses in the US so that makes sense.

    Regarding overall sizing, it depends on where you shop. You'll be a smaller size at more upscale stores b/c the clothes are made better. If you’re noticing that at non-upscale stores than it’s not really vanity sizing its accommodating the growing size of the US population. If the average US woman is a 16, might as well start bumping up the rest of the fit to keep women happy and continuously buying.
  • heathersmilez
    heathersmilez Posts: 2,579 Member
    I would love it if they went by measurements! There's no judgment there either like there is with a size. Just the facts, ma'am. They could do that with shirts too.

    I went to buy a bra at Victoria Secret........the sales lady approaches, I tell her 36c.....she insists to measure me.............she says I am 38D (this is after weight loss)...........I LOL and say "I will not buy more bras simply because you say I have a bigger rack than I actually do! Now please get me a 36c in beige and I will be on my way!" Will NEVER go back there again!

    I had the same thing happen there recently. I need to find a new source for bras!

    I refuse to shop there. The salesGIRLS (and they are GIRLS, not ladies or women) are not interested in you, but only n pushing product. I have also had one insisit on measuring me. She said I was a 36D. I said I was a 34DD with an extender in the back. (I am wider across the back than the front; and no matter how much my weight has shifted "the girls" have never migrated around to be under my arms.) She insisted that I was the 36. She then said it didn't really matter because a 34DD was actually the same size as the 36D!!! Funny, they don't measure the same when you compare two of the same brand & style. She deposited me in a dressing room with a true gem of a bra you couldn't fold or crush -- or wash -- in the 36!. And left me there unattended for over 20 minutes. I don't know anyone that takes that long to try on one bra! That was over 5 years ago, I have never been back.

    That sucks for all of you, I totally get it and I'm sure they are just trying to sell bras and not really help per say but FYI, a 36D and 34DD is the exact same size in the cup. You just have to figure out what size fits you best in particular brands or type of bras. Some people need the extra rib cage room others don't and some bras are stretchier than others so that you can wear the smaller band size. In high school I worked at La Vie En Rose in Canada, I was a 36DD at the time and that tidbit helped me tones especially when La Senza bras went on sale for $8.50 and they didn’t have 36DD (yea that’s right, I shopped at our competitor, they were cheaper!) I'm a 34C consistently now so no more need to play with the sizing but maybe this info will help others.
  • melodyg
    melodyg Posts: 1,423 Member
    But, wasn't it wonderful when we could buy the 'smaller' size 20 instead of having to purchase a 22 or 24?? lol Can't imagine the size I would have had to buy if it wasn't for the 'vanity' sizing...guess I am thankful for that! This subject can be looked at several ways...but, it does make it hard to shop online.

    Ugh, I hate it! When Lane Bryant changed from regular sizes to 0-1-2-3-4-etc I was completely annoyed. I used to be able to walk in, grab a pair of size 18 jeans, and buy them without trying them on. Now that they have silly vanity sizes plus 3 different colors to dig through I have not been able to figure out what size/color I should be in. I go to their outlet stores that still sell the regular sized clothing instead of messing with that system. I think they do the same in Fasion Bug and Torid. The smaller number doesn't make me feel any better about myself. It just means I can't find pants!

    For the reason I refuse to buy any more pants from LB. I can NEVER find my size. Nothing fits right anymore there!

    I love the sizing at Lane Bryant. I could care less about the 0-1-2-3-4 sizing and completely agree they are vanity sizing (however, when I was first sized for those jeans the clerk guessed my typical clothing size and gave me the size to try on based on that). What I love is the variety in how they are cut. I have never in my LIFE, including when I weighed 108 pounds (I'm 5'1"), been able to find jeans that fit me properly. I have huge hips (genetically) and anything that fits in the hips is falling off my waist, not to mention too long. Their RED jeans fit me perfectly. I seriously don't know what I will do when I am too small for their jeans. :) (Oddly enough, I haven't had the same experience with their other pants... sometimes they fit and sometimes they don't, even the ones with the Venezia sizing)
  • valeriebpdx
    valeriebpdx Posts: 497 Member
    I recently pulled a box out of storage that had pants in in from about 30 years ago. I checked the sizes, and since they said 18, I figured they might be too big, since I recently bought some 12's at JC Penney. Hah!! I could barely pull the old pants over my thighs!! Yeah, sizes have definitely changed. I know what size I wore at the weight I am now, and I am fitting in 12's whereas I was wearing 16's at the same weight before. It is not because of being super toned up either.

    I had this same thing happen, which showed me beyond a shadow of a doubt that clothes are a lot bigger than they used to be. My weight goes up and down, I put things away in a Rubbermaid tub for when I lose the weight later (the "goal box"), and try them on periodically. I have a skirt from the mid '90s (shut up) that is a size 12. I grabbed it confidently since I haven't bought pants bigger than a 10 in 2 years, and it was not even close to buttoning, much less fitting. Intrigued, I tried on lots of other things in that box sized 12, and couldn't fit into any of them. They are not doing us any favors. If I knew I was actually a size 14 or 16 I might have gotten my *kitten* together years ago.
  • Megooo19
    Megooo19 Posts: 199
    My friend was just telling me how she went into Victoria Secret and they measured her at a 36D and shes really a 36A. She said she about fell over she told the girl measuring her she did it wrong and the girl argued with her lol. I went there after I had a B.A. last summer and the girl told me I was a 34B I nearly cried until I realized she was wrong and I was really a 34D. Seriously rediculous!
  • Melora
    Melora Posts: 65 Member
    The kind of stuff that woman have always complained about is permeating men's clothing too. Last summer every short-sleeved shirt I Iiked was some new bizarre fad called "slim fit". Which almost means just add a size on to what you'd almost wear, which is pointless so far as I can see. But the other "feature" is insanely tight sleeves, even if you get the next size. Like a shirt that fits me nicely, I can only just get my upper arm into and the minute I bend my arm the sleeve rides up and jams above my bicep. Surely to God I am not the only person in the universe with slightly big biceps, so whay the hell is everything that looks otherwise nice suddenly designed for someone with pea-sticks for arms? Do NOT tell me everyone has suddenly become skinny!

    I have the EXACT same problem.
  • Sunsh1ne
    Sunsh1ne Posts: 879 Member
    They have changed. Marilyn Monroe was a size 12 when she was alive, but she would have been a 6 if she was alive today. They add about a half an inch every two years or so, I think.

    On the bright side, you're the same size as Marilyn Monroe!
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