Clothing sizing running larger and larger

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  • anonniemouse
    anonniemouse Posts: 117 Member
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    I agree. In college, oh, man a decade ago, I used to buy pants from an online catalog, I think Alloy. My size, based on hip measurement, was a 13. Recently I saw that the same hip measurement is now a size 9.

    I also remember when I was in high school getting a pair of pants from Wal-Mart. Back then, I wore a juniors 13/14 which was a XL. I think now that size is a medium or large.
  • GiGiBeans
    GiGiBeans Posts: 1,062 Member
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    Regardless of what women say about how annoying vanity sizing is, the truth of the matter is designers, manufacturers and retail shops see without doubt women are more likely to buy a smaller sized item than a larger sized item, even if the larger item looks slightly better. It's called vanity sizing for a reason and it works.
  • OatFloats
    OatFloats Posts: 119
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    It's good to compare figures. About a decade ago, at 130 (my gw), which is at the high end of a healthy weight for me, I was wearing size 6-8 in US clothing. So now, I should be looking for size 2-4 US or thereabouts? I really don't care about the number, it's the width of the clothes I take off the rack that get my blood pumping. We all have an innate ability to see which proportions are more attractive than others, no matter what this vanity sizing is all about.
  • juliafromrf
    juliafromrf Posts: 106 Member
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    Okay, I'm new here and I was getting really crazy about how small people on here generally seemed to be. Vanity sizing doesn't seem to be THAT extreme in Europe (where I live).
    When I saw a lot of thin, but not skinny skinny people posting in the forums that they wore a size 0 or 2, I was amazed because the (supposed) equivalent of a size 0 doesn't even exist in Europe. The smallest you can buy here is a size 32, which should theoretically equal a US size 2. And trust me, a EU size 32 is extremely small, high-fashion-modelesque and only achievable by persons with a very small frame.

    Why would US companies do this? I guess it's way too obvious to serve as a marketing strategy and I think it annoys many customers, no?
  • asianmonkie
    asianmonkie Posts: 264
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    Haha, I thought I was the only one that noticed this. This is kind of depressing as I just started buying smaller clothes after I lost 20 pounds.
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
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    Okay, I'm new here and I was getting really crazy about how small people on here generally seemed to be. Vanity sizing doesn't seem to be THAT extreme in Europe (where I live).
    When I saw a lot of thin, but not skinny skinny people posting in the forums that they wore a size 0 or 2, I was amazed because the (supposed) equivalent of a size 0 doesn't even exist in Europe. The smallest you can buy here is a size 32, which should theoretically equal a US size 2. And trust me, a EU size 32 is extremely small, high-fashion-modelesque and only achievable by persons with a very small frame.

    Why would US companies do this? I guess it's way too obvious to serve as a marketing strategy and I think it annoys many customers, no?

    Yeah, I don't know the exact amount it varies, and maybe someone already said this. But, I think North American sizes are at least 2 sizes smaller than European. So, a 00 here is a 2 there.
  • just_Jennie1
    just_Jennie1 Posts: 1,233
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    It also depends on the clothing manufacturer. I'm an XS/S in tops, dresses, etc. and I bought some clothes online and I had to exchange two items for a bigger size. One item I couldn't even get on.

    I have issues because I have broad shoulders and a muscular back so I can't even buy button up shirts or cute jackets because they're inevitable too small in the back/shoulder area and if I go bigger in size they're just bigger in the length.

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