Down a size in jeans without weight loss & are jeans bigger nowadays

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sodakat
sodakat Posts: 1,126 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Posted this to my friends list but think I'll open it for discussion here too.

So, it finally happened to me. I've read about people who lost inches but not weight. I haven't lost in 2 weeks (boo hoo) but yesterday I went to my favorite resale shop because several pairs of my size 14 jeans are getting a bit loose in the butt, thighs and waist. Well, although I was expecting to be disappointed, I made myself try on some size 12s. They fit. A bit tight but I could zip them up easily (no laying on a bed using a fork on the zipper in a resale shop). I wore a pair today and after a real short time they weren't even tight - fit like you want jeans to fit. I still want the weight loss NOW, but this is really something. I know I have not worn a size 12 since 1980 I'm sure. Gahhhh. Before most of you were born probably!! Hah hah. Also, one last thought; did you know that at some point in time the plus size clothing manufacturers changed the sizing on plus size pants? I can't remember when that was, but when it happened all we plus size wearers went down a size, depending on our body shape and how tight we were wearing our pants. I think that might have been about the time they expanded plus sizes and got into producing a bigger variety in the larger sizes since they smartened up and saw that it was a huge market. I bring this up because I'm now wondering if I really am in an old size 14. Did the smaller sizes also get larger?

I have been lifting for about a month but usually only once or twice a week due to scheduling stuff with my job. I can tell I'm more capable with the weights but not sure this could have made a difference since I'm absolutely eating at a deficit and I know no muscle growth is possible.

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Replies

  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    Women's clothing sizes are adjusted based on the average size of customers. As women get larger, so do the clothes.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    Clothes are all over the place. Sizes mean almost nothing anymore. You certainly can't count on them. Even from the same company, I can buy shorts in two different sizes.

    It's just crazy. Right now, I have 14s and 16s in the closet. Soon, I'll add some 12s. Size 12 and size 16 shouldn't fit the same.

    Yes, they keep adding room to the sizes. This is why they're now making clothes in size 0, 00 and 000. They'll have to have 000000 in a few years if it keeps up.

    I wish the catalog companies, at least, would standardize the sizes. They'd probably get more orders, too. This Vanity Sizing is a pain.
  • EMTFreakGirl
    EMTFreakGirl Posts: 597 Member
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    Two words: Vanity Sizing.
  • DvrDawg
    DvrDawg Posts: 88 Member
    edited November 2014
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    EMT nailed it - I saw a news story a few years back about vanity sizing - where a reporter went out and bought the same size of pants (different pants, manufactures, etc) but all fit differently - and then, the reporter was able to find some stores that sold pants a size smaller and even two sizes smaller but they were actually the same size as the pants purchased previously. In men's clothes, you see it in jeans - if you buy loose fit, you might wear a 36" waist, relax fit is 38" waist and regular fit is 40". So, of course, I buy the loose fit with a desire to wear the same size in regular fit (or even smaller). One day, I tell you, one day!!! (image of me shaking my fist in the air).
  • LeanButNotMean44
    LeanButNotMean44 Posts: 852 Member
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    EMTFreakGirl wrote: »
    Two words: Vanity Sizing.

    This! Have you measured yourself with a tape measure? You could still be losing inches. BTW, vanity sizing is stupid but it works well for retailers because people are more likely to buy something when it's a smaller size than they have usually worn. I know I have fallen into that trap!

  • maxit
    maxit Posts: 880 Member
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    I don't care if it is vanity sizing. I went from a 16W pant size to an 8. Even if my current 8 was a 10 or 12 back in the day, I like it :smile:
  • EMTFreakGirl
    EMTFreakGirl Posts: 597 Member
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    maxit wrote: »
    I don't care if it is vanity sizing. I went from a 16W pant size to an 8. Even if my current 8 was a 10 or 12 back in the day, I like it :smile:
    Awesome! I did not intend to belittle progress/success...just a commentary on how the consumer is "snowed" at times. For a great visual on vanity sizing, head to your local Goodwill and/or Salvation Army and try on jeans. (My two go-to's for affordable in-betweens while losing.) A new 8 is very close to an "old" 14. FACT! The "W" sizes tho' are a bit different. 16W to an 8 is GREAT!!!! (and more than significant!) I can't wait to get back into my 8's!

  • sodakat
    sodakat Posts: 1,126 Member
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    EMTFreakGirl wrote: »
    maxit wrote: »
    I don't care if it is vanity sizing. I went from a 16W pant size to an 8. Even if my current 8 was a 10 or 12 back in the day, I like it :smile:
    ... For a great visual on vanity sizing, head to your local Goodwill and/or Salvation Army and try on jeans. (My two go-to's for affordable in-betweens while losing.) A new 8 is very close to an "old" 14. FACT!

    How "old"? I use Goodwill all the time. But pretty much the jeans, other than the odd pair, are "current". Seem more current than much of what is sold on ebay anyway. I suppose it depends on who is cleaning closets and donating to Goodwill at any given time.

  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
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    I've been complaining about vanity sizing for years. I had a pair of size 4 pants from the late 90s that I somehow managed to hang onto for years. I came across them while rummaging through my dresser drawers about two years ago or so and tried to wear them. I was wearing size 4s at the time so I thought they'd fit but I couldn't even come close to getting that pair of pants over my hips.

    I get that people are getting larger so clothes are getting larger but it starts to become a problem when a person like me who is short and in the middle of the healthy weight range has problems finding clothes small enough to fit! I had to stop shopping at Eddie Bauer because their size 4s are too large and they don't carry size 2s in anything but regular length in the stores. I'm not sure how a 5'3" 125 pound woman fits into a size 2 anyway, but there it is.
  • EMTFreakGirl
    EMTFreakGirl Posts: 597 Member
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    sodakat wrote: »
    EMTFreakGirl wrote: »
    maxit wrote: »
    I don't care if it is vanity sizing. I went from a 16W pant size to an 8. Even if my current 8 was a 10 or 12 back in the day, I like it :smile:
    ... For a great visual on vanity sizing, head to your local Goodwill and/or Salvation Army and try on jeans. (My two go-to's for affordable in-betweens while losing.) A new 8 is very close to an "old" 14. FACT!

    How "old"? I use Goodwill all the time. But pretty much the jeans, other than the odd pair, are "current". Seem more current than much of what is sold on ebay anyway. I suppose it depends on who is cleaning closets and donating to Goodwill at any given time.

    I have 2 pair of size 14 Levis...one bought new last year and one from SA...probably from the 90's? The ones from the SA are MUCH smaller.
    Not the same for all brands, I'm know that OLD NAVY pants tend to run very big. I can practically wear an 8 now!
  • maryv83
    maryv83 Posts: 73 Member
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    Old Navy is terrible for this. I have a pair of 14 jeans from Old navy from last year that fit exactly how they were supposed. I went back a few months ago and bought a 14 thinking they would fit the same way. I was way wrong. They are practically falling off of me. I can pull them off without unbuttoning them. I know I've not lost THAT much weight because my 12's are too small. What gives?

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