Vanity sizing
vanmep
Posts: 410 Member
Many moons ago, when I was tiny, I wore size 6 jeans. I recently bought a pair of size 6 jeans although I weigh about 30 pounds more than I did in the old days of size 6. I’m sure this is an issue of vanity sizing. But I’m wondering if I buy pants that are waist size 27, is that still the same as long ago? Is 27 inches still 27 inches?
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Replies
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It really depends on the store or brand. Some stores are true to size in pants, and some brands are a bit more loose, and some run small.1
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Hmm, when I was younger I wore an 8 around the same weight I am now and I'm fitting into size 7 so not too much of a difference. Your fat could be distributed differently. Where you carried your weight before could be different from where you carry your weight now. Just a thought.4
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If you're buying by waist then they should be true to size. It's the 6/8/10 ones that are ambiguous due to individual retailers sizing standards. I'm a different size in most retailers but buying by measurements it's always pretty close allowing for manufacturing variance.1
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I am at the weight I was last ages ago. I cannot find pants that fitted me back then anymore. I don't know if it's more mucles or if my bodyshape has changed.
For the sake of sanity I would return those jeans and see what really fits you once you get there.0 -
I hate hate hate vanity sizing. I'm not a size six, and I know this. Slapping a size six label on a pair of size 8 (or even 10) pants just pisses me off, because then I have the wrong size in the dressing room when I bring in size 8 or 10. Or worse, when I order on line.6
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I wear a size 4/6 now and I have a vintage pair of high waisted shorts that are size 12. My favorite jeans are a size 26 waist even though my waist is 28. So I agree with the first comment, it's all about what store/brand you are buying. Vanity sizing is horrible.4
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In 2011 I was the same weight I am now. I was a happy 6. Then live gets in the way, I gained 20lbs, and in August I decided to get it off again. So now I'm sitting right where I was in 2011 and I bought a size 4 tall Skinny Jeans from Old Navy and they are too big. They don't carry 2's. With a 28" waist and 39" hips, I shouldn't need a 2.
So, yeah, it's there. Some stores are worse that others. Which basically means you just have to try everything on. And not go by your pants size.4 -
VintageFeline wrote: »If you're buying by waist then they should be true to size. It's the 6/8/10 ones that are ambiguous due to individual retailers sizing standards. I'm a different size in most retailers but buying by measurements it's always pretty close allowing for manufacturing variance.
*Should* be, but they're not...
Some interesting links/graphics in this thread from the other day...
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/992561/i-hate-vanity-sizing
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I hate vanity sizing! I am a solid size 10, sometimes a 12 for comfort. Some shops have clothing in a small that is fitting me well or actually too big. I have jeans and dresses in a size 6. My question is what do the “small” people wear if an x-small toop will fit me?
I do not care what the tag on my clothing says. I just want it to look nice.
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VintageFeline wrote: »If you're buying by waist then they should be true to size. It's the 6/8/10 ones that are ambiguous due to individual retailers sizing standards. I'm a different size in most retailers but buying by measurements it's always pretty close allowing for manufacturing variance.
*Should* be, but they're not...
Some interesting links/graphics in this thread from the other day...
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/992561/i-hate-vanity-sizing
Maybe this is a UK vs US issue as well as an inches vs numbered size thing. With that graphic it says H&M vanity size. I'm about a size billion in there where in reality I think about about a UK 12 (US 8), possibly 14 to allow for booty. In reality I buy from 10-14. But if buying waist sizes it's usually spot on.
Clothing matching size charts is hit and miss too though.0 -
Yeah it's depressing
I used to fit in 00 two years ago but am now a size 2 apparently (sigh). 8 -
VintageFeline wrote: »VintageFeline wrote: »If you're buying by waist then they should be true to size. It's the 6/8/10 ones that are ambiguous due to individual retailers sizing standards. I'm a different size in most retailers but buying by measurements it's always pretty close allowing for manufacturing variance.
*Should* be, but they're not...
Some interesting links/graphics in this thread from the other day...
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/992561/i-hate-vanity-sizing
Maybe this is a UK vs US issue as well as an inches vs numbered size thing. With that graphic it says H&M vanity size. I'm about a size billion in there where in reality I think about about a UK 12 (US 8), possibly 14 to allow for booty. In reality I buy from 10-14. But if buying waist sizes it's usually spot on.
Clothing matching size charts is hit and miss too though.
I'm not sure it's an inches versus numbers thing. I hear most of my friends complain about it in women's clothing, where it's numbers. I wear men's pants and I see the same thing, where a 42 from one place fits the same as a 46 from other store. Men's dress and casual pants (Hagar and Arnold Palmer) are the worst, I know my size and I always have to buy one smaller for those because they vanity it up.
I disagree with the graphic a bit on Old Navy, I've measured my jeans from there, and from button to hole, they're dead on the waist size they are labeled for. And those are the "relaxed" fit ones.
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Back in the dark ages of the 70's, I weighed around 130# and wore what was then a size 12, or sometimes a 14. IIRC, my hips were 38" and my waist was 27". I swear that vanity sizing contributed to my weight gain, because the measurements for certain sizes started creeping up around the time I started gaining weight, and I didn't have a scale. I kept wearing a 14 for probably 30 pounds without really realizing.
Now, many years later, I'm wearing 14's again at 180#. Back in the 70's, my mom weighed 180 and wore size 20.8 -
KrazyKrissyy wrote: »Yeah it's depressing I used to fit in 00 two years ago but am now a size 2 apparently (sigh).
That's the opposite of vanity sizing.........VintageFeline wrote: »VintageFeline wrote: »If you're buying by waist then they should be true to size. It's the 6/8/10 ones that are ambiguous due to individual retailers sizing standards. I'm a different size in most retailers but buying by measurements it's always pretty close allowing for manufacturing variance.
*Should* be, but they're not...
Some interesting links/graphics in this thread from the other day...
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/992561/i-hate-vanity-sizing
Maybe this is a UK vs US issue as well as an inches vs numbered size thing. With that graphic it says H&M vanity size. I'm about a size billion in there where in reality I think about about a UK 12 (US 8), possibly 14 to allow for booty. In reality I buy from 10-14. But if buying waist sizes it's usually spot on.
Clothing matching size charts is hit and miss too though.
I'm not sure it's an inches versus numbers thing. I hear most of my friends complain about it in women's clothing, where it's numbers. I wear men's pants and I see the same thing, where a 42 from one place fits the same as a 46 from other store. Men's dress and casual pants (Hagar and Arnold Palmer) are the worst, I know my size and I always have to buy one smaller for those because they vanity it up.
I disagree with the graphic a bit on Old Navy, I've measured my jeans from there, and from button to hole, they're dead on the waist size they are labeled for. And those are the "relaxed" fit ones.
Like I said, it could be more of an issue in the US than here in the UK. But then pretty much the only thing you'd buy in a waist measurement as a female would be jeans and I don't buy many pairs from places with waist sizing.4 -
I also think it is the material. Jeans, in particular never had the give that they do now! They either buttoned or they didn't there was no stretching it. Also, because of this, your jeans did not stretch out and fall off by the end of one days wear!4
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Industries that are good at sales, appeal to women's wants and needs. Whatever it takes to make more sales because it's proven in general that females spend more money than males on personal appearance and improvement.
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youngmomtaz wrote: »I hate vanity sizing! I am a solid size 10, sometimes a 12 for comfort. Some shops have clothing in a small that is fitting me well or actually too big. I have jeans and dresses in a size 6. My question is what do the “small” people wear if an x-small toop will fit me?
I do not care what the tag on my clothing says. I just want it to look nice.
Those really tiny ladies have to go shop in the juniors' or children's departments... if the petite 0 does not fit.2 -
I don't know if vanity sizing applies to plus sizes. At Wal-Mart I am a 3x and at Lane Bryant a 2x. When I was younger I was a 14/16 at most stores at 184 lbs and I was an 18 at stores at 206 a while ago, so not much difference in sizing. I think different stores just size a little differently sometimes. A store that caters to smaller sizes is probably going to run smaller. I don't think it's vanity sizing, though, don't really believe it exists it if it does the sizes don't differ that much to really matter.0
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Back in the dark ages of the 70's, I weighed around 130# and wore what was then a size 12, or sometimes a 14. IIRC, my hips were 38" and my waist was 27". I swear that vanity sizing contributed to my weight gain, because the measurements for certain sizes started creeping up around the time I started gaining weight, and I didn't have a scale. I kept wearing a 14 for probably 30 pounds without really realizing.
Now, many years later, I'm wearing 14's again at 180#. Back in the 70's, my mom weighed 180 and wore size 20.
My mom who is 57 now was a 6 when she was younger at 130. Bodies change over time and fat distribution changes.0 -
Back in the 90's I bought a super cute wool skirt from the Gap... It was a size 12 (US) and I tried it on for my sister. She said that I could stand to "lose about 5 pounds" to wear it well. This ended up being a trigger for a bit of an ED and I ended up with a BMI of around 18.5. The skirt then was a little too large. Got married, had a baby, life happened and here I am 20 years later, with a BMI of around 22.7 and I wear a size 8 in most clothes. I still have that skirt in the back of my closet and it is positively tiny in the waist compared to the clothes I now wear.
As a teen/young adult I remember my mom complaining about how she was never very thin back in the 60's (but I guess who was if you're comparing to Twiggy?)... Her prom dress and wedding dress that she wore during that time? I couldn't even zip them when I was at my lowest weight (my BMI creeped up to 19.4 for my wedding)...3 -
Sizes have definitely changed. Back in the 90's at 125 I was in a size ten. Now, at 180 I'm in a 14. I'll be back in a ten by 160.2
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I hear ya. When I was in high school (late 80s, early 90s) I wore a teeny tiny size six. 25 years and 25 pounds later I'm a size two. Wait... what?2
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Back in the dark ages of the 70's, I weighed around 130# and wore what was then a size 12, or sometimes a 14. IIRC, my hips were 38" and my waist was 27". I swear that vanity sizing contributed to my weight gain, because the measurements for certain sizes started creeping up around the time I started gaining weight, and I didn't have a scale. I kept wearing a 14 for probably 30 pounds without really realizing.
Now, many years later, I'm wearing 14's again at 180#. Back in the 70's, my mom weighed 180 and wore size 20.
In the 1970s I weighed 125 and wore a size 10 or 12. I stayed a size 10 up to the time I weighed 170, thanks to vanity sizing, then I had to go to a 12, which set me on the path of losing weight. That was about 10 years ago. I am now 120. I can still wear the size 10 Gap jeans I bought 40 years ago (which were in a box for decades). I also have size 4 pants I bought more recently that are much too big. I don't dare mail-order clothes because I have no idea what size I really am.5 -
Back in the 90's I bought a super cute wool skirt from the Gap... It was a size 12 (US) and I tried it on for my sister. She said that I could stand to "lose about 5 pounds" to wear it well. This ended up being a trigger for a bit of an ED and I ended up with a BMI of around 18.5. The skirt then was a little too large. Got married, had a baby, life happened and here I am 20 years later, with a BMI of around 22.7 and I wear a size 8 in most clothes. I still have that skirt in the back of my closet and it is positively tiny in the waist compared to the clothes I now wear.
As a teen/young adult I remember my mom complaining about how she was never very thin back in the 60's (but I guess who was if you're comparing to Twiggy?)... Her prom dress and wedding dress that she wore during that time? I couldn't even zip them when I was at my lowest weight (my BMI creeped up to 19.4 for my wedding)...
Even when I was younger and 95lbs I couldn't fit into my mom's clothes from the 70's. She was like 5'5" and 90lbs. Definitely a Twiggy.0 -
I buy and wear vintage (pre-70s, mostly pre-60s) and vanity sizing is absolutely a thing. There is an abundance of 22-24" waist garments and that wasn't terribly unusual. Those would be a (UK) 8/10, now those would be 4/6 UK and 0/2 US generally speaking.
Pattern cutting books for drafting your own patterns have not changed and they are the same. 24" waist is a UK10/US6 where now that size is, again generally speaking, a UK6/US2.2 -
kristen8000 wrote: »In 2011 I was the same weight I am now. I was a happy 6. Then live gets in the way, I gained 20lbs, and in August I decided to get it off again. So now I'm sitting right where I was in 2011 and I bought a size 4 tall Skinny Jeans from Old Navy and they are too big. They don't carry 2's. With a 28" waist and 39" hips, I shouldn't need a 2.
So, yeah, it's there. Some stores are worse that others. Which basically means you just have to try everything on. And not go by your pants size.
Yes I went to a store and the jeans were sized s,m,l etc. and I had to get a small. I'm still overweight. 29" waist and 38" hips. What size are people 20lbs lighter than me?! LOL xxxsmall man oh man1 -
Vanity sizing is nonsensical. My daughter is 19; she is very petite, she takes a size 00. How is that even a size?! My husband can take a pair of jeans off a shelf, buy them, they will fit. How many women could ever do that? Back in the 1990's I was the same weight I am now - about 115 and I'm 5'2".. Back then I wore a size 8. Now I'm a size 2 or 4, depending on the store/name brand. It's all nonsense. The clothing industry thinks all women want to be a small size, so they've re-created the sizing structure. Problem is, every brand and store has a different size structure, so every store you walk into, you're a different size. Not too confusing, huh?!5
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kristen8000 wrote: »In 2011 I was the same weight I am now. I was a happy 6. Then live gets in the way, I gained 20lbs, and in August I decided to get it off again. So now I'm sitting right where I was in 2011 and I bought a size 4 tall Skinny Jeans from Old Navy and they are too big. They don't carry 2's. With a 28" waist and 39" hips, I shouldn't need a 2.
So, yeah, it's there. Some stores are worse that others. Which basically means you just have to try everything on. And not go by your pants size.
Yes I went to a store and the jeans were sized s,m,l etc. and I had to get a small. I'm still overweight. 29" waist and 38" hips. What size are people 20lbs lighter than me?! LOL xxxsmall man oh man
Like someone else mentioned, they go to the kids section. Vanity sizing hasn't really touched kids sizes yet I don't think. And a size 12 in girls is roughly what a size 1 used to be in women's/juniors. And they are shorter, so it works well for petites. I'm not sure what the really tall thin people do.2 -
My great Grandma worked at Hickey Freeman (a US based clothing manufacturer) she worked in the factory and actually explained to me the original cause of vanity sizing. She said every clothing store would make their clothes from a pattern, these patterns were always sold brand new to upscale clothing stores (today think Banana republic) and every time they would cut clothing to fit the model a small piece of the model got cut off as well. Eventually the model drifted down to a cheaper store (maybe an H&M today?) but would have already been used by the upscale store so all these little pieces were actually taken out of it, however it was still used as the same size in both stores but was physically smaller at the second store. This caused the size in the more upscale store to run smaller than the same size in the "lower scale" stores. Hence why you would wear a smaller size in a fancier more expensive store. I know that is obviously not the reason behind vanity sizing today but I just thought it was interesting.4
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kristen8000 wrote: »In 2011 I was the same weight I am now. I was a happy 6. Then live gets in the way, I gained 20lbs, and in August I decided to get it off again. So now I'm sitting right where I was in 2011 and I bought a size 4 tall Skinny Jeans from Old Navy and they are too big. They don't carry 2's. With a 28" waist and 39" hips, I shouldn't need a 2.
So, yeah, it's there. Some stores are worse that others. Which basically means you just have to try everything on. And not go by your pants size.
Yes I went to a store and the jeans were sized s,m,l etc. and I had to get a small. I'm still overweight. 29" waist and 38" hips. What size are people 20lbs lighter than me?! LOL xxxsmall man oh man
I'm normal weight with a 29" waist and 39" hips (I'm tall as heck) and a size 8Long in most jeans. It's also where your proportions are. My thighs go on for more inches length than a shorter person, so I have to get a much larger size because of where the knee starts.0
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