Vanity sizing?? Do we like it or not?

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  • fiberartist219
    fiberartist219 Posts: 1,865 Member
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    If sizing were standard, I might actually buy clothes online. However, since it's not, I have to try a bazillion things on before I find a decent fit.
  • bloodbank
    bloodbank Posts: 468 Member
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    It doesn't bother me - I'm fine with having clothing in all different sizes that all fit the exact same. I don't get giddy when I fit into (what the tag says is) an 8 and I don't get upset when I fit into (what the tag says is) an 18.

    I guess some consistency would be nice, but honestly, when I go clothes shopping, I don't have a problem spending a few minutes trying on different sizes... and usually I can eyeball what will fit the best before I try it on anyway.
  • sleepytexan
    sleepytexan Posts: 3,138 Member
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    Yes, it's very silly. Recently I saw a 00. really?

    Some years ago I inherited some lovely and very expensive designer cocktail dresses from the 1950s. They are all marked sizes 10-12 and fit me nicely, though with today's vanity sizing I wear a 4. They didn't even have a size 4 in the '50s; the smallest size used to be 8.

    Have you ever tried Italian clothes? SO SMALL! Ha.

    Also, in 2008-9 I spent a lot of time in Armenia. One of the many occasions when the airline lost my luggage, I still hadn't received it by the 5th day so I went shopping for a skirt -- at 5'4 and 127 lbs, I couldn't fit in size large there. hmmmmmmmm.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    I only care how my bum looks in a pair of jeans. It doesn't matter if it's a size two or a twelve as long as it fits and flatters.

    I'm somewhat annoyed that I seem to be in the smallest size available in the misses' department in Kohls. I don't think I'm so tiny that smalls should be huge on me, and the selection absolutely SUCKS in the smaller sizes. It was much easier to shop as an 8 or 10 than as a 2 or 4. But the dimension of my booty and hips make shopping in the juniors department a no-go.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
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    I was caught up in this too while losing weight. So recently I went on a "am I really a size 4?" quest. I went to many different stores and tried on every jean type and brand you can think of. All size 4's, all fit with one exception, Old Navy. In Old Navy's world I can wear a size 2 but I think their jeans have always been cut more generously than others. Having been to stores where the jeans are not sold in "sizes" but rather by your waist measurement, I can also conclude that I am a size 4. So while vanity sizing does exist, I don't think it's as bad as we tend to believe it is. Find clothes that are cut in a way that suits your figure and don't worry so much what the number on the tag says. If you know you are a healthy weight, that is all that truly matters.

    Happy Shopping!!!!
    I love that you did this!

    However, I think the concern is not that sizes aren't relatively similar across brands, but that a size is no longer the same measurements it was a decade or two ago. I have a tendency to buy good quality, classic clothes and I keep them for a long time. My size 4 pants that have been sitting in my drawer for awhile because they were too small are still too small, yet I can buy size 4s now that are too loose.

    My main concern with this is that many stores don't carry anything smaller than a 2, or maybe even a 4. I'm in danger of getting small enough that I can't buy clothes from my favorite stores? At 5'3" and 123 pounds? It's really sort of ridiculous.
  • Wynterbourne
    Wynterbourne Posts: 2,221 Member
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    Absolutely loathe it. I want actual measurements. I don't want to spend an hour trying everything on brand to brand. Let me see a number, grab it off the shelf or hanger and go. Don't coddle me with made up numbers.
  • kyylieeeeee
    kyylieeeeee Posts: 197 Member
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    It bothers me, too...so very much! And it seems like stores now aren't even making appropriately sized clothing for smaller people. New York and Company is a good example of this. They have such cute business clothes, but nothing there fits. I'm a size XS in shirts and dresses, a 2-4 in pants, a 2 in pencil skirts...and I'm really NOT that small. The shoulders on the blazers do not fit me, either. Then across the way in the mall is H&M, where I am an 8-10 in their pencil skirts. Which seems like a much more realistic number than the size 2 pencil skirt that I have from NY&Co. I've never bought anything other than shoes online, for this very reason-- you never know.
  • ajbeans
    ajbeans Posts: 2,857 Member
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    I wouldn't care if stores were consistent. But I have a pair of pants that I bought at Old Navy a couple of years ago, and they're size 6. They're so tight I have a hard time wearing them even now that I've lost weight. But then I just bought some jeans from them last week, and they're size 6, and they fit like a dream. Same store, same number size, but clearly not the same actual size. It's irritating.
  • DisneyMommy
    DisneyMommy Posts: 281
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    I love that you did this!

    However, I think the concern is not that sizes aren't relatively similar across brands, but that a size is no longer the same measurements it was a decade or two ago. I have a tendency to buy good quality, classic clothes and I keep them for a long time. My size 4 pants that have been sitting in my drawer for awhile because they were too small are still too small, yet I can buy size 4s now that are too loose.

    My main concern with this is that many stores don't carry anything smaller than a 2, or maybe even a 4. I'm in danger of getting small enough that I can't buy clothes from my favorite stores? At 5'3" and 123 pounds? It's really sort of ridiculous.
    I did keep some size 8 Levi's from 13 years ago. They are to big on me now. So this whole sizing thing has been going on for a while. I think vanity sizing is an issue but I think some of us on here, our bodies are changing in ways they haven't before, thus sizing is going to be different. It's a two part problem for those of us who are getting in amazing shape AND trying to buy clothes.

    Shopping is still fun though so go out and have a blast!!!
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
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    Vanity sizing bugs the crap out of me because every piece of clothing I put on fits differently than the last piece of clothing I put on. I want to walk into a store, pull a pair of pants, a dress, or a skirt off the rack, and try it on. As it stands I have to pull in at least 2 sizes of everything that I want to try on, which means more trips back and forth to the racks in stores that limit the number of pieces that you can take into the dressing room.
  • ritajean3
    ritajean3 Posts: 306 Member
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    To be honest it is more common to find small sizes here then vanity! I am now averaging a 12aus 14 if it is small sizing but I have had some 14s I can't even get on let alone zip up. It's truly rediculus then you want to add in vanity sizes to make it even more difficult!

    On a side not most stores don't even stock the equivalent to US size 0 and you would have to search for a 2.
  • Kikilicious84
    Kikilicious84 Posts: 312
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    I would say that victorias secret is the most guilty of this. A Victorias Secret size C bra in reality is a size A.

    LMAO :laugh:
  • maryloo2011
    maryloo2011 Posts: 446
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    I HATE it! I'm a 5' 8", there is no way I should be fitting into the sizes I do. I'm not saying that to be vain/low self esteme, it's just, I'm not, and shouldn't ever be, a size 2.
    I fit into them though. Which is bizzare. I can't imagine where some of the extremely thin girls shop.
    I wish sizing for women ran like sizes for men!

    I echo both points!! Drives me nuts - because stores are different (Gap vs Express vs Macys for instance) I can NEVER feel confident purchasing jeans online. Would love it if yes, sizing for women ran like Men's.
  • maryloo2011
    maryloo2011 Posts: 446
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    I feel this way about cardio machines at the gym. Every model the "max" number gets higher and higher. This type of marketing has been around for a long time.

    Can you expand on this? I joined an additional gym and even though there are the same weight machines at both places, I can lift heavier at one as opposed to the other (consistently). I would think that the new-ness of the machines shouldn't matter because after all, a pound of weight is a pound of weight. FWIW, I can lift heavier with the "older" machines.

    Not to hijack the thread or anything just curious if this is the same as the newer cardio gyms and the "max" number you speak about is a similar concept... even though in this case it would be reversed. Hmm....
  • godblessourhome
    godblessourhome Posts: 3,892 Member
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    i'm not a fan. i wish it was more consistent as well. i fit in a 2-8, depending on the store/brand. i never feel comfortable buying online because of it.
  • significance
    significance Posts: 436 Member
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    I'm currently 5'2 1/2, 125 lbs and I can wear anything from a size 0-6. I think I genrally average a size 4 but at certain store ei: Anne Taylor, Old Navy, etc. I can wear a size 0-2. I guess it kind of makes me feel good but I also know in my head that this is completely ridiculous!! I am NOT a size 0 and I will never be no matter how much weight I lose thanks to my wider bone structure, and I'm okay with that!

    Come to Australia! I'm about your size (5'1.5, 122 lbs and pretty active) and I'm pretty consistently size 10.
    (But yep - when I find an 8 that fits me well, I feel the same way!)
  • significance
    significance Posts: 436 Member
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    Mind you, even without vanity sizing, it wouldn't be as straightforward for women to clothes shop as it seems to be for men. Our curves vary more, so we're always going to have to try things on. (Dress A fits my hips but is baggy at the waist, dress B fits at the waist and flows around the hips, but gapes at the breast, and so on...)
  • NotGoddess
    NotGoddess Posts: 1,198 Member
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    I'm up/down on it. I get a kick out of being a 4 petite now, but I've still got at least 15lb of fat on me, more likely 25. There's no way I'm -really- a 4. It makes me wonder if I'll be a 0 when I'm finally fit.

    Vanity sizing is affecting men's clothing too, even with the waist/inseam measurements. I bought my eldest a 30/32 pair of jeans and they were very loose at the waist. We took a tape measure to it and it turned out the waist was actually 33 inches buttoned, not 30.
  • zoink66
    zoink66 Posts: 116 Member
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    Honesty, I like it. :blushing: :blushing: :blushing:

    I mean, I know I shouldn't; I know it's all mental; I know it's marketing; I know I shouldn't feel that way but...

    I still like it. :blushing:



    However, I'd be happier with consistency from brand to brand.
  • funkycamper
    funkycamper Posts: 998 Member
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    Vanity sizing is crazy. In my teens/young adult years, my measurements were 36-23-37. I wore a size 11 or 12. Was always trying to fit into a 9 or 10 but rarely could. Now my waist is about the same measurement as my hips used to be yet I can almost wear a size 12. Yeah, right.... No way are those 12's even close to the same size as 12's used to be.

    I wish sizing was the same so I could judge better just how big I am now as compared to before. It actually makes it harder for me to maintain my weight loss motivation because a part of my brain wants to convince me if I'm almost a 12 now so I'm the same size as I was in my teens. But, of course, the scale and the measurements tell me a very different story. it's confusing.

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