Lol your life, vanity sizing.

StatutoryGrape
StatutoryGrape Posts: 365
edited November 2024 in Chit-Chat
I recently bought a new skirt for work...in a size six. Now, I have 44" hips and a 27" waist, so logically, there is no way that a six should fit, but it did. Conclusion: it's definitely not really a six.

I've always known vanity sizing was ridiculous, but I had no idea just how bad it really is. :P The size "six" skirt joined two pairs of size "six" dress pants for work. And yet, I have other pairs of pants that are 10s, some in an 8, and even some 12s, depending on how they're cut. The dresses in my closet run anywhere from a size 3 (juniors) to a size 10 (women's). It's insane.

The day I can buy a "four" in pants is the day I'll literally laugh my *kitten* off, and then I really will be a size four down there. :P

What have your experiences with vanity sizing been like? Good, bad? Really f*cked up, like mine? I wish women's clothing was based on some logical measurements (like men's clothing) instead of having magical numbers plucked out of the air and assigned to garments, lol.
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Replies

  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,871 Member
    Oh yeah! If I hear Marilyn Monroe was a size 14 one more time, I'm going to post a picture of MY size 14 *kitten*! :laugh:
  • heidiberr
    heidiberr Posts: 643 Member
    Actually men's clothes use vanity sizing as well. A 36 inch waist pants are bigger than 36 :P there's no winning with clothes.
  • StatutoryGrape
    StatutoryGrape Posts: 365
    Oh yeah! If I hear Marilyn Monroe was a size 14 one more time, I'm going to post a picture of MY size 14 *kitten*! :laugh:

    HAHA, right? That quote irritates me to no end.
  • StatutoryGrape
    StatutoryGrape Posts: 365
    Actually men's clothes use vanity sizing as well. A 36 inch waist pants are bigger than 36 :P there's no winning with clothes.

    Are you even kidding me? D: That must be why the 29s D. wears have to be belted in... I should just learn to make my own clothes, I guess.
  • crissy170
    crissy170 Posts: 31 Member
    I love that right now at my sorta high end weight of over 200lbs i can be wearing a size "medium" workout ( yoga)pants and they are actually quite roomy!... yet at one point when i was very small at about 145 and im 5'8 i had to buy an Xlarge top and i am not large chested ,, by any stretch of the imagination! rediculous!
  • mamasasa
    mamasasa Posts: 90 Member
    The more money you spend (the "fancier" the label) the smaller the size. LOL
  • Karmynzahringer
    Karmynzahringer Posts: 192 Member
    Totally agree, when we did measurements I realized that even though I can wear a 30 in Silver jeans, my waist is more like a 34 right now, my fiance wears a 34 in mens and his waist is more like a 37.
  • StatutoryGrape
    StatutoryGrape Posts: 365
    This is why I don't get hung up on "I'm a size ___"--it's impossible to tell anymore. If it fits and looks good, I'm buying it, haha.
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    I bought two shirts from the same store, one in Small and one in Extra Large. They both fit me the same.
  • liquidjem
    liquidjem Posts: 138 Member
    This is why I don't get hung up on "I'm a size ___"--it's impossible to tell anymore. If it fits and looks good, I'm buying it, haha.

    YUP! pretty much how I feel too! :)
  • WifeNMama
    WifeNMama Posts: 2,876 Member
    I dony care what number I am, just so o don't have to take one of each size into the fitting room, how are you supposed to guess?
  • star87cc
    star87cc Posts: 63 Member
    This is why I don't get hung up on "I'm a size ___"--it's impossible to tell anymore. If it fits and looks good, I'm buying it, haha.

    Agreed!! ^_^
  • farmgirlsuz
    farmgirlsuz Posts: 351 Member
    I totally agree, but it did make me laugh yesterday when I bought a size "small" sweater. I am in NO WAY small (in my mind).
  • SilverStrychnine
    SilverStrychnine Posts: 413 Member
    Oh yeah! If I hear Marilyn Monroe was a size 14 one more time, I'm going to post a picture of MY size 14 *kitten*! :laugh:

    Depends on the origin of the quote. In the pics I've seen, she looks about an Australian size 14. Over here a US 2 is an Aussie 6.
  • PrincessLou71186
    PrincessLou71186 Posts: 741 Member
    I bought two pairs of jeans, both from different places but both sit the same place on my hips. One is a UK16 and the other is a UK12. The 16's are smaller than the 12's.
  • HauteP1nk
    HauteP1nk Posts: 2,139 Member
    Oh yeah! If I hear Marilyn Monroe was a size 14 one more time, I'm going to post a picture of MY size 14 *kitten*! :laugh:

    HAHA, right? That quote irritates me to no end.

    I think when they say Marilyn was a size 14 or 16 I think they mean a British size - at least that is what I have always assumed...which to US/Canadian standards is like a size 10 or 12...which makes more sense. She did have some extra cushioning in the beginning of her career, definitely in comparsion to today's models and actresses...but she wasn't plus size.
  • SilverStrychnine
    SilverStrychnine Posts: 413 Member
    I dony care what number I am, just so o don't have to take one of each size into the fitting room, how are you supposed to guess?

    Know your measurements and read labels :wink:
  • zoominzozo
    zoominzozo Posts: 92 Member
    Oh yeah! If I hear Marilyn Monroe was a size 14 one more time, I'm going to post a picture of MY size 14 *kitten*! :laugh:

    In some pics she could pass for UK 14... :ohwell:
  • HauteP1nk
    HauteP1nk Posts: 2,139 Member
    P.S. I totally shop at this one store in Canada that I find the sizes fit big...so then I always have to 'go down' a size...hahaha Makes me feel better when i can fit into a size 6 or 8 when really I know I am a 10....lol Kind of like when a woman wears a sexy pair of panties underneath her clothes. It makes her feel good even if no one else knows...hahaha
  • PrincessLou71186
    PrincessLou71186 Posts: 741 Member
    Oh yeah! If I hear Marilyn Monroe was a size 14 one more time, I'm going to post a picture of MY size 14 *kitten*! :laugh:

    "Her measurements were recorded by her dressmaker as 36-23-37 and sometimes fluctuated between that and 36-24-37."

    http://the-lovely-marilyn-monroe.popsugar.com/What-Marilyns-REAL-size-Models-today-VS-Marilyn-Monroe-144140
  • SilverStrychnine
    SilverStrychnine Posts: 413 Member
    Anyway... I'm roughly an Aus 16... Yet I fit into a size "10" skirt from one store. Deceptive lot, those designers!
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
    I bought "small" yoga pants at Walmart. I'm 5'9", 160lbs and have 40" hips. A small? They sold no extra small. There are a LOT of women smaller than I am. I guess these women need to start shopping in the kids section?
  • psiren28
    psiren28 Posts: 530 Member
    I bought two shirts from the same store, one in Small and one in Extra Large. They both fit me the same.

    Tell me about it. I got a top the other day in a medium which fits. Same store, different top size XL was too small :grumble:
  • psiren28
    psiren28 Posts: 530 Member
    Oh yeah! If I hear Marilyn Monroe was a size 14 one more time, I'm going to post a picture of MY size 14 *kitten*! :laugh:

    "Her measurements were recorded by her dressmaker as 36-23-37 and sometimes fluctuated between that and 36-24-37."

    http://the-lovely-marilyn-monroe.popsugar.com/What-Marilyns-REAL-size-Models-today-VS-Marilyn-Monroe-144140

    Wasn't she like a UK 14? that would make sense, about a USA 10?
  • WifeNMama
    WifeNMama Posts: 2,876 Member
    I dony care what number I am, just so o don't have to take one of each size into the fitting room, how are you supposed to guess?

    Know your measurements and read labels :wink:

    I know my measurements, the problem is the clothing don't know theirs. Lol I can never find charts for them.
  • MaximalLife
    MaximalLife Posts: 2,447 Member
    It's the same with men's clothes.
    And it's ABSURD!
    I tried on 32 pants and they fit - lol

    I barely fit in 34 with my fat drooling over the sides like rancid pudding.
  • Amo_Angelus
    Amo_Angelus Posts: 604 Member
    There is a standard size for womens clothes:

    UK 8 10 12 14 16
    USA 6 8 10 12 14
    Continental 36 38 40 42 44
    Japanese 7 9 11 13 15

    Bust 32" 34" 36" 38" 40"
    Waist 24" 26" 28" 30" 32"
    61cm 66cm 71cm 76cm 81cm
    Hip 35" 37" 39" 41" 43"
    89cm 94cm 99cm 104cm 109cm


    they just rarely ever stick to it because so few people actually know what the sizing guidelines are.
  • SilverStrychnine
    SilverStrychnine Posts: 413 Member
    I dony care what number I am, just so o don't have to take one of each size into the fitting room, how are you supposed to guess?

    Know your measurements and read labels :wink:

    I know my measurements, the problem is the clothing don't know theirs. Lol I can never find charts for them.

    Oh well that sucks :frown: Over here the size labels include "To fit waist xx-xx" and so on.
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,871 Member
    Oh yeah! If I hear Marilyn Monroe was a size 14 one more time, I'm going to post a picture of MY size 14 *kitten*! :laugh:

    "Her measurements were recorded by her dressmaker as 36-23-37 and sometimes fluctuated between that and 36-24-37."

    http://the-lovely-marilyn-monroe.popsugar.com/What-Marilyns-REAL-size-Models-today-VS-Marilyn-Monroe-144140

    Wasn't she like a UK 14? that would make sense, about a USA 10?

    I'm in the US, and have only ever heard my US friends saying that so I think it's safe to assume they mean. US 14, not UK or Aus. But US sizes have inflated dramatically since her time. So she probably was a US 14 then. Definitely not now!
  • birdieintx
    birdieintx Posts: 298
    If you have ever tried on vintage clothes you know that an old size 14 is not the same at all as today's size 14, it's much much smaller. Also realize that photos of Marilyn have not been photo shopped to death like photos of today's models and actresses.

    I agree with y'all sizing is so subjective. I have smalls through extra larges in my closet, size six pants through size ten pants. I try not to get hung up on the size of stuff I buy because it can really make you feel like crap.
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