Why are clothing sizes so f**ked up?

[SeattleGirl]

Went shopping for a couple of new shirts tonight, and GAD, but it was a nightmare.

Some of the smalls looked like they would swallow up a 200 pound person.

Some of the larges looked like they wouldn't fit a 2 year old.

AND most of the necklines are really low, which I cannot wear at work.

I ended up buying zip, zero, nada.

I freakin' HATE shopping for clothes!

[sasquatch]

1. Nice post Versaci

:P

[SeattleGirl]

2. Nice retort, Gucci!

:rofl:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. My dear SeattleGirl!

I have no idea, but how right you are!

I generally do my shopping via catalog...

I'm a big fan of Lands' End...

I know their sizes work for me, and they are consistent!

:hug:

[SeattleGirl]

4. I should check them out.

There are a couple of Land's End stores nearby, so I could actually try some stuff on.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. You should!

Down here, their clothing is available in Sears...

I've been very happy with them!

[SeattleGirl]

8. Same here.

Available at Sears.

[LostInAnomie]

6. I made a thread like this a few months ago.

Only mine was about guys sizes.

I honestly swear within the last ten years they have bumped the sizes up one (L = XL now). I'm roughly the same weight as I was in high school and back then I used to wear XL tshirts, and XXL would be tents on me. Now, I HAVE to wear a XXL or the shirt will be skin tight. One of the women I work with has a son that weighs about 150 lbs and is 5'10" and he comfortably fits an XL now.

A 5'10", 150 lb kid is not a XL person.

I could rant for days about jeans too.

[SeattleGirl]

7. I think that the clothing industry is playing us for fools.

And it freakin' pisses me off!

[KitchenWitch]

10. Ah, the vanity sizes go the opposite direction for men.

What used to be a 16 is a 12 now in women's. What used to be a L is an XL in men's.

:grr:

[Karl_Bonner_1982]

17. Jeans? How about waist sizes?

Right now I'm wearing Dickies work shorts and the "official" waist is 40 inches, but it's basically the same as a 37-38 for most other brands of legwear. For me, the real challenge is my telescoping waist line. Last summer I gained weight and then started to lose it when I took up running. Then in early October my ankle got a little messed up so I couldn't run anymore. Within 3 months I was fatter than ever. Now I'm losing weight again but not quite as steadily and consistently as I would like. But at least clothes are starting to feel looser again.

I find I basically have to try everything on in the dressing room unless I'm familiar with the brand name's idiosyncracies. That means taking off my stupid shoes and pants, putting the prospective clothes on and then back into my old clothes. Repeat until you find the right size, unless you were clever and lucky enough to take several back to the fitting section.

[LostInAnomie]

19. I have a hard time finding any pants to fit my legs.

I swear they tailor pants for people with absolute sticks for legs. I have to buy larger waists than I actually need because if I don't the legs will look shrink wrapped around my thighs.

I have the same problem with boxers. I have to cut the legs or they will end up working their way up my legs and get stuck in my crotch, never to come back down.

[Karl_Bonner_1982]

20. I have pretty big thighs myself

And it makes it hard for me to get that baggy look with pants when I want it. They just don't understand the diversity of body contours in this world.

[SoxFan]

29. I agree with you on this

Now, I have gained weight over the last 5 years or so, but I still think that there has been a shift in the sizes. i can still wear several old XL shirts from 5 years ago, but anything new needs to be 2X

[alarimer]

43. I know there has been a shift.

I wear exactly the same size I did in college and I know I weigh more.

[KitchenWitch]

9. Because they are bastards and they hate us.

I wish I knew.

[SeattleGirl]

11. Ding, ding, ding! Ladies and gents, we have a winnah!

If you don't weigh 98 pounds and are either 4'5" or 6' tall, clothing isn't made for you.

[Chovexani]

12. Even when you ARE 6 ft tall and weigh 98 lbs they don't fit

I've given up on ever finding a pair of jeans that fit my 5'9 1/2", 105 lb frame. Either they fit me in the waist but are damn near capris, or they fit length wise and are way too big in the waist.

The fashion industry is laughing at all us suckers :(

[SeattleGirl]

13. I hear you

Pisses me off to no end when I go into a store that HAS a petite department, but I find all these rolled up jeans in the Misses section. Hard enough to find pants long enough for me (I'm 5'7-1/2" but it's mostly leg), without going into a department where I could hopefully find something to fit, and find the petite brigade has invaded! x(

(No offense meant to petite women, but in many stores there ARE petite departments that have totally cute clothes.)

[KitchenWitch]

15. Try being 6'3" and around 120

I am not that skinny anymore but I was for YEARS.

[Chovexani]

35. Poor you

Dammit we need to start a clothing line for Amazon chicks. :D

[KitchenWitch]

37. I am game - lets's find a rich person to fund the startup and we are gold, baby!

[Maine-ah]

23. I have a hard time at 4"11 and 115

I have a 28" inseam. I have to shorten almost all my pants. I also can't wear petite shirts, so I have to buy regular shirts to go across my bust and back, and then they're too long. :grr:

[KitchenWitch]

32. At least you can shorten your pants.

There is usually not enough of a hem allowance in pants for me to lengthen the pants (40 inch inseam).

[Maine-ah]

34. heh

your legs are almost as long as I am tall....

one of my girl friends in HS was 6'2". Had the same problems finding pants.

[TreasonousBastard]

14. I have no idea how women deal with all the different...

sizing schemes, but there's a new trick in men's clothes--

Our Chinese masters have now completely ignored actually measuring the pants they put sizes on. Some pants were on sale for 10 bucks in K-Mart, aso I grabbed a few pairs without trying them on. I gained some weight I'm losing now, so I got various sizes to fit me as I slim down.

Curiously, the 36 waist is bigger then the 38 waist.

[Skittles]

21. I'm going to tell you something, TreasonousBastard

the very IDEA that you would even CONSIDER "grabbing pants without trying them on" tells us gals you have no IDEA of the real PAIN of clothes shopping that well, at least *I* endure. YES INDEED!! :D

[tigereye]

39. a lot of those clothes have never been tried on a human - same with shoes

I don't think some of the current clothing makers know how to actually make clothing. I'm serious. I quit buying kids boots from China since they didn't actually fit on my son's feet. It was strange.

[Karl_Bonner_1982]

16. Tell me about it!

My big problem is what happens to the sizes over time. When I want to get that more compact look the tee ends up coming out semi-baggy after a few washes. I also have a few originally baggy shirts (and jeans) that just can't seem to keep the baggy style after the third trip through the laundry.

In short the tops and bottoms that are supposed to be tighter end up loose, and the ones that are supposed to be loose shrink up. Law of Perversity in action.

I think if I lose a little more weight (fat) and beef up my muscles a bit some of the clothes will start to fit the "right" way but you never know.

[MissHoneychurch]

18. Ahhh ... the "joy" of clothes shopping

:hug:

I am looking for some pants to fit me .... it is frustrating from start to end. I hate it. Either they are too tight on my thighs, or I don't get them over my behind, or they are too lose in the waist. I finally found a pair that fit me ... just ahd to shorten the legs :eyes:
I could cry when I come out of the stores. I don't know what sizes the models have (the ones they cut the clothes after for the "regular people) .... definitely not the size an average woman has :mad:

[bridgit]

22. hubby says it's cause of China, loves the whole Crouching Tiger/Forbidden City thing

but that China could care less, beyond the mountains of money they're raking in, if anyone else's T-shirt fits the way is is purported to fit = when China caters to the 'mean average' you have to understand the nature of that patterning-demographic. And for that matter, by the time any/if any discrepancy *is*, or happens to be willy-nilly noticed if ever? 50mil units have just spit out the back door :):( They aren't about to take a loss and just toss them all away.

Queue Nordstrom/Macy's 75% off rack, either way they are the sight unseen clothiers of the world no doubt foibles and all.

[zanne]

24. I think there should be a chain of GROWNUP clothing stores...

Most retailers aim for the young, clothes-crazy demographic. I really wish that every department store had an Adult section (or an Old Ladies section). Y'know, clothing that doesn't stick to every crevice of your skin folds, skirts that don't come up to your butt, and pants with "waistlines" located near the crotch.

(I have good ideas but no money).:think:

[tigereye]

40. that's why I like Chico's - esp. when stuff is on sale.

[DainBramaged]

25. It's because clothing isn't made in American any longer

so there is NO relationship to imagined sizes and reality.


They stopped making odd sized jeans for men years ago. Remember when you could get a 31 0r 35 or 39 size? One size fits all.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

26. Oh, I do know what you're talking about

I can be any one of three sizes.

It's so bad that I now mostly shop online from clothing merchants whose sizing system I understand. I no longer enjoy standing by a rack of picked-over items trying to find something that is affordable, flattering, and well-fitting.

ON EDIT: I agree that Land's End has more consistent clothing sizes than other merchants, and their "Inlet" store here is one of the few retail places that's actually pleasant to shop in.

[Mutley]

27. Yeah, I'm not so thrilled with where the styles are going this year.

Those shirts that bunch up under the breasts and flare at the hip make me look pregnant. Those super wide-leg pants make my legs look three times as big. Too bad I bought two pairs because they were on sale. :eyes:

And orange seems to be in this year. It makes me look like a pumpkin.

[devilgrrl]

28. Don't buy a Speedo bikini - the pants are so low cut that the world will be your gynecologist

to borrow a phrase from Patsy Stone...



I've had Speedos for years and years, and ordered a bikini because I need a new one. I couldn't get over the pants. They barely covered anything - it was ridiculous. So I sent it back and gave Speedo a hard time about the current low riding butt floss trends in fashion. Utterly ridiculous.

[MissMillie]

30. buck the system: wear suits and ties

I'm convinced it's the only way the fashion industry will stop treating women like idiots.

[Jade Fox]

31. I think it's because....

so much clothing is made in other countries. The concept of sizing gets all screwed up.

It's a pain, I know.

[One_Life_To_Give]

33. One size for 34FF and 40AA nt

[redqueen]

36. I hate it too... for all those reasons.

When I do find something I like, half the time I don't like it after I get it home.

And when I find something I like that I still like the next day, I feel like I've won a frickin contest.

[tigereye]

38. isn't it awful?

although some places seem to have brought back the old-school 8, 10, 12, 14 that actually are like sizes used to be when I was in high school and college - and not only made for tiny little women!


It's sad to see in the teen section (Misses or whatever) that what used to be large when I was a student is now really small and average sized people are considered size 17 or something. It's bizarre.

[yellowdogintexas]

41. well since my weight loss I wear size 8 mostly. However the last time I

was at this particular weight, my size was 14. So sizing has really gone all off over the past 20 or so years.

The last time I wore size 8 clothes, I was 20 pounds lighter.

[ghostsofgiants]

42. I know what you mean. Shirts are especially bad.

I wear a small, and no matter what kind of shirt it is, t-shirt, hoodie, whatever, they're always fitted like a medium, unless it's an American Apparel shirt. They fit like a dream.