To think has vanity sizing gone mad?

[nineanimals]

I am 5'7 and weigh 12st 5.

I was in Matalan today to buy some new skinny jeans. I took a size 14 in the changing room to try on - absolutely massive! So I had to go for a size 12!

Sorry but there's no way in hell that someone of my proportions is a size 12!

Same thing happened in Asda. In fact in there even size 12 were loose!!

Madness!

[nineanimals]

Oh and in case you didn't realise my BMI is 27 - officially overweight.

[HarrietKettleWasHere]

In the other hand H&M makes me want to weep trying to pull up a size 10 pair of jeans over my perfectly-normal-size-10-arse! I once went up to a 16 to get a pair that seemed to fit. I am 5'5 and 9 stone!

[Tobuyornot99]

I went to Next today and bought some size 8 shorts. Completely ridiculous as I'm a generous 10 or a 12. Had I not been so happy I would have been pissed off at their ridiculous sizing

[HarrietKettleWasHere]

Next used to be terrible for this- size 8s were positively voluminous in certain things. When I worked there we were told how 'lucky' we were to be able to size our uniform down

No idea what they are like now.

[AllTheWittyNamesAreGone]

H and m sizes are bonkers. I'm 5"2, 9st 8,standard size 12 in every other store.
Had to by trousers in the plus range and a 'small' in a top

[lazytuesday]

YANBU im the same height as you and only a few lbs lighter and I just had to buy a dress IN A SIZE 8 from new look....... i also own jeans in a size 10. I mean what do people who are actually small wear?? Do they have to shop in the childrens section now?

[floraeasy]

MANY moons ago I was 5ft 10.5", weighed just under 10 stone, BMI 19 and always took a Size 14 in Levis and skirts.

This was the 80s/early 90s before the sizing all changed.

[PuntCuffin]

Next are terrible for oversizing like that. I can't shop there any more as everything swamps me.

I bought a pair of jeans in H&M this morning and found their sizing spot on. I am 5'2" and just under 8.5 stone. Bought a pair labelled as 26/30, which according to the chart they had on the display is an 8.

[Lingotria]

On the other hand I am the same height and nearly the same weight as you and I can now fit into any H&M 16 or a M/L at Zara or a M at Mango. Yet Matalan 10-16 is too small at the hip and too big everywhere else. Everybody carries weight differently.

[HelenaDove]

Depends on your shape. I have a fitted size 12 skirt from 1989 than i wear and im 11 and a half stone and 5 foot 5.

I bought some jumpers from New Look a couple of months ago that were labelled Medium thinking they would be about right.

But are like tents on me.

[Meekonsandwich]

When I shop for vintage clothes it's amazing how different the sizing is.

But I don't feel better when I shop in modern shops and have to size down a size or more, I get annoyed that the sizing isn't uniform across the board. I'd rather be an 18 everywhere than lie to myself and go somewhere that I'm a "14"

[Trills]

I am about your height and weight and I take a 12 nearly all of the time.

People definitely carry weight differently, and sizing will depend on whether an article of clothing is tight in the area where you are bigger.

In the last month I've worn items ranging from 8 to 16.

[winterinmadeira]

Lazy I'm a size 8 and find it incredibly difficult to buy trousers and skirts etc. I buy either from Benetton or Zara or the gap because their sizes seem more true to actual size than for example next, white stuff or other main U.K. High street stores.

[AuntieStella]

Yes, it's all a variable mess.

Which is why clothes size cannot be used as a proxy for overall size any more (as it used to before deregulation in the 1980s).

Even when I has a BMI over 30, I was rarely more than an 18 (sometimes 16 or even 14)

Since dieting down over last year to a BMI just under 20, I can be anywhere between a 4 and a 10. Crazy

[RedSandYellowSand]

Same height, and very similar weight. My 14s are starting to hang off me. I just hope i can keep going with a belt til i can get to some shops in the UK this summer where i can actually try stuff on.
There are NO changing rooms here. I've just bought some EU 42 (so 14) here, and they are too tight. So UK 14 massive, European 14 too tight. I believe the EU sizing more (I'm not in Europe either)

[HelenaDove]

In blouses i take an 18 because im a 32HH

[Janey50]

Yes I think Next do oversize their clothes. My DD's friend,who says she weighs 14 and a half stone and is 5 feet 4 inches tall, said she had a pair of jeans on from Next that were a size 14. I couldn't believe it. Years ago, (early 80's) I weighed 10 stone (I'm 5 feet 5 inches tall) and I was in size 14 jeans! I thought how on earth could I have been practically the same height as her,weigh 4 and a half stone less but be the same size as her? I know now that sizes have changed over the years,in that what used to be a size 12 is now more like a 14 or even a 16. So that would mean a size 14 today would be more like a 16 or even an 18 from 30 years ago!

[amberdillyduck]

I have an M&s women's suit at home- from the 1970s (came from family- so I know when it was bought) . It is a size 14. My size 8-10 daughter cant fit in it. It is a very small 8 I would say.

[Lingotria]

@amberdilly - 60s and 70s clothing was cut narrower around the hip than 40s 50s and 80s clothing, I presume for the fashion? I wear vintage clothes and am a size 12 in 40s, 10 in 50s, and then can't fit into any standard sizes in 60s and 70s then back to a 10 in 80s clothing. It's a general trend.

[HerBluebiro]

It depends on the cut. I'm moving down between sizes. I've lost 2 stone. I'm 5ft 6 and 12 st 10 so still porky. But no longer obese.

There is no way I'm a 14 anywhere yet. In next some 16s are still too tight and some fit perfectly. I'm still getting away with one of my size 18 jeans from next but the other (a 'boyfriend' cut) fall off me.

In jo browns some of my tops from last summer (bought as a size 18) now fit beautifully. But a dress and tunic bought at size 16 are coming up big - not silly so I need a 14 now just big enough that I don't think they'll fit next year. And a size 16 pepper berry dress is now indecent and I need a smaller one.

Look at the cuts. How tight they are on someone and if they are wearing them as intended (the aforementioned boyfriend cut jeans are supposed to be baggy. But at my fattest I just wore them as tight jeans and kidder myself I was still an 18. The current jeans I am getting away with are supposed to be tight and not need a belt to stay up. But a 16 in them would be uncomfortable just yet. So I'll try again in half a stone's time. I reckon I've got another stone and a half to go before I drop down to a 14. Because my weight is fairly well distributed (I'm a column.... an hour glass with a belly shape)

[ShowMePotatoSalad]

Got a size 8 dress recently. Should be a 12 given my actual measurements. It's not good because if people don't weigh themselves regularly they may assume they have lost weight when they haven't.

[Tanfastic]

It must be to do
With the way some people carry their weight because I'm a size 12/14 and I'm shops I'm a 12/14. Other than H&M where in certain bottoms I'm a 16 .

[ArgyMargy]

I find it very difficult as a size 8. Trousers are particular challenge - if arse fits the waistband is often massive. No-one is expected to have a waist.

[Nancy91]

I'm an 8 and the size 6 dresses in Next are way too big. I don't even bother looking in there anymore. Vanity sizing is pointless.

[smilingsarahb]

I'd just like consistent sizing. I'm 5.5 and weigh 10 stone. I'm anything from an 8 to a 16 depending on the store. (I never go in skinny shops for young people like top shop so god knows what size I'd be there )