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Original poster

Vanity sizing needs to be stopped

240 replies

SemperIdem · 10/07/2025 12:09

I appreciate this isn’t shiny new subject matter but it’s been really niggling at me the last few days.

I’ve relatively recently had a baby, back in my pre-maternity clothes if not quite at pre-maternity shape (granted I felt I was out of shape at the point of falling pregnant).

I bought a pair of jeans from Pull and Bear, size 10. They are absolutely enormous. There is not a chance I’m a size 8 at the weight I am. I then reflected how as a 5’6, barely 8 stone teenager, I was a size 10 in Topshop jeans. How am I, at a significantly heavier weight, still a size 10 anywhere let alone smaller than a size 10?

Am I being unreasonable to think that there must be a way to get shops to end vanity sizing, the variance between shop sizes is also ridiculous.

OP posts:
ForTheNightOrTheRestOfTime · 11/07/2025 04:49

BlueEyedBogWitch · 10/07/2025 12:34

God, not this again. Vanity sizing is the new massive salad.

Mind you, a massive salad from the early 2000s is probably an allotment in today’s sizes…

😂

I think a lot of people who make these threads are struggling or have in the past struggled with food issues, eating disorders, body issues etc.

maddening · 11/07/2025 02:11

We should just have sizes in inches (or centimeters) much easier.

WhatCanIWatch · 11/07/2025 01:30

SemperIdem · 11/07/2025 01:11

That’s bad news, if men’s clothes sizes are now being messed around with.

Edited
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It nothing new. My partner has always been anything from a 30 to a 34 waist depending on where he shops for the past 25 years, despite his waist measuring 32. Lengths in men’s jeans have never been consistent either. He’s even had it where 2 pairs of the same jeans in a 32R are different lengths. I think it’s more to do with mass production than vanity sizing. When I’ve bought more expensive clothing, it’s more consistent.

Glowingup · 11/07/2025 01:29

WhereIsMyJumper · 10/07/2025 21:30

Nah, she’s right. I have to get an XS or an XXS in Primark in tops and I definitely am NOT a size 6!

There are loads of shops that don’t stock a size small enough and I’m not skinny, I am 5’6” and weigh about 9.5stone. Matalan being one, Next being another

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Ridiculous. My friend weighs 7 stone 10 and shops in next with no problems.

EBearhug · 11/07/2025 01:13

I donthink clothing should be based on actual measurements. I know that only goes so far because of proportions - we've probably all had trousers which fit perfectly on the hips and gape at the waist, or you can't actually do them up. And I've taken up the hem on many pairs of trousers because of short legs. I know cut and fabric make a difference too, as does style.

I don't care about the size on the label once I've got something home, but as many others here say, I don't want to take 4 different sizes of the same thing into the changing room, or to arrive in the post for me to try on. Sizing should be sufficiently standard that you do have a fair shot at finding the right fit at first attempt.

Original poster
SemperIdem · 11/07/2025 01:11

WhatCanIWatch · 11/07/2025 00:57

Men can have just as many issues buying clothing. My son has just bought new clothes for holiday. He needed a size below or above his actual waist measurement in some shorts and his t shirts range from small to large with most being medium.

Show quote history

That’s bad news, if men’s clothes sizes are now being messed around with.

OP posts:
Original poster
SemperIdem · 11/07/2025 01:10

WhatCanIWatch · 11/07/2025 00:54

I think the poster had a point. It’s not healthy to be thinking about clothing sizes so much that it is annoying you for days, more so when you have recently had a baby as it can take time for you body to get back to what it was in a healthy way. You can’t tell manufacturers how to make their clothes, they’ll do what sells and makes them most profit. Measure your waist and buy accordingly.

I’ve just measured the waist on 2 pairs of my Pull and Bear jeans and one measures 27 and one measures 27.5. I’m a 10, sometimes an 8 so it seems pretty accurate.

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Not healthy in what way? Nothing makes you aware of your own body more than pregnancy and being postpartum regarding how clothes fit. I don’t care what the label says, but consistency across the board would be great.

Posting this thread was just an extension of an idle thought, whilst the baby slept this morning. I’ve not been burning up with rage about clothes sizes for days.

OP posts:
WhatCanIWatch · 11/07/2025 00:57

SemperIdem · 11/07/2025 00:05

They vary between brands. Men don’t have to check their measurements for standard day to day clothes. I really don’t care what size I wear, just that I won’t have to faff around with returns.

Show quote history

Men can have just as many issues buying clothing. My son has just bought new clothes for holiday. He needed a size below or above his actual waist measurement in some shorts and his t shirts range from small to large with most being medium.

WhatCanIWatch · 11/07/2025 00:54

SemperIdem · 11/07/2025 00:13

I think you inferring I was failing to enjoy my baby was spectacularly rude, condescending and passive aggressive, actually.

In the manner of the majority of threads on AIBU, the subject matter isn’t occupying all my waking thoughts.

Show quote history

I think the poster had a point. It’s not healthy to be thinking about clothing sizes so much that it is annoying you for days, more so when you have recently had a baby as it can take time for you body to get back to what it was in a healthy way. You can’t tell manufacturers how to make their clothes, they’ll do what sells and makes them most profit. Measure your waist and buy accordingly.

I’ve just measured the waist on 2 pairs of my Pull and Bear jeans and one measures 27 and one measures 27.5. I’m a 10, sometimes an 8 so it seems pretty accurate.

WhatCanIWatch · 11/07/2025 00:41

@SquishedMallow I don’t believe most of them. My daughter is a size 6, lots of her friends are size 4 and 6 and they have no problems getting clothes. They all have too many clothes if anything. I have a friend who is a size 6 and again no issues.

Original poster
SemperIdem · 11/07/2025 00:13

OnLifesEndlessCorridor · 11/07/2025 00:08

Comprehension issues? I didn’t say it should be your whole personality, but spending days being annoyed about clothes sizes and being so focused on your size having just recently given birth, isn’t healthy.

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I think you inferring I was failing to enjoy my baby was spectacularly rude, condescending and passive aggressive, actually.

In the manner of the majority of threads on AIBU, the subject matter isn’t occupying all my waking thoughts.

OP posts:
WhatWouldTheDoctorDo · 11/07/2025 00:11

What p’s me off is that there isn’t proper sizing for women. Men get have specific waist and leg lengths, and tops in slim fits, and regular fits etc. Why can’t we have that? I’m seeing some trousers for women in S/M/L lately. Ridiculous. We get to be grateful if a dress or skirt has pockets.

On the ‘vanity’ sizing, I’m an 8/10 these days, 12 as a teen with curves (slimmer than I am now).

OnLifesEndlessCorridor · 11/07/2025 00:08

SemperIdem · 10/07/2025 23:40

Oh yes you’re right. Having a baby should be my whole personality now 🤨

Show quote history

Comprehension issues? I didn’t say it should be your whole personality, but spending days being annoyed about clothes sizes and being so focused on your size having just recently given birth, isn’t healthy.

Original poster
SemperIdem · 11/07/2025 00:05

GrimDamnFanjo · 11/07/2025 00:03

Surely all you need to do is go to the size charts and check your measurements?

They vary between brands. Men don’t have to check their measurements for standard day to day clothes. I really don’t care what size I wear, just that I won’t have to faff around with returns.

OP posts:
GrimDamnFanjo · 11/07/2025 00:03

Surely all you need to do is go to the size charts and check your measurements?

SquishedMallow · 10/07/2025 23:51

OnLifesEndlessCorridor · 10/07/2025 23:36

I agree. I have clothes that I had as a teen almost 30 years ago. They’re an 8 and measure between my teen daughters current size 6 and my own current size 10 clothes. And as I said earlier, my daughter has no issues finding clothes with a 25 inch waist. Most of her friends are a similar size, some are smaller. I think there are a lot of women with eating disorders who want to tell everyone that they’re so tiny that shops don’t make clothes for them. It’s just not true.

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I believe them. I'm "small" but not skinny. I have very dumpy legs and lots of cellulite. Despite being "little" I am certainly not thin. So if (with dumpy legs and big bum ) I can fit in a size 6 -8 jeans in Next, I quite believe lithe skinny and petite women have major trouble.

Saz12 · 10/07/2025 23:48

OnLifesEndlessCorridor · 10/07/2025 23:30

You won’t be as toned or have as much muscle as you did due to being old.

I have always been very fit and slim but even though I still run, swim and do weights, my body is less toned than it was in my 20s.

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I'm not sure "due to being old" will be a comfort to someone who's not even retirement age yet!

SquishedMallow · 10/07/2025 23:47

yakkity · 10/07/2025 23:21

I’m not fat it’s just that I’m not skinny either. I’m slimmish but at almost 60 I’m thicker than I was as definitely have more excess if not exactly flab. And yet I fit a 6-8

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Same, I never claimed to be fat. I'm small framed and "petite" but I'm not skinny and don't have a "lithe" figure.

Original poster
SemperIdem · 10/07/2025 23:40

OnLifesEndlessCorridor · 10/07/2025 23:38

Probably better enjoying your baby rather than thinking about clothes sizes.

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Oh yes you’re right. Having a baby should be my whole personality now 🤨

OP posts:
Original poster
SemperIdem · 10/07/2025 23:38

WondererWanderer · 10/07/2025 21:49

Why the eff are jeans in a size 10 anyway?!

Waist and leg length is what they should be.

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This is what I was getting at really - Topshop jeans were always waist and length measurements rather than sizes per se, although you could work out what the waist measurement was in “size” if you were so inclined. Which I obviously was back then!

OP posts:
OnLifesEndlessCorridor · 10/07/2025 23:38

SemperIdem · 10/07/2025 23:32

A few days is nothing! There are things which have annoyed me for decades 😁

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Probably better enjoying your baby rather than thinking about clothes sizes.

OnLifesEndlessCorridor · 10/07/2025 23:36

cardibach · 10/07/2025 21:39

See, you can say it all you like but I know very slim women. Tiny ones. None are so small that shops don’t cater to them.
I think there’s some vanity going on here, but it’s not in terms of dress sizes for women if normal/larger sizes.
Many people have said, as I have in the past, that old clothes they’ve kept are the same size they buy now. It’s nonsense. Sizes are u predictable at times. They haven’t wholesale gone so big that normal size women can’t find clothes to fit. Why would shops do that? Normal size women are the bulk of their market.

Edited

I agree. I have clothes that I had as a teen almost 30 years ago. They’re an 8 and measure between my teen daughters current size 6 and my own current size 10 clothes. And as I said earlier, my daughter has no issues finding clothes with a 25 inch waist. Most of her friends are a similar size, some are smaller. I think there are a lot of women with eating disorders who want to tell everyone that they’re so tiny that shops don’t make clothes for them. It’s just not true.

chachahide · 10/07/2025 23:33

I agree Op, I’ve always weighed 50kg, as a teenager I was a size 6/8, now I’m a size 4/6 which actually rules a lot of shops out.

In real life I promise I’m not even that skinny! It’s annoying as lots of main stream places (George Asda, next, even John Lewis), just don’t carry many 4/6. Even XS from accessorize is too big for me now.

Original poster
SemperIdem · 10/07/2025 23:32

ZanzibarIsland · 10/07/2025 21:15

I think it's strange it's been annoying you for a few days.

A few days is nothing! There are things which have annoyed me for decades 😁

OP posts:
OnLifesEndlessCorridor · 10/07/2025 23:30

yakkity · 10/07/2025 23:21

I’m not fat it’s just that I’m not skinny either. I’m slimmish but at almost 60 I’m thicker than I was as definitely have more excess if not exactly flab. And yet I fit a 6-8

Show quote history

You won’t be as toned or have as much muscle as you did due to being old.

I have always been very fit and slim but even though I still run, swim and do weights, my body is less toned than it was in my 20s.