Vanity sizing needs to be stopped

YANBU that sizes vary so much it’s annoying. There’s a couple of things at play IMHO.

i watched a tv programme once about fast fashion. In the really cheap sweatshops factories, the dressmakers/machinists are given a roll of fabric and told they need to get x amount of items from it so they tend to size down so a 12 will be more like an 8/10 etc.

Then there’s the arguably more up market brands who practise vanity sizing and I must admit, it does influence me to my utter embarrassment- I love it when I can buy a 12 rather than a 16 even though I know it’s vanity sizing. 😳

Then there’s the style - I got a pair of wide leg elasticated waist trousers from Tesco in an 8 whereas my jeans are 14s!

And then there’s Zara ……..I need an X large fir dome of their tops and jackets!

Not all retailers state the actual measurements in the product description.

I thought Pull and Bear really liked that baggy, "gap in the waistband look". I think this is a style issue really.

It matters if you have to buy most of your clothes online and if you live somewhere where it isn't easy to send them back because the sizing is off or inconsistent.

I live in Dorset - we haven't even got an M & S store anymore in my nearest town.

As others have noted: in my late teens I was a UK size 10 and as thin as a rake. I am no longer thin, but for many stores, a 10 is now as large as a 14/16 was 50 years ago. I measure 38 inches around the bust but fit M & S Tee shirts in size 8 and 10. A 12 in trousers/jeans is now more like a 32 inch waist. A 12 would have been more like a 26 inch waist 50 years ago.

There are a lot of very unhappy people on here.

I think clothing sizes need an overhaul, use the actual measurements. Waist, bust, shoulder to waist, inside leg etc. It would make choosing the right size so, so much easier. Very few people are a perfect average size but by looking at the actual measurements it is a lot easier to find the best fit.

It’s ridiculous I completely agree with you op. My friend gave me a couple of pairs of shorts that don’t fit her anymore two different brands one a size 12 and one a size 8. The size 8 ones are bigger than the size 12 ones. Ridiculous.

It's not about what you're wearing as much as what you have try on/order. I live somewhere with few shops and so we have to order online or buy when visiting bigger cities - this means we have to order more than we need and sometimes pay to return, or spend far too long in shops trying on different sizes. I don't care what size I am, I just wish I had an idea of what size I am!

But if all manufacturers worked from the same sizing charts then most women wouldn’t be able to find clothes that actually fit them. Say a size 10 was standardised as 30 inch bust, 26 waist, 32 hip and each size varied by 2 inches from that standard. What about those women who are a 31 bust, 25 waist and 30 hip?

I do wish there would be more consistency between sizes in the same store (and particularly if I’m buying 2 pairs of the same trousers in different colours I’d like them to be the same size…) but everyone using a single sizing chart just doesn’t work,

I'd rather we just stopped with made up sizing, and gave chest/waist/hip/leg measurements.

@MightyGoldBear yeah I agree with you, clothes shopping has become way too much of a hassle now that the sizes are so all over the place, and that everything has pivoted to be primarily online so you can’t go and try things on as easily as before. Especially if you are plus size like me or approaching it. Like you I basically try to avoid clothes shopping as much as I can these days which is sad as I used to be hugely into fashion (I also find it annoying to be paying increasing amounts of money for increasingly poor quality and fabrics but that’s a whole other story).

In reality when I go to try on clothes in the shop it’s very rare they have anything above a 14, let alone 18/20/22 which is where I am depending on the shop. Even if the shop is “kind” enough to make clothes in those sizes at all in the first place, they don’t have a lot of those sort of sizes on the shelves and just say oh we could order it in for you. When I may as well just stay home and order things myself if the shop doesn’t let me try stuff on to see what fits well. But I am TERRIBLE at returning stuff (most likely have undiagnosed ADHD) so just can’t trust myself to order more than one size at a time (and often stop myself from doing even that for fear it won’t be right, even with the size guide and measurements it can still be way off). Especially as you say when your size can vary over about 4 sizes these days rather than 2!!

I would LOVE if there was some general consistency over sizing in U.K. clothes. I appreciate that some shops have slightly different fits and wouldn’t like everything to be totally uniform, for example as someone with big boobs and hips I used to swear by Coast until a few years ago when they changed their fit, but Next has never worked for me. So it’s good to have options. But at least uniformity within the same shop would be good and some shops are much better at this than others. And it would be great if there was an agreed range of measurements universally for each size in the U.K.

I was thinking the other day how hard sizing must be for very slender women. I’m just under 5,4 and size 8s are now getting too big! Absolutely crazy.I haven’t lost weight and in fact I’ve still got a size 12 skirt from H&M that by todays sizing would be an 8 and it still fits.

Ignore the size on the label and go by the actual measurements in the product description. That's what I do.

It's fairly easy to take your measurements with a tape measure. Or if you want to be super accurate, get a sewist to do it for you.

@BobbieTables Thank God we can have a diversion from all the crap going on! You don’t have to respond if you want to only discuss wars and atrocities. I’d jog on…

The best bet on sizing is to narrow down the stores you order from. I know exactly what size to order from Cos, &OtherStories, Arket, Hobbs, M&S and a few others. Rarely get it wrong.

my teen dd is a size 4-6. She is very slender but hardly has any waist so she really struggles with sizing. Some brands are better than others - a lot of brands assume you will have a fashionably tiny waist and big hips. My dd being very “straight” often has to size down, but she’s 5’8” so then she struggles with length of sleeves and legs (fashionable shorts can appear indecently short and leggings look like pyjamas.

When it comes to sizing it’s not easy whether you are fat, thin, short or tall!

Me too. I’m about half a stone heavier now than I was 30 odd years ago. I used to wear a 10-12, now I wear 12-14. I do still actually have clothes that fit from 20 odd years ago, so don’t see that sizes have changed that much. I think it’s more a variation between brands and styles.

Ahhh I miss topshop jeans and lovely old Topshop on the high street 😢

About 25 years ago I was a 8-10 but am now a 6, I had a lovely old bay trading tailored dress in a 10 that I would not fit into now.

The thing I miss most abouts clothes is darts being used in high street clothes, that will play into it too as dart free clothes have more "give"

It's not even true. At least in the case of Gaza and the Ukraine this will be an issue for long after those situations are resolved.

'YABU to suggest it’s to flatter the egos of women who can’t accept they’ve put on weight - “vanity sizing”

Yes I do always hate this implication. People aren't stupid. They have eyeballs and can see they've put on weight. They're not going to be bamboozled into thinking they're thin by a label on a pair of jeans.

Oh good, another “let’s bash the fatties” thread. Good old MN.

Absolutely this.

I haven’t noticed vanity sizing but I have noticed cheaper shops cut their sizes small. And if you’ve ever bought something cheap online from China (gasp, the horror!) then you’ll know that you have to go up about four sizes 😂

It would be very nice if sizes were consistent. It would also be nice if the dimensions could be updated from the unrealistic 1950s model which suit very few women. Neither is going to happen any time soon.

YABU to suggest it’s to flatter the egos of women who can’t accept they’ve put on weight - “vanity sizing”

YANBU to suggest that all clothing manufacturers get together and make their minds up about which sizing charts they’re going to use.

I do use the size guide - unfortunately most seem to be inaccurate.

This whole thing always confuses me - I’ve been a 10-12 all my adult life and my weight hasn’t changed, shouldn’t I be a 6-8 by now?

@SemperIdem YANBU

although US/North America centric, this article is interesting

eta; @BobbieTables dinnae look 🙉🙈🙉

It's all phycological though isn't it. Fundamentally, we have a number system rather than the easier to understand small, medium, large system that men use to make people feel better. If I buy my husband a large it invariably fits. Shops know that if they inflate the sizing women often prefer to wear a size ten and twelve so purchase the size ten that fits rather than size 12 even through they are actually the same size. Some shops want to see to thinner women so shink the larger sizes to put be people off. It should be standardised This has become more important with the growth on distance selling.