Astounded by trip to shopping centre today

I find everything is more .massive now. I used to be a size 20. Im now a 12. Half of everything I order is too big and has to be send back. Given I've been all those sizes I tend to know what things are. A sweatshirt I ordered recently was huge, it was a size 16 no way a 12, and it wasnt advertised as an oversized top either.

But, it's not an opportunity missed if you normally shop online IYSWIM.
There is a bit of a negative feedback loop whereby people shop online, so shops have to reduce their overheads (shop number, shop size) so either disappear from the high street or display less stock in smaller spaces.
The phrase "I normally shop online but when I got to the high street I was surprised by the change..." Is used a lot. Often people noticing the high street is run down. Yes, it's because everyone shops online.
It's not your fault..shop where you like. But because everyone is doing the same (mostly shopping online) the high street changes.

Ah, there is your misconception, they don’t! That’s why for years the potentially very profitable market of plus size women was barely catered to at all. People were literally like…let me spend money here…no. There is also such a premium on space now that stocking sizes that will hardly sell is going to be low on their priority list.

That said, I am not aware that many brands have ever really produced a size 6 in the UK, and I was traipsing the high street at the peak of 1990s heroin chic. A 6-8 maybe. Certainly I have never seen a 4. That would be specialist retailer I would think.

I actually did because I know that from extremely thin friends it’s not just about difficulty buying clothes, it’s about finding styles that you don’t feel self conscious in and having people constantly thinking you are unwell. You lost me with your embarassingly ignorant comments about the reasons people are overweight and what they can do about it.

Ah well, perhaps you could get something taken in?

I think that size 6 has always been a bit thin on the ground no pun intended. It’s usually been sized 8-18 and now more places also stocking 20/22. But in general stock of all kinds seems low now, both in terms of sizes and styles, because often what is in store is just a fraction of what the same retailer sells online.

but went shopping with a friend today to a big centre about 30 minutes away from us (I won’t name it incase outing)

Yep. I live within 40 minutes of Meadowhall, but never, ever mention it, in case people immediately clock my real identity.

It would be exceptionally outing to name the big shopping centre, OP. Very sensible of you to keep that bit under wraps.

The rest of your AIBU is a bunch of ridiculous old toss, but I think you know that.

Yeah you've got to know which brands to go for, I've noticed a lot start from size 8 and I've found that some size 6 doesn't feel like a size 6! Bought a pair of size 6 trousers from Mango which fitted me heavily pregnant! I think the sizing guide varies where you go.

You're astounded they didn't stock a size 6? Oh please how many of the population are a size 6? When I was a 20 the shops never stocked it either. Now I'm a 14 but short they don't stock short either.
Pathetic humble brag good try though

Beth

Yes, the teeny-tinies I know do this! These women are pretty short for an adult, but teen clothing goes quite tall and then you have the cool young adult ranges.

Designers tend to start at size 4.

It might not be that they’re not stocked but that they go quickly. As a clothing 10 and shoes 5 I have often found that my size tends to sell out quickly even though it is likely the one with the most stock. Smaller sizes/ less stock just makes it more volatile: rapid sellout for the good pieces and mega discounts in the sales for the less popular items?

YABU. I'm very tall but can't get clothes to fit in store. I dont expect the world to revolve around me though.

Life’s hard, OP.

A lot of places can order smaller sizes but they only carry what sells. 6 was never an easy size to find. The average is size 8 to 22 so that is what they stock. They cater to the majority, you can't please everyone. Extremely tiny or extremely large sizes have always been special order.

I think some shops call it XXS rather than a size 6? As money is tight for me at the moment I have taken to shopping in Primark for things you don't easily find second hand, like vest tops etc, and they always seems to have the items I want ONLY in an XXs, which would barely fit around my thigh these days!

I do most of my clothes shopping for items like dresses, coats etc in charity shops, and again that often have lovely things in a size 6, which I gaze at longingly before turning my attention to stuff that will actually fit me!

I have to say OP, if I could be a size 6 (especially if I didn't have to starve myself to achieve it) I would suck up the shopping difficulties without complaint, such would be my delight!

(But I accept that probably if you actually are one, the novelty wears off, and perhaps you don't just waltz around in a sunlit haze of joy every waking hour, as I am imagining I would!)

It depends on the shop. All the cheap places (Zara, H&M, New Look, Primark etc) stock plenty of size 6’s as they are aiming squarely for the teen/young adult market.

Expensive high street (Me&em, Bash, Zadig, Kooples, All Saints etc) also stock plenty of size 6’s.

It tends to be mid range shops that that stock only a few 8’s, a few 16-18’s but mostly 10’s through to 14’s as they are going for broad mass market.

ditto

Go to Primark 90% of their stock seems to be a 4 or a 6

I would have thought they do stock size 6. I’m not a 6 anymore but used to be 6-8 and never had a problem finding clothes and I’m sure I still see that size in now.

Many many years ago (30? So beforeonline shopping).... I was a size 8. There were very few available unless it was a mainstream shop like next or m&s. 6 was even rarer. Yabu

Yes, absolutely, this is me too.

The problem with the OP is she thinks a smaller size/being thin is something to aspire to. It really isn’t. It’s just a way of reducing women to the number on their clothing labels. It’s to stop them thinking about more important stuff and to set them against each other.

What we have in the shops now is vanity sizing. If you look online at the size charts the measurements for a 6 are typically 32 inch bust, 24 inch waist and 34 inch hips. No way are these my measurements. My weight and size have stayed roughly the same for 45 years. But when I was 18 I was a size 10, when I was about 30 I became an 8 and now I’m a 6. I haven’t changed; the clothes have. So it’s ridiculous to read anything into it. It is literally just a number.

Used to work in a clothes shop. Never sold size six.

M&S? I found one size 6 in the entire shop the last time I looked.

To be honest, it's always been difficult finding size 6 in shops IME. Although you do tend to find them more in shops aimed at a younger shopper - H&M, Zara, New Look, Primark.

Just ask and the shop can usually get in the correct size for you. Then you get to journey again to the shopping centre.

I have always been a size 4/6 it’s always been like this I worked in retail for years shops stock the popular sizes everything else needs to be ordered it was a nightmare getting my uniform as they only started at a 6 and being 4ft11 petite was often to long on me . I used to find shops aimed at teenagers top shop Jane Norman stocked more smaller sizes.
despite being 48 i sometimes shop in the kids section Zara primark etc although primark ladies section does stock small sizes they don’t do petite so no good for jeans and trousers

Think the OP has jumped the shark with their later posts. There have been a few threads like this tonight on Mumsnet.