to think that "fat shops" like Evans and Ann Harvey don't do their customers any favours by making their sizes much larger than they usually are?

[MrsSchadenfreude]

Was in London last week, nipped into both. Tried on jeans in Evans, even a size 16 was too big (and I am SO not a 16). Went into Horrible Ann Harvey, Polyester Queen, and overheard the woman saying to a customer, "No, the sizes come up much bigger than in regular shops. If you're a size 16 in M & S, there won't be anything here to fit you."

Is this not going to lull porkers (I am one, I am allowed to say that) into a false sense of their own size, if they think, oh I am "only" a size 16, which is not too bad, when actually they are probably a 22+ in "normal" shops?

Sizes do vary from shop to shop.

And sizes have increased over time. I have a 1970s m and s suit size 14. The jacket chest is less than 36 inches- the skirt won't zip up even though I am an m&s 10 in today's clothing. All vintage clothing us tiny by comparison to today's sizes- maybe we are all lulling ourselves into a false sense of security.

All shops are the same though really. I can comfortably get into a size 10 in Newlook when not pregnant, wheras in George at Asda a 10 would be too big though not by much. Wouldn't stand a hope in hell of getting into a 10 in Primark or River Island.

All womens' shops seem to have their own idea of what each size should be IYSWIM.

No I don't think it will lull them into a false sense of security unless they have never shopped anywhere else in their life.

I can only imagine they are bigger compared to M&S because they have more room on the hips/bum/bust etc...

Some people can be a 'trim' size 16..big but firm (usually younger girls/women) and others can be a flabby 16...therefore needing more room in certain areas.

No, Mutz, they are huge. Not just different cut or a slight difference in size - the woman in AH was telling her customer that a 16 there was about equivalent to a 22 elsewhere.

Yup, I agree.

I think women's sizes are totally arbitrary in most shops. I have a size 8 coat that I fit into fine but fell in love with a skirt today that was a size 14! I wish women's clothes were the same as men's in that it is simple measurements that were the same in all shops.

I find that Evans are more or less the same as M&S plus sizes.

at the idea that you're a 'porker' at a size 16

actually I am the same size in m and s as i am in evans. Ann harvey on the other hand I was 3 sizes smaller and it still didnt fit snuggly.

Trust me though if, like me, you have to shop in places like evans you are really under no illusion that you are a big lass. What it says on the lables makes naff all difference other than stopping people want to jump off the nearest bridge.

if the difference is what you say then no they are not doing us any favours.

on the other hand if i went into evans(i am 16) and put on a sixteen then i might feel slimmer you're saying?

i'm off...

Does height make a difference? I know some short women that say they're a size 10 yet are actually quite wide IFSWIM and tall women that are quite lean and a size 14?

a 16 isn't exactly trim though is it?

You probably are overweight at size 16, let's be honest. And sizes are definitely bigger than they used to be. I usually buy a 10. My mum was the same weight at my age as I am, but she was always a size 14. I am 5 '7 and weigh 9st. She is 5'6 and weighed 9st until she began to put on weight at age 45, which will probably happen to me.

I agree with you.

And I think M&S sizes come up quite big compared to other shops.

Dee - I am not a size 16 at all. I am larger - and therefore a porker - that was my point. I don't think a regular size 16 at my height would be a porker, whereas it probably would be on someone who was 5 feet tall.

Piratecat - you could probably get someone else in the jeans with you in Evans!

i find they make every way too long as well as too big

I don't believena word of this. I'm a size 20. I own one pair of size 16 trousers and they are stretchy Next maternity trousers. I wouldn't fit into a size 16 in Evans, I buy size 20. Have never been into Ann Harvey but I do believe my mother might have and I'm very sure she never found a problem there. She's a 20 also.

don't even go near evans anymore as all their tops used to be cut like a giant square and were huge sheet like garments with no shape except for sleeves and neck.ugh.

I think you know if you are different sizes in different shops . they're not fooling us.

It's called self delusion. It's why women lie about their weight or their dress size. It doesn't change the reality but it makes you feel better and you pretend you don't know it's a lie.

It is also why you can never believe the size a man tells you his penis is

and its not much to do with height if you are talking about things like jeans.

I got some smart trousers from Evans for a job interview at 8 weeks post natal when I could only get into 18 trackies. Size 16 were falling down even allowing for loose around my scar

Surely if you have to shop in Evans and Ann Harvey then you can be under no illusions about your size anyway?

Disclaimer: I am one to talk. DS is 3.5 months and I am still wearing my maternity jeans.

30 years ago a size 10 was 32-22-34. Today it is 35-27-36. Clearly our middles have filled out as we lead increasingly sedentary lives!