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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think clothes sizes have got bigger? And if they have, its doing no one any favours?

124 replies

WhiteTrash · 10/12/2011 19:50

I swear clothes sizes have got bigger. For example a size 14 today was a 16 10-15 years ago?

Ive had to change my diet dramatically recently which has resulted in weight loss. Im the same weight I was 10 years ago but Im buying a size that no way was I buying 10 years ago. A sizd I wore when I was 13-14 and no way on earth am I that skinny. Literally no possible way.

Its not the first time this theory has come up.

I know a lot of women dont have scales and just go by the way their clothes fit which is great, unless they're making sizes bigger!

And if they make them bigger in 10 more years where does it end?

Of course all clothes shop differ (some a lot!) but generally speaking.

OP posts:
hatesponge · 10/12/2011 20:24

Agree sizes have got bigger, I've got a size 16 skirt I bought in the mid 1990s, it is smaller than size 14s I have bought recently.

And I do think it's all shops - I have recently bought a size 10 cardigan from Peacocks and a Size 12 jumper from H&M, both of which fit (though cardi is slightly snug). My BMI is 30, I am clearly not a 10, or a 12 - or at least I shouldn't be!

wildstrawberryplace · 10/12/2011 20:25

Yep - I sew and sometimes buy vintage patterns from the 60s and 70s. According the measurements in inches, a size 10 then would be a 6 now, a 12 then is like an 8/10 now. Waists especially seem to have been much smaller.

thenightsky · 10/12/2011 20:29

Random... not age 14.. definitely Size 14. I remember buying buying Size 14 trousers from Chelsea Girl at the same age I wore that Size 14 PE skirt.

CharlotteBronteSaurus · 10/12/2011 20:31

they definitely have
i've put on nearly 2st since being a stooodent
but kept the same dress size Confused

Technoprisoners · 10/12/2011 20:33

thenightsky I'm pretty sure my PE skirt from 1980 was a size 14 too. If I stil had it, I doubt very much I'd get into it, and I'm a 10 in today's money!

startail · 10/12/2011 20:34

Maybe, but I have a very old, 15-20 year old size 10/12 BHS cardigan and I'm a size 16 and it's still a bit big. (it's acrylic so I don't think it's stretched hugely)

whyme2 · 10/12/2011 20:34

But they do have to consider that in general women are taller and well nourished and even when at their ideal weight they will be bigger than 50 years ago. I do agree sizes have changed and to keep changing them is not doing anyone any favours now but I think there had to be some adjustments made somewhere.

Perhaps the whole clothes sizing needs standardizing across the board using up to date measurements.

Technoprisoners · 10/12/2011 20:35

I have always found that sizes tend to be more skimpy the cheaper the clothing, and more roomy for the more upmarket retailers. That has always been the case and still it, ime.

PelvicFloorOfHighTensileTinsel · 10/12/2011 20:38

Yes they have, I can just fit into my old size 12 stuff but am now a size 10 in new clothes.

I was recently looking at myself in a full length mirror and thinking I still have a bit of spare tyre to lose since having DS2, next day bought some size 10 trousers and they're even a little bit loose. When I'm wearing them I feel like I don't need to lose any weight, after all size 10s are only loose on very slim people but undressed the mirror says I still do...

OrmIrian · 10/12/2011 20:38

"And if they make them bigger in 10 more years where does it end?"

Erm...it ends in women buying larger clothes!Oh My God! How utterly dreadful! The end of civilization as we know it!!

If you are size 10, you lose no weight and suddenly find you can fit into a size 8, you won't think 'fuck me! I had better eat some cream cakes!' are you?

What bothers you is that 'fat women' might be allowed to feel OK about themselves.

Original poster
WhiteTrash · 10/12/2011 20:39

Agree Whyme.

OP posts:
ilovemountains · 10/12/2011 20:45

I find this a problem, I way the same as I did ten years ago, BMI is perfect, doctors and midwives are happy. I used to be a size 10, am now a size 6. I no longer shop in M&S and the like because their clothes are far too big.

ilovemountains · 10/12/2011 20:46

Weigh, not way obviously!

ThatsNotSantasBabyBelly · 10/12/2011 20:46

Cut of clothes has altered too now though, so you can get jeans, for example, that fit your waist, or hips, or are low rise - whichever suits your shape best. That effects which size you need as well.

ElderberrySyrup · 10/12/2011 20:51

Nothing against anyone feeling good about themselves, but at the moment it is utterly unpredictable, because some manufacturers vanity size more than others.

I do vintage dressmaking and I am a 16 in 40s/50s clothes and I am sitting here in a pair of size 10 Monsoon jeans, which are too big for me, but I ordered some stuff online from Peacocks in the summer and had to get a 14. But it's not even consistent within brands, because Pearl Lowe from Peacocks comes up bigger. Shoe sizes manage to be more or less consistent, I haven't changed from a 5 to a 3 over the years, why can't clothes just stay the same too?

Haziedoll · 10/12/2011 20:51

People always say this but I haven't found it to be the case.

Kids clothes have definitely got bigger. Ds1 needs age 7-8 for height but they are literally falling off him around the waist, swimming trunks are a nightmare to find.

ScatterChasse · 10/12/2011 20:53

I was going to say that ThatsNotSanta. I have stuff in my wardrobe (all fairly recent) from a size 6 to a size 14, and it all fits me well.

Would say I am pretty much bang on a ten though.

Takver · 10/12/2011 20:54

Yes, absolutely! I think that it has got worse recently - I have never been a size 8, always a 10, and I weigh the same / am the same height. But now if I get size 10 trousers half the time they are massive, just fall right down.

Its a total PITA as it doesn't seem to be the case for all manufacturers, so if you buy online its hard to know what sizes to go for.

I think the only rule of thumb is that the more expensive the clothes, the bigger the size. I know that was the case even back in the 70s when I was a child - I remember my parents trying to buy my mum a smart camel coat in a department store for some special anniversary, and not being able to find one small enough. So I'm not so surprised by Techno's huge 1940s Aquascutum skirt. But I wish normal clothes companies wouldn't do it!

DingDongDialsMavislyOnHigh · 10/12/2011 21:01

I find top shop clothes tiny so maybe they haven't changed their sizes. I have to size up for their skinny jeans. But their Leggings are huge, I have to buy 2 sizes smaller.

LaDiDaDi · 10/12/2011 21:02

I agree.

I have weighed the same since I was approx 15.

Then I was an 8-10, now I (aged 33) I am a 6.

IndigoBell · 10/12/2011 22:46

Bollocks. You mean I'm not really a size 16? :(

ATruthFestivelyAcknowledged · 10/12/2011 23:10

Just a leeetle bit of stealth boasting onthis thread... Grin

MudAndGlitter · 10/12/2011 23:11

I'm in a 6 but same weight as pre DCs when I was a 10. Strange!

GwendolineMaryLacedwithBrandy · 10/12/2011 23:12

I know, I'm sorry. I just can't stop boasting... Xmas Grin

allohora · 10/12/2011 23:14

I remember being age 18, weighing 9 st and struggling with the zip on a size 12 in Dorothy Perkins :(
Now I weigh 4-5lb less and am more often an 8 than a 10.