to think that most shops use vanity sizing now, and a 10 is really an old 14

[GetOrfMoiiLand]

Are there any shops which use what I would call 'old' sizes.

I remember when a 10 was really small. When I was in my teens and a lot smaller than now, I was a 12 at most. I am now a 10.

My gran (on clearing out her wardrobe) was always a size 12-14 - on trying on some jackets from the 80s which were a 14 they were very tight.

Hardly any shops stocked 8s, and they were tiny. Now every shop stocks 6's, and they are not really that small. My local Asda stocks clothes in a 4.

Forgot to mention - I don't find Topshop sizing to be small, I'm usually a 10 there which fits just right without clinging in the wrong places (although I don't have any Topshop bottoms, I'd have to take an 8 and a 10 into the fitting room to see!)
Warehouse sizing on the other hand seems big to me - I have a size 12 dress that fit great when I was a couple of stone heavier, but now just hangs off me unflatteringly even over my boobs.... Shame, I like that dress - maybe I can shrink it a bit in the wash!

This is why I never order online because sizing is so variable. For example if I want to try trousers on in M & S I always have to take 4 pairs into the fitting room because I am a 10 or a 12 and a long or a medium depending on the style.

As for jeans, I usually end up trying on loads and loads because my waist is so much smaller than my hips.

I wish online companies would give the waist size and the hip size as well as length. As far as I know only Levi jeans do this.

I have been wearing M&S size 14 for over 30 years

I really notice this in dorthothy perkins and next. I should be about an 8, maybe a 10 for some things but 6s are too big for me in both shops, particularly tops. Its incredibly annoying as there aren't many 4s and the smaller branches dont carry them. Also, almost no one is actually a size 4!! So I feel silly complaining.

Dont notice as much in m and s, H and M have quite small sizes I think, an 8 is quite tight. Top shop I would say is the most accurate, Im a 10 in jeans there. Which makes the 'size 4' even more ridiculous!

Haven't read the whole thread but I think sizes have got bigger - but so have people (and I don't mean fatter)! Most teenagers nowadays are so much taller than they were 10 years ago - so going back 30-40 years ago of course sizes were smaller.

If you look at museums all the clothes were tiny - it's evolution and better nutritional food.

Saying all that - some shops definitely vanity size!

Where I work we deal with vintage clothing (generally things dating back to the 60s/70s) and its noticeable how sizes have changed over the years.

For example I was looking at a 1970s Laura Ashley long dress recently that was labelled as a Size 14. In todays sizing though I would say it was a size 10. The chest was 34".

Yes, and its fairly recent too. When I was the weight I am when I was a teenager, 9 stone 3 lb, I was a size 14. Now a 12 is loose on me. it's not quite 2 sizes though. There is no way I can get into a 10.

I'm 24 btw!

I bought a size 10 pair of jeans in Next last week, without trying them on. I have a few Next clothes in a size 10 and they fit well, but they are all quite old and I haven't shopped there for ages. I put the new jeans on this morning and they are huge! I am going to have to take them back because they are all baggy round my legs and bum and I need a belt, which I don't want to wear. And Im certain I'm at least a couple of pounds heavier than I was Last time I bought next clothes.

The sizing in there has definatly gone up, and it is very annoying!

thetasigmamum size 8's were very rare in the early 80's but were definitely coming in by 1985 and there were plenty around by the end of the 80's. I think I saw a size 8 for the first time in Carnaby Street in 1982.

It's entirely possible that there wasn't the demand locally so they weren't stocked. To be honest I was the smallest person I knew then being just over five foot and under 7 stone and a 10 was fine

This must be true. I was 7.5 stone and a size 8 back in the day. I'm now nearer to 9 stone and can still fit into some size 36 clothes!

Jins honestly they really weren't very rare in the early 80s. I had size 8 jeans from miss selfridge and Chelsea girl and one of those jeans only shops (can't remember the chain name, long defunct) in 1981. I know it was 1981 cos I bought one pair the day spurs drew in the FA cup final (my birthday as it happens). And before you say ah, but they drew in the 1982 final too, yes they did but that time it wasn't on my birthday! And I still have those jeans. They are cup final jeans. Last worn when we lost in the league cup a couple of years ago (they may now have been relegated as no longer lucky).

I did tend to wear kids clothes then more than grown up clothes since kids clothes were cheaper but in those days they were very....young. All my contemporaries were buying and wearing clothes from miss selfridge and Chelsea girl and hip and trendy places and I fet very dowdy in comparison, mostly.

early 80s I bought 8s from miss s,top shop and the independant jeans shop in Brighton

thetasigmamum where did you live?

There was a definite shortage in the North West and I didn't travel very far back then

Jins London. Centre of the universe. Now I live in the back end of beyond. :( Luckily they invented the internet so that I cna keep my olympic level shopping skills honed.

That explains it!!!

Yes you definitely got size 8's in London in the early 80's as I got a pair of Lois jeans (remember them?) in a size 8 on a school trip to London in 1982