To think that shops souldnt change their sizing just to make fat people feel better

[ThoseArentSpiritFingers]

Was shopping in H&M and was looking through the basics range - needed leggings and t shirts etc. took some leggings to try on, an picked up a pair of medium without going it much thought, as I am a size 10-12. Luckily I did try them on because they were massive on me. When I went to look for a smaller size I noticed a sign saying they had 'revolutionised' their sizing for the basics range to allow for bigger sizing, which is fair enough.

But why mess around with all the rest of the sizes?! Why not just label it xxl rather than changing medium to fit a size that would have fit a 16-18.

And to make it all even more stupid, it was only their basics range that had changed, the rest of the stuff was still a normal size.

I ended up at the till with a stupid range of sizes, with some smalls, some mediums and one large for their stupidly small skinny jeans. An this is just one store.

The whole, '15/20/40 years ago' thing is quite annoying. I remember being a skinny teenager in the early 90s and not being able to find clothes that fit in women's shops. (Luckily we all wore baggy clothes!). I remember trawling through just about all the shops in Glasgow city centre lookin for a dress to wear to a function my parents were dragging me to and not being able to find anything without paying £200+. Size 8s seemed to be almost mythical, and all the size 10 were enormous on me.

I was not abnormally thin. The clothes just weren't there. Not being able to find clothes that fit when you're thin is not some surprising new thing.

But, if I'd transported myself back to the 1950s I still wouldn't have found anythng to fit because my body proportions were (and still are) all wrong for that sizing. My shoulders are the widest part of my frame (and they're not wide enough to stop every single bag strap dropping off) and the difference between my waist and hips is fairly negligible. I'm not tall, but any height I do have in all in my legs. Maybe if I'd spent the last 20 or so years in a bloody girdle and had grown up on post-war rationing...

The thing is, standardising clothing sizes is not helpful either. Simply because women do not come in standard sizes. If you decided to model a standard size 10 on me, for example, there'd be women all over the country complaining that the clothes weren't designed for womenly curves. Make 'womanly curves' the universal standard and I'd have to start making my own clothes.

I don't get this 'I'm a size 8/10 and not thin' or as one poster said 'I' ma size 10 and borderline overweight'. I really don't. My DD (17) is a size 8/10 and anyone who suggested she wasn't incredibly slender would need their eyes testing (and probably hospitalisation if I heard them). She is very slim with no bulges anywhere. She buys a variety of 8s and 10s in retailers varying from Top Shop to Primark (including H and M). She has never had any of the issues described here
I don't recognise the physical/retail world some posters are describing.

cardibach
I'm a modern size 8 ... I'm slim but can pinch an inch in lots of places and several inches around my waist. The clothes shops seem to think that I'm either rich or a frump.
I do not want to look 'trendy' (DD would die of embarrassment), but I do find 'classic' clothes that actually fit, very hard to find.

I'm 5'5" so length should not be an issue - but it often is.

Farrowandbawl

I agree children's clothes are ridiculous. My children have to have at least one year younger than their actual age, because they just drop off them. They are both very slim, not a stealth boast BTW, and if average height. They take after their Dad.

Talkin I'm not sure what the issue is then. DD is 5'7", so not much taller than you. There is very little to pinch anywhere. She is an 8 on the top always, and varies between 8 and 10 on the bottom depending on retailer and style.

Hester. I didn't say that patronising and rude comments about thin people were acceptable either. Just that I thought the OP was stealth boasting and rude which I stand by.

I am 5'6" and a size 10 bottoms/12 tops (make that size 8 and 10 in Next, M&S etc). I can definitely pinch an inch. I am fairly slim and a pretty averagely healthy weight, but am definitely not skinny.

Probably the difference between a size 10 teenager and me is the fact that they haven't been through three pregnancies and gravity has yet to take its toll!

i don't pay alot of attention to sizes. i tried two identical pairs of jeans on in h&m once, thought i'd picked up a 12 and a 14 but it was actually two 12s. one fitted me, i couldnt button the other.

sorry those dispicable "fat people" have ruined your day shopping and that you've had to buy a smaller size, how awful.

Women are supposed to be able to "pinch an inch"-you need body fat. Its healthy especially in women who wish to conceive.

pinupgirl phew, I'm safe then. Menopause is great.

Well safe from conceiving maybe but after a certain age thinness in the face can be ageing.

I am lucky in that even though I am a bit chubby,I have good cheek bones

You are at risk of fertility issues and menstruation stopping if you are below 16% body fat as an adult woman: that's the ripped swimsuit model look. Losing body fat especially abdominal and internal fat is healthy provided lean muscle mass is maintained.

So no, you don't have to pinch an inch. You can be lean, or slim and perfectly fertile and many women who are slim or athletic manage quite well to have periods and be healthy!

So athletes and dancers and models don't have kids ?
Hmmm.
If I could get down to 16% fat I'd be amazed
but I have enough real life uber thin friends who have kids to know that being thin is not the issue, being healthy is

and society regards people like Elle McPherson as freaks rather than perfectly reasonable targets ....
my BMI is lower than Jessica Ennis after all ...

Rob Lowe looks that yummy because he keeps his body fat low enough not to need botox ....

they dont do it to make fat people feel better, they do it to sell more clothes, their overriding agenda is to make a profit by persuading people to buy their merchandise

Paula Radcliffe didn't have two babies then? Liz McColgan didn't have FIVE? Lean, thin women can conceive if it hasn't stopped them ovulating.

Hester thats true, but the body fat level at which women develop secondary amenorrhea will vary from woman to woman, some have naturally higher or lower levels of bodyfat

My anorexic relative was still menstruating when she was admitted to A&E :( Doesn't prove much.

Interesting issue.

I know that I am fat. I don't actually bother looking in H&M, New Look etc as their sizes are too small. If I did I wouldn't pick up something labelled an 18 to try on in the hopes they have made it large so I could feel better about getting into an 18. So any vanity sizing there is completely lost on me as I am aware I am not a smaller size so don't even try. IYSWIM.

I did try on a pair of jeans that fitted then bought 2 pairs the same sizing. When I got home the second pair couldn't be done up and laying them on top of each other one was inches visibly bigger than the other. I heard it is down to the material being cut in massive piles and so the top cuts may be the right size but the bottom ones miles out.

On the other hand I joined a gym, went in a sports shop for a sports bra and their biggest size was a 16. So didn't even stop to try it on. If you want people to lose weight make the sports stuff bigger!

I heard it is down to the material being cut in massive piles and so the top cuts may be the right size but the bottom ones miles out.

well I never knew that
rather alarming really!

On the basis of this thread I tried on some clothes in Debenhams, and discovered the trousers have smaller waists and larger hips, which fits me brilliantly. In other stores the waists are usually too big and the hips a bit tight. It obviously varies a lot from store to store.

Xales
I hope you complained as that is utterly out of order. THen again if you know your size, online ordering may be the best way to get them back

Boffin Hugely. The model that M&S cut their trousers on is from a different planet than I am !

Ooh, look, Xales, you're spot on about the cutting!

So ... I guess that, if you find random sizes in a pricey brand, you're looking at a firm wanting too much profit? They should either be using the hi-tech cutting machines, or giving their workers smaller stacks and more time.

Haha, Boffin, I used to always buy my trousers in Debenhams, for that very reason! Menopause and CFS put paid to that. I even buy ones with elasticated waists now ... but don't tell anyone; it's a secret, OK?

I find next is the worst culprit for random sizing, I have bought 2 pairs of size 16 jeans from there in the autumn 2013 catalogue. One pair doesn't even come close to fastening, the other pair i can put on and off without undoing the buttons or zip.