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.

As someone who at age 18 was a size 10 (UK) and when not pregnant is now a size 6, despite being the same weight and shape as I was 15 years ago, I do see what the OP is saying (though the title was not phrased nicely at all).

What happens if the vanity sizing thing continues? Will I one day wake up and find myself a size 2? Or become invisible as I become a negative size?!

This is absolutely not a stealth boast - trust me, it is a total pain in the arse at times, never being able to find things that fit properly - or having to resort to children's clothing, which often isn't appropriate. To make things worse, we moved to the US last year and I now order clothes from the UK as in Banana Republic, for example, even a US so called double zero (so smaller than a size 0 here allegedly) is too big. I'd say it's about a UK size 12.

Totally agree that European measurements make more sense and are more likely to be accurate.

www.cosmopolitan.com/celebrity/fashion/vanity-sizing

Yanbu but your thread title was always going to get these kind of responses.

I'm fat, and am not too offended by the OPs post. I agree that sizing has changed because people are getting fatter, and I don't think that's right.
When I was a teenager I was slim, but never tiny, and as far as I can remember I was usually a size 12 or 14 in Chelsea Girl (that dates me!).

Now, despite being at least 2 stone overweight, I am a size 14 in M&S and Next and a size 12 in White Stuff (and although I KNOW I haven't miraculously slimmed down when walking through their door, it makes me feel great being able to get into size 12 jeans - which is why retailers do the vanity sizing thing!).
So, 30 years ago I was a size 14, I'm still a size 14, but I'm now 3 stone heavier and with a BMI of 27.

A size 14 (or whatever) should be a standard size 14 imo.

I agree with a poster above who said that just because obesity/weight gain is on the rise in England why does that mean that people of a healthy weight should struggle to find clothes? If 12 is now the 'modern medium' just because women are getting larger, what about those who are slim and struggle to find smaller sizes? If the obesity worsens and size 16 becomes the new medium and 12 is the new small where does it end?? Are size 8-10 women meant to just go without? Or do we become invisible?

And FWIW - the only group of people on this thread who seem to be getting slagged off about their weight are the women who would be considered slim. I think they are the ones receiving catty and snide comments from posters, not the other way round. Just something to think about.

As another post has said if clothes are made to fit women from size 6-32 how can 3 options of small, medium and large be expected to cover such a large range? I agree with all those who said clothes should be labelled in terms of inches so there is no confusion.

I was a size 8 at 21 and at 50 despite being 4 stone heavier. If I ever got as slim as I was I would not be able to buy clothes.

It doesn't really help people letting them believe they are slimmer than they are.

Exactly pinkfloyd not all the people who think the title is offensive are fat. I also dislike titles that sound racist.

vanity sizing was brought in to make thin people feel pleased about themselves. no one gives a stuff what fat people think as clothes are all designed for the slim. thin people can boast about being a size 4 or 6 or whatever.

the thin posters getting are being 'slagged off' and rightly so, you can always find clothes to fit, whatever label is in them, larger people can't and just because the label has changed, it doesn't mean that we 'fatties' suddenly think that we are gorgeous and slim.

don't shop in h&m if they are so unreliable, slim people have access to clothes in practically every other shop on the high street.

the thin posters getting are being 'slagged off' and rightly so, you can always find clothes to fit, whatever label is in them, larger people can't and just because the label has changed, it doesn't mean that we 'fatties' suddenly think that we are gorgeous and slim.

You obviously have no I idea how inaccurate this statement is - walk a mile in someone else's shoes and all that. As a woman in my late 40s, I often have to buy from the children's range because I cannot find clothes to fit - because I am small and slim.

This has increasingly become a problem as clothes are sized up to fit a growing population. The increasing obesity levels in our society are a health crisis and manufacturers are not showing much corporate social responsibility if they pander to it, to the detriment of the slim.

slim people have access to clothes in practically every other shop on the high street
quite possibly, but they are the 'designer' shops.
cheap clothes stores - H&M, Primark, supermarkets etc - start their sizes larger than I am.
Thank goodness for charity shops.

And sizing is even more random than many realise.

One shop, three dresses, all similar cut, two of them the size 8 fitted, the other the size 10 fitted - there was a good 2 inch difference in bust size. Thank you for being inconsistent Phase Eight

Creighton you seem to have a bit of a chip on your shoulder there. Why is it right to "slab people off" because of their natural build?

I completely agree with Ithaca. Finding tops to fit my very narrow frame, ones which don't sag unflatteringly round my boobs and shoulders, is pretty much impossible.

Slag not slab obv :)

Like I said Creighton, it isn't always easy to find clothes for slim people. I can go into shops and the only things on the racks are sizes 12-16 because that's what is considered the norm these days. Shops are obviously going to stock clothes that fit the clientele group that will generate most money. Why fill a shop with clothes of smaller sizes when slimmer people are less prevalent??

However, I do think this varies from shop to shop. I tend to find the more expensive and designer clothes shops have smaller sized clothes but I'm not happy to pay their prices. It is when I go to your standard high street stores that I struggle to find clothes in my size. I can pick up a size of pair 10 trousers and they will hang off me, but the only other options on the rack are sizes 12 and above. I usually have to leave with nothing.

"Thin people are getting slagged off and rightly so...." - that is an awful thing to say and has absolutely no justification. Thin people should be slagged off just because they are slim???

I go into shops and they are full of size 8, 10 and 12 clothes, not size 20 or 22. go to any next sale, the racks are full of small sizes not large ones.

like I said, there is a dearth of larger sizes in shops, not smaller sizes.

fat people were being slagged off for being deluded by the change in a number sewn into their gigantic clothes and many posters agreed that larger people fall for this.

I think your thread title is ride and goady but meh you know that.

Sizing is shit in shops. The best way to find clothes that fit you properly is to know your measurements. I am a 44 bust and a 34 waist-usually a 16 on the high street but not always which is why I tend to shop mostly online.

I wouldn't take advice on this thread from people following fad diets-5:2 is merely the new atkins-there will be a new diet along next year

"rude and nasty"-yep that just about sums it up.

It doesn't matter what size the label says, I still look fat whatever I wear. I have a size 18 dress that fits. It's snug, but it fits. I also have a size 20 dress that is too tight round the stomach.
I ordered two dresses in different styles but in the same size from the same shop. One I couldn't even get on, the other was too baggy on the top.
'Large' never, ever fits me - it's always too small. That really doesn't make me feel any better about being a hippo!
It would be nice to have standardized sizing everywhere. Then I might find something that fits without having to try a dozen different sizes on.

The point we are making though Creighton is that the sizes 8, 10 and 12 are now much bigger than they used to be!!!! Just because those sizes are the ones on the rack it doesn't mean that they fit the sizes they claim to be for. The issues is that for those of us who are slimmer we can't even buy 8-12 clothes anymore because they are too big. sometimes it seems that unless there is a size 4-6 on the rack (which there never is).

Size 8-10 women should be able to pick up a size 8-10 top and have it fit.

My sentence that was cut short is supposed to say that unless there is a size 4-6 on the racks (even though we aren't really that size) we are screwed and have to go without.

and the clothes I see on the racks are 6 inches across, so they are tiny. as mentioned above, slim people can get clothes from girls/teenagers ranges, if you are above a size 20 there is nothing for you.

Why should slim people have to wear clothes made for children though? That's ridiculous. I wan't to wear women's clothes, not teenagers.

as a larger person, I would just like some clothes, but we barely count as human so there aren't any for us

creighton

Serious question - where are you shopping? My mum is larger (16-18 I think,don't check her clothes labels) and can find very nice clothes without any difficulty.

the thin posters getting are being 'slagged off' and rightly so, you can always find clothes to fit, whatever label is in them, larger people can't and just because the label has changed, it doesn't mean that we 'fatties' suddenly think that we are gorgeous and slim.

It's right to slag thin posters off because they can always find clothes to fit?

yes, as said you can get clothes anywhere and you are stealth boasting about being thin which is the pinnacle of female physical achievement in this society.

I just wish women's sizes were the same as mens - done in measurements! I hate how I'm a size 10 in some shops and a 14 in others, all should be the same! I hate shopping as it is and would rather do it online but it's difficult not knowing what is going to fit!

creighton - where are you shopping?