To think that vanity sizing is getting a bit ridiculous

[BearsBeetsBattlestarGalactica]

I am in the process of losing weight (coming up to 40kg loss, about 5/6 to go).

So I have obviously had to buy new clothes.

The size 10's are now hanging off me.

I have never, ever been a size 8. Size 8 to me is quite tiny. I was slimmer than I am now 10 years ago and was a size 12, barely fitting into a 10.

Even though I am relatively slim now I am still wobbly in places and have a muffin top. I didn't 10 years ago. So it would stand to reason that I should be a 12 now

Oh and this is NOT meant to be a stealth boast of any kind. I just think that sizing in clothes now is erm...a little skewed?

Maybe I have a skewed perception of myself? But I have pictures of me 10 years ago (during an ed I should add) and I was definitely slimmer then than I am now.

And I assume the OP has been there..hence I am a bit shocked.

I am a size 8-14

I can't even rely on the stated measurements in cm as they are bollocks. It makes ordering online a nightmare and in shops I have to take 3 different sizes to the changing rooms.

My size 14-20 and 20-28 friends have the same problem so it is not about how big you are it is about the random clothes sizing in our shops.

Can MN not campaign for standardised clothes sizing?

But they are not bigger. The size is different is all. Kidding yourself your slimmer than fat because of a label is frankly ridiculous.

Fanjo Yes I have been there. As I mentioned above this was not intended to make anyone feel shitty. It's not me that has changed the sizing of woman's clothes over the years.

There was no need for companies to do this. It is ridiculous. It ends up being confusing and frustrating to buy clothes now no matter what size you are. Especially as online companies are now big business.

you're not your

I was a size 8 with a 22 inch waist when I was 17. I was a size 8 with a 28 inch waist at 50. Totally agree.

sydlexic

That's it exactly. I was a 24" waist and a size 12 then a 28" waist and a size 12. Ridiculous. That's why things need to be done in actual sizes, not a random number that varies from one shop to the next

This site might help. What size am I?
sizes.darkgreener.com/

I can get into most High Street size 10 today.

I have a size 10 original Biba dress in my wardrobe that I would love to be able to wear. It zips up at the side and I am about two and a half inches off being able to do it up.

I would say that a size 10 from the 1960s is like a size 6 today

I'm 6', 14st and a size 16 almost everywhere. I had got up to a 20 between babies (just had DS2) and was feeling really pleased to be back to a 16. The implication that I'm really still a 20 is quite depressing

Not suggesting that that's anyone's fault on the thread - just that I, personally haven't noticed any change in clothes sizing in the last few years. Maybe because I'd been getting bigger and going up through the sizes anyway...

i am a larger person and not offended one jot about this thread, I agree with the OP, she's right no matter what size you are. Sizes should be standardised. An M&S size 18 in the 90s is equivalent to their 14 today. That's what is shocking, not the thread itself.

Exactly Shakes, vanity sizing is nothing more than patronizing women, regardless of their size.

In fact it just reinforces the mindset that small is somehow better...

I agree, OP. I fluctuated between 7 and 8 stone in my youth, my lightest adult weight being 6.5 stone at 5 2" on my 21st. I was never anything smaller than a size 8 in any shops, and usually took a 10.

Fast forward 14 years, and about 4 stone heavier I was a size 14-16. Lost two stone in the past year, taking me down to about 8.5 stone. Still about 1 stone heavier than my youthful weight. I am falling out of size 8s! Clothes sizes have clearly changed over the course of the last 15 years.

Aren't the gap sizes American sizes though? So a 4 is an 8 etc. still quite big though.

Can anyone explain, then, why certain 'vintage' (i.e. very old) clothes I have kept since the 80s still fit me despite my clothes now saying a bigger size? I was a14/16 when I left University in the 80s. I still have one or two tops I bought then which for one reason or another I haven't worn much. They fit me. I have to buy 18 in most shops, including Next, now - and in fact a 20 in Next work/smart wear. I therefore think you are all talking nonsense in order to boast about size 8s falling off you.

Because maybe sizes weren't uniform in the 80s either? Or maybe they are just big tops?

I'm not talking nonsense I KNOW I was size 12 when I was 17 and thinner than I am now. I am now a 10 in most shops and have room in them.

YANBU MIL is size 14-16 she told me she was trying on clothes yesterday in town and fitted in some size 8's.

Agree OP, it's ridiculous.

I think that all manufacturers labels should state the size in inches/cm of whatever garment it is - and then the shops can affix whatever silly vanity labels they want, start from 00 for all I care, but the inches/cm will be true and I can buy for the size I am.

I just don't think women are this daft to be 'seduced' by rogue sizing. How is that in any way flattering? They know what their mirror says, surely?

The solution is to go to Topshop. Their sizing is still small, I find it brings you back down to earth with a bump!

YANBU. I hate this! Even in the same shop it's a problem, I have 3 pairs of the same jeans in different colours, two pairs in a 12 which is my usual size and one in an 8

I also hate how shops for 'curvy' women vanity size dramatically. I went into one to look for skinny jeans. I have quite a small waist and slim-ish legs but the worlds biggest bum, thinking the cut would be more flattering than hoiking up my 'regular' high street jeans 100 times a day because they're too big on my waist and the smaller size won't fit over my arse. Their size 12 felt more like a large 14 or 16. I don't get it personally, the smaller number doesn't make you actually look any smaller yourself, and if you told someone I were wearing a size 8 I think they'd look at me funny!

In Peacocks (don't judge me) the other day and a size 6 was hanging off me. My bra size is 32f. Years ago I cloud barely do a size 8 up over my chest. There is just no way.

I thought the way it worked was 12 was the 'average' most common size a shop sold. They therefore produced more of those. That then each other size varies bigger or smaller in the relation to the 'average'. (I studied at London College of Fashion and wanted to be a fashion buyer many many many moons ago - and remember being taught that then)

Therefore shops just make a 12 the most popular size according to how many people buy it. If that makes sense. Nothing to do with any actual size rule.

I actually find the opposite tho. I have top shop dresses in 12s i have had 20 years i still wear, yet i would need a 16 in there now. Also gap i need a 16 now and have trousers in 12s from about 10years ago (and i cannot get any size of their skinny jeans over my calves )

I have always worn a 14 in FCUK a 12 in Hobbs. I bought a Diane Von Furstenberg dress the other day and had to get an 18. Just means i am a bit bigger than the average FCUK shopper, the average according to Hobbs and a fatty in DVF's eyes (they do no bigger sizes btw and i am not that big).

That makes it clearer actually MrsKoala.

I wouldn't mind so much what number a shop decides to label its clothes with, as long as this was true to their measurements on the size guides, but they're so far out in a lot of places it's just silly.

One week after having a c-section with ds2 I wanted some big comfy jeans while I waited for my 34 inch stomach to deflate. I ended up with a pair of size 12 m&s cords, which were actually too big on the waist! According to their size charts, a size 12 had a 29 inch waist. The interesting thing was though, if you looked at the reviews of the jeans online, people were commenting that they were "true to size".

Whenever I'm buying online now from most places, I generally find my rough measurements on the size charts and then order a size or two down, which is ridiculous.

yabu, the sizing is ridiculous in general. I am v tall and have clothes in all sizes from 8 to 16.

What gets my goat is when people say 'I'm a size xx' I mean wtf does that mean? ???