To think that high street stores do not use humans to test their clothing products?

[PiperChapstick]

Bought a pair of trousers from New Look, size 10 (usual size), however I struggled to even button them up

So I went back to buy the size 12, which are huge on me! They sit on my hips until I take 2 steps forward then they're halfway down my bum. I checked the sizes on both, and there's nothing odd or misshapen about my body.

This is a regular occurance, in some shops I fit into a 6 and some I have to buy a 12. What the fuck is going on?! I can only guess that high street clothing chains use zoo animals to measure their clothes as none of it makes fucking sense! And don't get me started on tights!

Oh and WHY do they think that slim=short and larger=tall. I often see clothes on rails in size order and the length of things go up as the sizes go up! So they think women are either built like a fairy or like a brick shit house

I learned to sew for this reason. I am ALWAYS between a 10 and 12. Ive recently noticed that american brands like gap and abercrombie fit better.

I used to supply the high street as a designer pattern cutter. We as the manufacturer never tested the fit of things. I vaguely remember buyers referring to fit tests occasionally but not often.

However, as a basic rule of thumb and anthropometric data shows this, people do on the whole get bigger as they get taller. So items should always be very slightly ( like .5cm for each size) longer for bigger sizes

Me too Dawn I just cannot find jeans that fit, or trousers. I have a 13 inch difference between my waist and hip measurement, but they don't seem to make them for women like me - I'm going to try the Levis curve range.

Infurtiatingly I have 2 pair of trousers from M&S in exactly the same style. The 12s I can only just fasten and then can't move in or else I would bust the seams, but the 14s I can't wear either as it looks like there is room for another person in there, even though I have taken them in . How can this be??

Currently trying to lose a bit more weight so the 12s fit properly.

Kids clothes are just as bad.

Don't get me started

I have no idea what size I am, somewhere between an 8 and a 12, but not necessarily a 10!

It would also be nice to find clothes that are 'woman shaped', you know, with a waist rather than straight up and down.

worktolive I feel your pain! 10 inch difference here, very very hourglass, an absolute pain in the arse to dress!

Another one with a big difference between hips and waist. I buy the Levi bold curve jeans otherwise it's gape city.

It's not just women's clothes either. I bought OH five pairs of trousers from Next a while ago ( he hates shopping) took them home and none of them fitted. He's 6ft 4 and a 38 waist long leg. Two pairs he couldn't fasten at all two he could but only just and the last pair were too short. When I took them back the assistant asked what was wrong with them so I told her. She then tells me that they are made in China so tend to be a bit on the small side. Now I know it's a while since I left school but since when did 38 inches become less than 38 inches? It's a measurement fgs. Note to self, never buy Chineese curtains as they may only cover half a window

Also, all clothes are made with ease in them, to account for different shapes. Usually the ease is about 2", around waist,hips etc. that's why sizing can vary so much. That's total crap about China though. Where it's made has no effect on the sizing

I've got NO waist, or no hips, whichever way you want to see it but I STILL can't get trousers to fit - who doooo they fit?!

Well why do all dimensions of clothing get bigger as the sizes get bigger. In particular the plunge in necklines - if some shops get a lot of larger sizes left behind at the end of the season it might just be because what is a normal plunge in a size 12, falls under the bust in size 20.

The length changes because a body is 3D, as the width increases a slightly longer length is needed too as there is more body to cover. When I was pregnant I wore lots of non maternity tops, the width fitted my bump but the length was too short. That's an extreme example but the principle is the same.

I bought size 16 trousers from primark they fitted in changing room but when back and lifted same pair from rack and I wanted a new pair that I hadn't tried on.

when I got home I couldn't get them past my bum they were same size. so I went backand before exchanging I tried another pair on in changing rooms and they fit.

so I explain to staff member that sometimes the products can have the same product number but could 've been made in different factors so same product same size but different measurements.

wtf

staff member told me

Apparently, especially for cheaper shops, they cut big piles of fabric at the same time, with a corresponding lack of accuracy. Obviously the more pieces cut at once the less precise each piece is which is why they might be different. And the cheaper the shop the less quality control they will do.

Still not sure how an actual measurement can alter though. One shops 10 may be an 8 in a different shop but an inch surely should be an inch every where. Think my face was when the assistant came out with the China explanation

I'm quite lucky as I'm hourglass and that seems to be the shape clothes are made to fit.. But it's bloody irritating trying on several of the same things in the same sizes before finding the one that fits!

Im with you too! Im a size 10 in jeans but the waist is always way too big. Couldnt go smaller due to hips and thighs though.

Last time i bought clothes from Next i was a 6! Vanity sizing!

Sizes alter because of vanity sizing. Also if a garment is designed to be very loose fitting it can fit a wider range of sizes whereas a slim fit garment has a smaller range it can fit. So say wide leg pajama bottoms could be worn as a snugger fit by a larger customer or a more oversize fit for a smaller one. The same goes for stretchy fabrics vs non stretchy fabrics.

Clothes in a bigger size are also longer because if a bottom is well rounded it takes more length to cover it than a flat one, ditto more rounded shoulders etc.

Lets please do discuss tights. I would like to know where average height upwards women get their tights from.
I'm vair short and most tights wont go up to my waist and have tiny short legs and the crotch doesn't reach my crotch.

when did 38 inches become less than 38 inches?

It is supposedly made to fit someone who has a 38" waist, not that the garment has a 38" waist. Most clothes have what is called ease... extra inches that allow you to move and be comfortable. The more relaxed fit a garment has the more ease it has e.g. a pair of pj bottoms with elastic waist can have a lot of ease, a more slim fitting tailored garment has less ease. Also some fabrics need more ease to not look skimpy and too small. Some garments such as swimsuits have negative ease so they are stretched across the body and don't look baggy and saggy. They might all be made with a 38" waist in mind but won't all fit the same way.

DH looks best in slim fit jeans that are a size up. The correct size on him look skimpy and regular fit jeans with the right size waist can look a little clownish. Relaxed fit looks goofy on all the males in my family.

I am hourglass too, when did we suddenly stop getting catered for?!

I have a bum and boobs and a waist, they are not all the same fucking measurement! If I get jeans that fit my bum (and I am a 14 btw) then I will have at least a good 6 inches of spare waist band, if I get jeans to fit my waist, I cant get them over my bum!

I can sort of understand the very skinny sizes having little waist/bum difference, but in bigger sizes I just dont get it at all! Women lay down fat stores on their legs and thighs before anywhere else usually, so surelyits logical to style them specifically, not just designing jeans for a size 6 "straight up and down" and then sizing up?

Evans jeans are designed really well but their sizes go the other way, a 16 in New look is much smaller than a 16 in Evans, I could easily wear an Evans 16 when I was a 20 everywhere else.