Which shop do you think sells genuine sizes?

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Having been a lot bit overweight for a really long time while I want to get motivated. I plan to choose an outfit to work towards wearing as a way of keeping me motivated. Which shop sells sizes that are genuine sizes? I know that M and S has a reputation for being too generous. I have no idea about NEXT anymore. Can anyone help? I had thought Monsoon but don't really know.

I tried on a lovely Indian Kameez in a charity shop last week. I'm a 12 top and 10 bottom, it was loose fitting and labelled 'large' but I barely got it over my head and it was a really tight fit.

It made me appreciate how different my perception of 'normal' body size is, compared with much of the rest of the world.

Decathlon sizing is similar to that, Work - the labels say EU M - US S.

Worktokive, I can imagine they struggled in the US!

I lost a lot of weight, stress mainly, a few years ago and was a size 8-10. I needed new bike leathers. Very high price Italian brand - DP is a label whore - the only size I could get into was the UK equivalent of a 16-18.

In my experience women's sizing means absolutely nothing. For trousers (work ones esp) I now buy Men's trousers, usually from Burtons (because I keep being sent useless DorothyP gift cards) .
Men's trousers you measure your waist and shop for that so 34" short consistently fits!

Zara is good for length for me. I'm 5ft 10 and then can take the trousers up according to whether i will wear heels or flats.

As for my shape, being an hourglass with very broad shoulders and a flat chest (41,29,41) means nothing ever fits on the waist and i only fit dresses for women with big boobs but then they look weird because they are made to have cleavage and cut/shaped for norks. My boobs just look missing and if they have darts i have 2 baggy empty bags on my chest. I like wrap dresses.

When i watched that vintage fashion show with someone o'porter presenting, i was green with envy because of my size (bones not fat) i would never ever fit into anything vintage at all.

My nana was 5ft tall with a 22in waist, my mum 5ft 5 with a 25in waist and i'm 5ft 10 with a 29 waist. I don't think it's fair to say it's all down to being fat. People are increasing build and height as well. I am slim for my frame and still humungous compared to people from the 50s 60s 70s and 80s.

Lurked - i still have size 12 dresses from 20 years ago from Top shop and they fit me just the same now. They are the same size as some 14s i got in there the other day.

These two dresses. Plain is Asos size 14. Spotty is Asos curve size 22

I put the 14 on top of the 22 and next to it so you can see the (ha) difference

I think Oasis is tiny and I'm always baffled when people say their stuff is roomy. I wear a size 14 in New Look, supermarket clothes and M&S but I have two size 16 dresses from Oasis that I can barely tug down over my chest, never mind zip up!

I find the opposite mrskoala I'm bigger than I was and still a size 6 in there. Some of the size 6's I have from years ago are now a good fit, whereas I remember them being too loose and only bought because 4's weren't that common. It could just be that skinny teens were more common years ago, thus it's only the smaller sizes that are bigger in there.

Clothes sizes have become utterly meaningless : you need to go and try stuff on and hope.

I have two dresses from the same shop, similar styles, different sizes because they are cut slightly differently.

India has the third highest level of obesity in the world after the US and China www.dnaindia.com/health/report-india-has-third-highest-number-of-obese-people-reveals-study-2076131

tobysmum
India has the third highest level of obesity in the world after the US and China
No, it has the third highest number of obese people
because its the 2nd largest country in the world

20% of adults are obese, less than half the percentage in the UK
and India has more malnourished children as a proportion than any African country

Ah ok sorry. It's hardly the case that they are all tiny little twigs, however.

Top shop is true to size. French connection too. Everywhere km else is erratic and vanity sized I think.

I know when I'm an 8 in topshop, it's a miracle and true. But in h and m the smallest sized jeans are swimming round my waist.

Next is all vanity sizing as is m and s. It's all a lie!

When i used to work in Hong Kong i always had to have clothes made rather than buy off the peg. They just wouldn't make for my size - shoulders mainly. But then again i was usually about 6 inches taller than the average man there too.

I don't get this constant banging on about vanity sizing and what people wore in the 50s. Do you think in the 50s people shamed each other by mentioning how small corsets were in victorian times? It's bizarre. Shops respond to their customers needs. Do you think they should continue to make 50s sizes and have racks of clothes not selling and us heffers walk around in bin liners?

nilby - can i ask what you mean by 'true to size'? Do you mean it fits you perfectly and therefore that must be the standard size or are you basing it on some measurements that you think should be regulation?