To think has vanity sizing gone mad?

[nineanimals]

I am 5'7 and weigh 12st 5.

I was in Matalan today to buy some new skinny jeans. I took a size 14 in the changing room to try on - absolutely massive! So I had to go for a size 12!

Sorry but there's no way in hell that someone of my proportions is a size 12!

Same thing happened in Asda. In fact in there even size 12 were loose!!

Madness!

I will point out one type of clothes that have stayed true to size. Swim suits. I'm a 12ish dress size. I buy size 16 in swimsuits and they only just fit and seem to be made for very short bodied women as they cut right up the fanjo so I'm constantly having to retrieve it from up my bum!

It's actually not 'vanity' sizing, it's clothes manufacturers responding to customers getting bigger in general. For costing and resourcing purposes, the medium size in your size run needs to be the most common size sold. So say your medium size is a 12, you need to sell more 12s than any other size to keep your resourcing, cutting and costing correct. When customers get bigger, as we are doing, and you start selling more 14s or 16s, you have to make those dimensions the new 12. You also have to profile your customers for obvious reasons, which is why you're different sizes in different shops. For example, teenage girls tend to be slimmer than older women, so shops that cater for younger women tend to come up smaller.

It definitely happens but it's actually nothing to do with vanity and making customers think they're slimmer than they are. If that were true, the ultra trendy places like River Island and Miss Selfridge would come up massive to make their self-conscious teenage customers feel better, and in fact they come up tiny. It's simply about cutting and costing. Nothing more.

But yes, I do think there's recently been a industry-wide reshuffle on the sizing. It is a bit insane at the moment. They might still be trying to find out what the new medium is.

That's weird, because I'm 5'6", 12st 4 and reasonably bottom heavy and most of my trousers are size 12?! I do occasionally get 14 for comfort, but usually 14s are baggy around the waist. Dresses and tops are always size 12 for me. That is from a range of brands as well. I am reasonably fit though so maybe I'm denser?! I don't think that's that unreasonable tbh...

I just take a tape measure with me. Sizing is meaningless these days.

I've got clothes from a size 16 to a size 22 in my wardrobe. Some from the same store and similar items!

"It definitely happens but it's actually nothing to do with vanity and making customers think they're slimmer than they are"

I think you're right that it has slowed down naw, but making customers think they're slim in the hope of their buying more stuff was an avowed sales tactic of the 1990s (and sod all to do with the rate at which body shape was actually changing). And the vanity changes then form the start point of sizes now, not any serious consideration of what is population average.

For example, teenage girls tend to be slimmer than older women, so shops that cater for younger women tend to come up smaller.

I think this is a major factor. So a woman of 40 has put on 2 stone from when she was 20. She used to shop at Miss Selfridge and now shops at Next. So the size she buys may not have changed. I would suggest go back to Miss Selfridge and try some stuff on there.....

I find it very difficult as a size 8. Trousers are particular challenge - if arse fits the waistband is often massive. No-one is expected to have a waist

This. So much this. I'm 5'6 and weigh in at 9.5 stone.

I have no idea what size I should be shopping for in jeans and trousers.

Size 8 - if I can get my legs and arse in then the waistband is HUGE. If the waistband fits I can't get them over my thighs.

I've got so annoyed shopping for trousers that I haven't bought a pair of jeans for 4 years! I have been forced into skirts and dresses by this ridicuous sizing/skinny jeans trend.

Seriously. the sooner this skinny jeans trend ends, the better.

Skinnies were originally meant for ladies who have very slim legs but normal waist sizes, allowing jeans not to swamp them.

It wasn't for us normal leg types to look like sausages bursting in skins.

Utterly ridiculous. Makes me so angry, honestly. I was raging about this the other day!

I sell vintage (pre-1990s) clothing online, exclusively in larger sizes - approximately modern size 14 and up. I sell by measurement and ignore the labels! I would advertise a dress measuring 40" across the bust as a modern 14, but the label will invariably be at least a size 18. I've sold dresses from the 1960s labelled size 24 which measure equivalent to a modern size 16. I am also 5'10" tall and am very aware that most of these dresses were designed for women 6" shorter than me, with much narrower shoulders. I have many customers from overseas (particularly the USA and Australia) and they will often buy 3 or 4 dresses at the same time, just because sourcing vintage clothing in larger sizes is so difficult.