To not understand why (and be against) “improved sizing”

[SchrodingersMeowth]

So, I don’t know if this is just in Primark or everywhere will be taking it on but I’m a bit shocked that the sizing for clothes is being re-marked. For example a 10-12 which was previously medium will now be small, 8-10 XS etc.

This feels like an excuse to ignore true sizing and doesn’t seem healthy! Tbh it reminds me of the people who try to push the “Marilyn monroe was a size 16 and perfectly healthy”. But she wasn’t was she, not a size 16 now anyway!!!

I feel like sizing is already generous and changing it to make people appear even smaller when they haven’t changed isn’t good for accountability for the fact that obesity is an ever growing crisis.

I don’t agree that my “new” size reflects my actual size and I’m sure this is going to be the same for many people.

I just don’t see what the point was in doing it!

YANBU, I was dangerously underweight 15 years ago and clothes from your average shops never fitted me which at the time was annoying but is a good thing, I was an unhealthy weight and thats shouldnt be normalised or encouraged. I am now a healthy weight and up untill a few years ago fitted fine in XS-S or 6-8 but now they are to big for me, I havent lost any weight. The problem is getting worse, shops are no longer catering to healthy sizes (minority) in order to cater to obesity (majority) it makes sense in terms of their profits but not in terms of health. Society shouldnt make it easy for people to be anorexic so it shouldnt make it easy to be obese, its clearly too easy right now.

I have gone from a size 18 to size 14s being generous, not quite in a 12 yet.

Really helpful and motivating to know that I am still a size 18 in 1994 terms , cheers for that.

What is also tricky is finding sports wear larger than size 16. Larger than a 14 in some ranges.

The point of the exercise I thought was to start to put the measurements back to what they were years ago, in the last 20 years or so sizes have gradually been getting smaller I think its important to recognise that a 10 should be a 10 everywhere in the UK and not differ from shop to shop, It destroys peoples confidence if your a 10 in one shop and a 14 in the next.

again, amazed that people think that we have an obesity crisis because we have larger clothes rather than the other way around

The rise of ready meals, more sedentary lifestyles, increased amounts of sugar in diet generally as well as in all processed foods- nope, it’s the racks and racks of size 18s which made people fancy bulking up

I’ve lost a reasonable amount of weight recently, so am probably more likely than I’ve ever been to try multiple sizes of things on, as I don’t know my actual size- I’d never noticed before just how different shops are. I did notice H&M had a notice on their website about sizing but wasn’t sure what it actually meant and as I’ve changed size anyway i don’t really have a reference for like-for-like anyway.

As for normal sizes- according to my bmi, for me: a 14 and a 12- when I weighed enough to be this size I was overweight; a 10- normal and an 8- normal. I’d have to lose rather a lot more to be ‘underweight’ and indeed to lose another dress size.

Vanity sizing is definitely real- I have jeans in the loft from maybe 8 years ago, and they are size 10 and do not fit, and yet I bought size 8 items last week which do. I find tops particularly difficult because even size 8 tops have gapey underarms but any smaller doesn’t fit.

But madge there are people who think 'I'm up to size such and such now, I'd better take this in hand and try not to let it go up any further' and for whom the idea of potentially sizing out of a brand they have always worn is a deterrent. For someone who isn't in the habit of weighing or measuring themselves, clothing fit is more tangible. And yes an emotional eater would find this more difficult but that is not everyone.

I don’t think an obesity crisis has been caused by sizes but that making healthy weight (at least for everyone who isn’t very tall) sizes outsized as being tiny isn’t helpful in aiding anything to get better.

Sorry, kids have been having a fighting match so will have to catch up!

I reckon at the point a 6 fits I’ll be the very low end of healthy, maybe just under. There is whether you want to believe it or not, lots of readily available sizes available if you’re overweight. That’s not looking down on overweight people, just fact. I doubt there’s much at all for those clinically underweight.

I also don’t think it’s reasonable to say well that’s just how it was for those overweight so basically get used to it because that’s basically saying “well we had to go through it so for no other reason that spite, you all should too”.

And have been doing pretty well in the kids section when not buying primark but can’t keep that up forever! Might fit but it’s all a bit childish! Duh

Maybe the rally slim then could, once they realise that there are no longer any clothes left which are small enough take themselves in hand and eat extra portions of battered sausage

this is just as reasonable and plausible as the hypothesis that ‘greater availability of larger sizes promotes obesity’

Should add that I don’t think it should be either/or.

Don’t know why so many people think smaller size people are looking down on others for being bigger, no one at all has said that bigger sizes shouldn’t be available. I just don’t think it’s fair to start pushing out smaller sizes for the sake of it instead of just adding another bloody size at the top.

There is whether you want to believe it or not, lots of readily available sizes available if you’re overweight.

No there aren't, as many shops decide not to cater for over a size 16. If shops decide that those who are a size 4/6 are too much in the minority to bother with, then I'm afraid you'll have to suck it up as larger people do in those shops, and go elsewhere. You don't get special treatment out of some perceived moral superiority, I'm afraid.

there are other inexpensive clothing stores apart from primark

duh yourself

Really, OP there aren't lots of readily available sizes for overweight people. I am a little bit overweight at the moment. Clothes still fit wrong. One size too big, the size down too small (usually on the bust). The demographic of people wanting the clothes is huge. The thing is, though, it is easier to take things in than make them bigger....

But madge there are people who think 'I'm up to size such and such now, I'd better take this in hand and try not to let it go up any further

Then why don't people also think "Fuck, I'm a size 4, why don't I just eat some pies so that normal clothes will fit me?"

Except it takes an extraordinary amount of calories to sustain sizes that would be 24+ regardless of health issues and really fucking easy to end up off the bottom end if you do get Ill.

Cancer treatments, crohns, adhd medication, gastric issues etc etc all cause weight loss.

Anyway. As I said, shouldn’t be either/or.

By the time I end up small enough and my tube stops working I’ll just get them to add extra to any parental nutrition I’ll probably be in receipt of just so I don’t bother anyone overweight for daring to moan that slimmer people can have issues with sizing too.

And it does help promote obesity, a 24 should appears as more than 2xl. I’d be pretty shocked if anyone agreed that an 18 would or should be considered an average size large and I’ve been there!

Guess I’m so getting flamed for writing that and I’d still prefer everything was sized like men’s.

Because there’s probably a lot of people who are a size 4 who either can’t help it or are a healthy BMI.

Completely agree. I noticed this in Primark today as well. I'm perfectly happy to be M at 12-14. I am no longer S 8-10 but that's OK. I know I'm bigger than I used to be! I'm older and have had 2 kids!

Uk womens clothing sizing is ridiculous. As proved by many people being a 12 in one shop, a 16 in another - or even in the same shop! Whatever they’re changing won’t make a difference. Actually, fashion on the high st at the moment in hideous. Went shopping today and the high street is full of tiny crop tops and shorts, skin tight leggings and cycling shorts, lycra swimwear. It’s so ugly and seems catered to 15 year olds. Never mind if you’re tall, nowhere stocks their ranges in store anymore. No wonder clothes shops are going under, they’re all just... a mess!

Except it takes an extraordinary amount of calories to sustain sizes that would be 24+ regardless of health issues and really fucking easy to end up off the bottom end if you do get Ill.

Most people find it easier to be overweight than maintain a healthy, otherwise we would not have an obesity epidemic.

It's super fucking easy to go from a size 8-10 to a size 18 over a few years if you get ill, such as having anxiety and depression, and eat/drink your feelings. Or really just if you have a busy life and don't sleep properly.

Oh and some of these comments are irrelevant and spiteful. Fyi, Cancer treatments, mental health medication, gastric issues etc etc all cause weight GAIN too.

So this thread is just another excuse for naturally slim people to look down on other women who are not a size 8-10? Lovely

Nope. Absolutely not! Unfortunately. I am a 12-14. There is absolutely no way that this is the same as a 12-14 when I was younger. There is no benefit whatsoever in making out that people are still a “size 14” to whatever when the sizes have changed.

Making out that this sort of thread is just so “naturally thin” people can sneer at others is a ridiculous way to try and dismiss the fact that sizing is ridiculous and has changed considerably.

Is there anyone who works in the industry who can tell me why they don't just put the measurements on women's clothes?

Could not believe my eyes in Primark the other day and some of the bras are labelled small medium and large, which is meaningless as everyone knows bosoms vary independently of your rib cage.

yy, people will eventually fall off the bottom of the sizing scale and end up in negative sizes at this rate. Retailers can't keep moving sizes down a notch every decade.

My medication had made me pile
On the weight @SchrodingersMeowth weight gain and medication began after I was sexually assaulted at the age of 17.

I don't give a rat's ass about clothing sizes - I just pick something that looks about right. I think you have a massive problem with weight and I hope you get help. One person's normal is someone else's nightmare.

I also don’t think it’s reasonable to say well that’s just how it was for those overweight so basically get used to it because that’s basically saying “well we had to go through it so for no other reason that spite, you all should too”.

No, it's pointing out that many people (possibly yourself included) will never have known just how hard it is to find clothes at the other end of the scale..that SHOULD change your attitude to fat people somewhat. It probably won't, but it should. I've been there..I'm not happy that you are there now, but it is helpful if you realise that it isn't just you. People have genuinely been suffering for a long time. I'm all for the awareness of THAT being raised.

I don’t have a bad attitute towards “fat” people.

I started this thread stating that my body size DOES NOT reflect being a size XS and it doesn’t. If I had a problem with my weight and not wanting to be bigger then I most likely wouldn’t be complaining

SoupDragon A name I remember!

Yes all of those things can cause weight gain as well as can anti-depressants but as I’ve said before I really only shop in Primark and if I was to wake up tomorrow a size 18 I’d be confident that I’d be able to go and buy some clothes. At least at our primarks, lots and lots of the bigger sizes and a total lack of anything under a 14 in just about anything.

People seem to forget that illness and medications can also cause severe weight loss and it’s meant to be accepted that sizes should be available at the top end because a lot of people can’t help it and that should be the same at the other end too.