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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be annoyed that modern clothes cater almost entirely for larger people?

286 replies

KookyNotOoky · 03/05/2023 22:17

Needed some new jeans over the weekend - I am about a 27"-28" waist. Most shops (in the big city shopping mall I visited) had only jeans in the 30s" and up- i.e. too big. I eventually managed to find some 20s in TX Maxx - about 10 jeans in that range, squeezed on the end of a rack catering entirely for 30-35s.

Then later I had to take a couple of pairs back as I didn't realise they made were of that horrible stretchy denim which ends up falling down my arse after walking for 5 minutes.

Same with tshirts - I used to be a Medium, now modern Mediums are far too large and baggy, so I've had to shift to Small. As usual, the vast majority of clothes racks are taken up by Mediums and Larges.

Only thing I can think is that as people have gotten fatter the clothes industry has shifted to cater for that. As for online shopping - had far too many problems to buy clthes onlines, esp if they're made for the US market... think I'd be a XX Small there. 😂

OP posts:
garlictwist · 04/05/2023 05:57

I am a similar size to you and don't have that problem. The fashion at the moment is for clothes to be baggy rather than skin tight so it's not that they don't fit, they are meant to be loose.

AutumnCrow · 04/05/2023 06:16

10 was the smallest size in many boutiques in the 1970s. Photographs of me in said period, when I was size 10, show someone who was really thin tbh.

Then, puberty … I swear it made my actual skeleton swell up Grin

GretaGood · 04/05/2023 06:31

Clothes are definitely larger now. sweatshirts flap around my belly they are so loose. People don't buy stuff that makes them look larger - or not ime - so they must fit the majority.

DarrellRiversCriminalBehaviourOrder · 04/05/2023 06:32

AutumnCrow · 04/05/2023 06:16

10 was the smallest size in many boutiques in the 1970s. Photographs of me in said period, when I was size 10, show someone who was really thin tbh.

Then, puberty … I swear it made my actual skeleton swell up Grin

It's supposed to!

Fiddlefall · 04/05/2023 06:49

DeathBy1000PipeCleaners · 03/05/2023 22:47

Try Uniqlo for jeans! Their sizes aren't true to what they say on the labels but they do cater for smaller people. I'm the same size as you but take a 25" W at Uniqlo, which is really about a 28" W.

My own shopping gripe is that the average height of a woman in the UK is 5'3", same as me, but the nicest dresses are always made for women of model height.

If you shop online at Uniqlo, they have even smaller sizes too. IIRC their in store stocks only go down to XS, but they have XXS etc online

PotKettel · 04/05/2023 06:49

Yanbu. I have a tall but exceptionally slender DD and I buy a lot of stuff from continental Europe where sizes seem to cater more for people who are slim but not necessarily short.

Fashions eg box shape T-shirts don’t help either

i found a pair of ultra long checked leggings on Vinted the other day - fantastic to see my dd not looking like she is wearing baggy pyjamas. So sometimes you can find the odd magical item on the vintage clothing sites.

Also look out for outlet centres - I have found some clothes that are laughable for larger people like me, but my dd is very happy to know that the cheap leftovers from last season are often the “weird” sizes.

Spanielsarepainless · 04/05/2023 06:52

I have the opposite problem in that I need a 31" inside leg and many ranges stop at 30" . Or jump from 30" to 32". Lands End will hem trousers to a specific length but I have the same issue with their jeans. I buy the odd pair in M&S but have given up on the high street.

Fiddlefall · 04/05/2023 06:53

I do have that issue but I'm really skinny. 27-28" is about a UK 10 which is quite large. I feel like UK 8 to 10 are quite common sizes I see in shops. Tbf though I only notice them out of frustration, so they might very well be decreasing in number without my noticing.

YWP · 04/05/2023 06:57

My issue is that if all seems tailored to small / short people. Hardly any tall ranges in any shops and it all has to be ordered online. Don’t even get me started on playsuits….

I feel your pain not being a standard size!

DividedHouses · 04/05/2023 06:59

this.

Fiddlefall · 04/05/2023 07:01

YWP · 04/05/2023 06:57

My issue is that if all seems tailored to small / short people. Hardly any tall ranges in any shops and it all has to be ordered online. Don’t even get me started on playsuits….

I feel your pain not being a standard size!

I think this could be a costing issue. Unless they sell it as part of a more expensive tall range, simply producing clothes in "longer" sizes (for a narrow segment of the population who's not guaranteed to buy) will add more fabric but for the same price

DividedHouses · 04/05/2023 07:01

@Coxspurplepippin · Yesterday 22:48
Oh, poor you. I'm sure you'll be able to find clothes for your teeny, tiny little bod somewhere. All us heifers are well catered for - we just buy super king sized duvet covers and fashion them into fetching ensembles.

--this!!😂

Hardbackwriter · 04/05/2023 07:05

GretaGood · 04/05/2023 06:31

Clothes are definitely larger now. sweatshirts flap around my belly they are so loose. People don't buy stuff that makes them look larger - or not ime - so they must fit the majority.

You just need to buy a smaller size of sweatshirt - they're not one size fits all!

BHRK · 04/05/2023 07:07

Totally agree with you. I’m ok with trousers (size 10) but dresses and tops are huge. I’m often buying size XS or S in tops whereas I used to be a medium. Even XS is sometimes too big.
There is nothing wrong with being a slim, healthy weight OP.

Mylittlepea · 04/05/2023 07:12
Fat Girl Dancing GIF by The Maury Show

What utter shite. Would you like me to send you some cake 🍰 in the post? Eat enough of that and you’ll soon fit into the fat people clothes🤷🏼‍♀️

QuintanaRoo · 04/05/2023 07:13

Adult Dd has this issue. She saw an outfit she liked in Ted Baker but their smallest size drowns her. I can take trousers up but I can’t take a waist in or take a dress in to fit her.

EliflurtleTripanInfinite · 04/05/2023 07:13

DietCokeUser · 03/05/2023 22:22

This is just sod's law, isn't it? Everyone feels that shops have sold out of their size alone because that's the only one you're specifically looking for.

This. No way

FancyFanny · 04/05/2023 07:18

I haven't found that at all. I have found though that shops seem to have less stock of everything and have to shop online whether I choose to or not because they never seem to have my size. They tend to have very small or very large sizes left and anything in the middle is always gone already. I

f you are a 27/28 inch waist then I guess you are around a size 8 which all shops stock, and of course a size 8 will be a small not a medium! It always has been in my memory.

lljkk · 04/05/2023 07:27

I can't comment what's in shops now, because I try never to buy clothes, I have heaps of items to wear from years ago purchases. Amused that because I like oversize overlong tops, I'm having a brief spell of my style being in fashion I suppose. I'll be super pleased when now-in-fashion-items hit charity shops in +6 months time (except I won't need to buy anything then, either). And in 18m I'll be completely unfashionable again (and forever more). My contribution is ....

Finding items for hourglass shape: can be horribly challenging. Being genuinely curvy (because curves go in as well as out !) hasn't been catered for well in last 25 years.

TIP for the curvy: buy clothes for teenagers. Thank god for adjustable waist items. My last best trousers purchase were 50p in a charity shop, "age 15" jeans. Hoorah (!)

Odoreida · 04/05/2023 07:32

I think you're right, I'm a 27-28, size 10, generally wear a small, and I'm almost overweight and definitely a bit fat. what do thin people do?

5128gap · 04/05/2023 07:34

GeraltsBathtub · 03/05/2023 23:22

No he doesn’t have a long commute, he works away!

Show quote history

He's semi retired! Because she managed to earn him a fortune as a SAHM who supported 'their' career. (But also a workaholic who does at least 50% of everything domestic, barring carrying the mental load, which she does alone, obviously.)

Guineapigwoes · 04/05/2023 07:38

5128gap · 04/05/2023 07:34

He's semi retired! Because she managed to earn him a fortune as a SAHM who supported 'their' career. (But also a workaholic who does at least 50% of everything domestic, barring carrying the mental load, which she does alone, obviously.)

Show quote history

And he definitely plays golf and they definitely have twins!

Notjustabrunette · 04/05/2023 07:41

I have worked in the clothing industry for 20 years. The sizing has not been re-scaled in that time. What you could have found that due to current trends you my have tried on a boxy or boyfriend fit rather than a skinny fit which would account for the looser fit. Or you used to shop in top shop and now shop in next and their fit is slightly different.

Nottodaty · 04/05/2023 07:45

I often find find the sizing in the shops are slightly different. I used to be a size 8-10 and some shops an 10 would be a little snug at times - you work out the sizing for the shop.

Im now fatter and a 12-14 - but again some shops a size 14 can be snug or larger on me.

Im tall as well and even when I was an 8-10 shops like Superdry even am XL was to tight for me! I doubt anything would fit me in there now!

It’s annoying especially as I hate shopping so use online - I find I end up only buying from a couple of retailers as I know it will fit.

ExcaliburBaby · 04/05/2023 07:45

in a fatphobic world, it’s hard to summon up that much sympathy i’m afraid.