To be annoyed with ladies clothing sizes?!

[dreamer24]

This is a first world problem, I accept.

I went shopping today for new jeans. I'm a size 10-12. Started off in New Look, took both sizes 10 & 12 into the changing rooms, couldn't even fasten the button of the 12. 😳 I absolutely refused to accept I needed a size 14 when all my other clothes are 10-12.

Gave up and went to Next - again took both sizes into the changing room - size 10 were perfect!

So how come at New Look I'd need a size 14, yet in Next a 10 fits perfectly?! That's quite a gap. I was chatting to the lady who served me in Next about it, she was saying she's a size 8 in most places but needs a 12 in New Look.

Is it just me, or is that quite a disparity? Why is there no consistency in women's clothing sizes across stores? Anyone else notice this?

My low hip measurement is 39 inches, I take an 8 in Next.
That's wrong.
I've put on an inch a decade and have't changed clothes size.

I agree, it's madness! A size 16 jeans from Next were far too tight yet the same style from Tesco fit lovely in a size 12! And I wore a size 10 dress at the weekend with room to move

Absolutely agree! I had clothes stored from 15 years ago, now all too big and am having a problem finding tall trousers. I’ve just bought identical trousers to the ones I sold a couple of months ago, these I know are ancient (but bnwt on Vinted, yay)) but at least they’re from the New Look Tall range.

I find the sizes in most places are much bigger (Mango and Zara included) these days. I do think jeans can be a bit rogue anywhere though. In M&S, I'm a 10 in their jeans, but an 8 in everything else in store and pretty much an 8 across the board in high St shops.

I'm definitely not what I remember a size 8 to be from my younger days. I was always a 10-12 - probably a 11 if we had half sizes I the UK.

That’s really interesting! I find threads like these fascinating because it shows how we all carry weight differently. I’m an 8 pretty much everywhere too, inc m&s, but not Zara and as you say mango, where all my jeans are 6s. But tops I can get a 6 or xxs despite being an HH bra cup. There was a thread quite recently about having sizes changed in the last 15 years- in my opinion I didn’t think they had, I have 8s from Miss Sixty and Levi in the 2000s and and 8s from the 2010s that were comparable (but my topshop Joni jeans were the same size as my recent mango Mar jeans in a 6). Maybe it’s just the cut of the clothes we go for that makes us think there’s been a difference or not? 🤔

edit- https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5196844-is-a-size-12-from-14-years-ago-exactly-the-same-as-12-today?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share link to the other thread

I think people tend to be way too fixated on size over style and that’s part the problem. Many women are way too keen to buy a certain number that they don’t appreciate that different cut jeans are going to fit differently, different weights of denim will feel different on your waist, you might get away with a smaller size in a really stretchy denim but that’s going to feel much tighter. A jumper will probably fit at least 2 sizes either directions of the number on the tag because there’s flex in the type of garment and also how people prefer the fit.

I think you could be right about the cut. I often shop in Zara because the cut always suits my shape an is pretty much guaranteed to fit.

As a side note, I loved my Joni jeans, I wish mine had survived!

Ordering clothes online requires a better measurement system.

DD and I have the same full bust, waist and low hip measurement. She is generally a size smaller than me.
Her above bust and below bust is smaller, she has less shoulder and rib cage but more tit.
She generally takes a small in tops and I do a medium

My high hip is smaller, but my thighs are larger.
We take a similar size bottom, but oh boy are they dissimilar.

If you haven't made stuff from vintage patterns, you probably have no clue what I'm talking about.

I'm a 6 in Next and a 10 in Zara

My BMI is currently underweight (getting help for this)

It's fucked up

@AmICrazyToEvenBother they were great, I keep hearing skinnies are back so it’s only a matter of time before asos resurrects the jonis, surely! Who knows what size we’d need to get second time around though 🤣

im 10stone 5’6 and wear size 14 jeans?!

I stopped seeing it as a reflection of my size and more a scale for the shop.

Exactly you don't come out of a shop bigger than you went in because a label says so 😁

At least you can try things on before you buy. Plus size in most high street shops are only on line. Unless you go to a supermarket or yours (my city shop has closed down)

It's time women's clothing was sold by measurement, as men's is. "30 inch waist" - as long as you've measured yourself, you can't go wrong.

This 'sizes' business is a way of controlling women and making them feel inadequate because they're larger than a 10; or subtly encouraging them to buy clothes because they are a larger cut - buying an 8 skirt when you're normally a 10 or whatever.

Why do you think men don't have 'sizes'?

I'm a 12 usually, but can go down to 10 in Next, they tend to be on the more generous end. However, track back 20 years and I'd now need a 14 probably by old standards. Sizes have generally got bigger over the years.

Men's bodies are more simple too. They're all just larger or smaller versions of the same model. Ds is a shorter, skinnier version of dh. Dd is shorter than me, with no hips yet, incipient boobs different waist to hip ratio, no bum yet- whereas my once round and squishy bum is flattening. She's not just a shorter version of me.

Cheap shops like new look and H&M are generally smaller in my opinion.

This! Same for chest sizing just give us a measurement

Women's clothes sizes are fucking ridiculous, there's no consistency at all.

Years ago when I wanted to buy my late wife something, she'd have to tell me that she was 12 at one shop, 14 at another, 16 at a 3rd but to not buy from a 4th as that would make her an 18 there and she'd feel fat

Bloke's clothes so much easier, take jeans, sized by length and waist, what else do you need?

Then there are those women who will not go up a size for certain clothes. You must know of one. My friend will not wear clothes above a size 12. Wearing a top which was far too tight.

If she wore a 14 it would look better on her than her rolls on show

Yup!

Op literally changed shops rather than buy a larger size that no one except her will know about so it’s worked perfectly.

my bmi at 18 was 18/17 and now in my mid 30s it’s 21/22 and yet I’ve always been a size 10. Sometimes 8-12 depending on store . I would like to say I wouldn’t care but if I’m being honest I’d come out deflated if I had to buy a 14+ size so I’d only do it if I loved the item.

i also agree with poster above about rolls. I have older clothes that I can technically fit into but don’t flatter at my current size. I think some people will squeeze into them for the label size but they’d look a lot better sizing up.

But you don’t want consistency, you want a smaller size. It makes zero sense to not want the hassle of getting a larger size from the floor but being happy to go to an entirely different store.

Clothing size is a number, not a moral judgment.

It’s also very normal to fit into a smaller or larger size in tops, that’s not inconsistent either. It just reflects that we all carry weight differently. I buy a bigger size pants than tops because even at a healthy weight my tummy is the biggest bit of me. For other women it’s hips or boobs.

It's also to do with body shape though as I'm slightly taller and heavier than you and can reliable wear a size 8