Vanity sizing needs to be stopped

[SemperIdem]

I appreciate this isn’t shiny new subject matter but it’s been really niggling at me the last few days.

I’ve relatively recently had a baby, back in my pre-maternity clothes if not quite at pre-maternity shape (granted I felt I was out of shape at the point of falling pregnant).

I bought a pair of jeans from Pull and Bear, size 10. They are absolutely enormous. There is not a chance I’m a size 8 at the weight I am. I then reflected how as a 5’6, barely 8 stone teenager, I was a size 10 in Topshop jeans. How am I, at a significantly heavier weight, still a size 10 anywhere let alone smaller than a size 10?

Am I being unreasonable to think that there must be a way to get shops to end vanity sizing, the variance between shop sizes is also ridiculous.

Did OP imply that it had BIG, HUGE, MASSIVE IMPLICATIONS. And was more important than the other things you mention.

No!

It's perfectly acceptable and possible to be irritated by something at the same time as being aware and concerned about several other things.

It irritates me too OP.

I find it quite hard to find tops in a lot of shops as XXS or a six can sometimes swim on me but they're the smallest size they stock.

I have been the same weight for decades. However, I am not the same shape as I was before children.
My husband weighs less than he did 20 years ago but now takes a larger size.

The size is only a number.

Who cares about 50 years ago? My grandmother had a tiny waist, but she was also 5ft tall. Waist to height ratio is important, not the measurement in isolation. When I got married aged 28 twenty years ago my waist was 25 or 26" - the tailor commented on how small my waist was, because I am a lot taller than 5ft nothing.

DD2 is 5'10" at 16, not unusual among her friendship group and that would have been very unusual 50 years ago, as would going to the gym and lifting weights as we both do regularly.

My DM was very slim, BMI 19, pretty tall and still took a size 14 in the 1960s. She is so slim and sporty in photos and if she weighed any less she'd be underweight.

I think that was wrong then, that women were practically underweight and still in a size that was pretty large. Particularly 50 years down the line when they found themselves breaking hips and with osteoporosis because being strong or muscular was not the done thing and being as thin as possible was key. My DM didn't have that but my DMIL does, who spent her entire life dieting because she was thought to be fat as a child.

Agreed. I used to wear a 10. I’ve gained weight since then and yet most 8’s are now too big. It makes buying clothes too much effort.

Honestly, I do wonder why any of us try to keep fit, lose weight, bother with face creams, try to eat healthily.
We will all die any way and the vast majority of people are all forgotten within 2 generations.

Let's all just sit at home worrying about Ukraine waiting for our time to come 🙄🙄🙄

@BobbieTables are we only allowed to be bothered about big things? Sorry I didn’t get that memo. So if I lose my job, I shouldn’t care, because at least I’m not in Gaza?

Yes I would be in agreement with that.
Otherwise the "sizes" are utterly useless. It's not done with other products so why do clothes manufacturers get away with it?

If they don't want to be that precise or can't be then they go with S/M/L etc as in men's clothing. And those labels should have measurement criteria too.

Likewise with "petite" etc.

I’ve honestly never been in a high street or high end shop that doesn’t have a changing room. What are all these “lots of shops”?
The only places I ever see without changing rooms are supermarkets.

I agree. I tried on an outfit in Oliver Bonas. I am a 12 now and was a 12, 30 years ago, despite being significantly larger. Well a 12 was too big in there and I had to buy a size 10. I know I am definitely not a size 10! It’s ridiculous.

Can we assume that your field of work and/or study, not to mention the area you spend all your free time involved in, is either charitable fundraising or international relations?

If most 8s are too big just buy a 6 surely?
Stop moaning that it’s the fault of thick fatties.

Lol, it's the phrasing I'm reacting to 'must be stopped'. It's numbers on clothes.

I’ll put “lighthearted” next time to make it easier for those with comprehension issues to understand.

This is the only website where you have to leave things lighthearted to avoid getting shit. I despair sometimes.

I agree, OP. I'm a size 12 - the same dress size as I was 30 years ago.

Which sounds great until I tell you I'm also exactly 2 stone heavier.

To say "I'm a size 12" (or whatever) has become meaningless. I have sizes 10 to 16 clothes in my wardrobe - they all fit. With online orders, you just have to go by measurements.
What annoys me more is how many clothes are made with stretch in them (elastane). I hate the feel of it, it clings to the body rather than draping, and is unflattering regardless of whether you are slim or bigger.

Bar one poster (I think), nobody has blamed other women for the sizing issue. I could have worded my initial post better, which I acknowledged.

Regardless of size, wouldn’t all women like consistency in the clothes they buy? Some brands can’t even keep size uniform within their own ranges.

I’ve been doing just that, and even when I go by measurements, the clothes don’t always fit and some seem comically larger or smaller than they claim to be!

I suppose it depends where your shop. I have a few things that are a 10 but most things are a 12. But that's exactly what my wardrobe looked like when I was 20 (and 2 stone lighter). I've got one dress that is a 14. So I say I'm a 12.

I would prefer consistent clothing sizes across brands though becaise I tend to stick to the same ones because I know what size to buy.

Variance in sizes between shops is annoying. But I can never understand all the palaver people make about needing to buy clothes with a different number in the label than they would at the same size years ago. If you know that these days a size offers more inches of fabric than it did in 1982, why the persistence in buying in 'old money' and moaning about being 'swamped'? Just buy a lower numbered label.

I think it's just inconsistency rather than vanity sizing. I am quite fat, bought 3 tops for my holiday, a side L, an XL, and an XXL. All from the same shop,all three the 'right' size for me.

I got three pairs of the same jeans from the same shop in three different colours and they all fit me differently. It’s ridiculous.

I am a size ten. 5 foot 1 and nine stone. I recently had to buy size 0 (US) which is a size 4 uk. No way am I a size 4 - I occasionally wear size 8 from larger sizing shops like marks and Spencer: but I am not tiny. I am average size 10 petite/short.

My daughter has the dimensions to wear children’s clothing, but children’s clothing doesn’t fit her because she has dramatic curves. It’s not just about the numbers on one dimension, it’s the ratio of bust to waist to hip. It’s the length between shoulder and waist.

women need to know their numbers. They make really great tape measures now that form a circle around you easily.

H+M is chronically awful for that sort of thing. One size in the black version of a top, another size in the white version and so on.