Astounded by trip to shopping centre today

[Harrietta82]

I usually do my shopping online these days, but went shopping with a friend today to a big centre about 30 minutes away from us (I won’t name it incase outing).

Is it me, or has the minimum size stocked by the majority of shops gradually increased in recent times? I was asking shop assistants whether they had any size 6 stock and received blank stares half the time!

No wonder physical shops seem to be on the way out.

Needless to say, I’ll be sticking to online.

A pleasant experience aside from that though and lovely to see my friend so it wasn’t a wasted day.

Indeed!

Yea, teenage clothes are the answer surely? I thought that's why 6s aren't really stocked

My adult DD is tiny. A size 6 is usually too big for her. A size 4 sometimes fits but the styles in a size 4 are usually very low cut tops and tiny skirts. Clubbing gear really, which she has no interest in. She usually has to wear children’s clothes to fit at the waist, but then trousers/skirts/dresses are too short, or she wears huge oversized clothes that swamp her. This isn’t a boast. Cancer treatment as a child left her with various long term health issues that mean she struggles to put on weight. Being very skinny is judged by society just as much as being overweight, but somehow it’s far more acceptable to bitch about skinny girls. Comes across as jealousy, but believe me, you wouldn’t want to go through what my DD has been through .

Why is it acceptable to abuse someone who is thin, but if you said anything negative about a fat person on mumsnet then you get your arse handed to you?

If a size 28 was posting, no one would say, “Do you love an all you can eat buffet as well then?”

I feel your frustration Henrietta82! I spent an afternoon last week trawling Oxford Street for a size 10 Petite trouser suit to no avail. Finding a decent quality petite brand is hard enough (no one stocks anything Petite where I live) but to discover I couldn’t even get one in London was very disappointing. All I bought was a £4.99 pack of hair slides for my grandaughter - cheapest shopping trip there ever!

I don’t recognise this at all. 6 is a very common size. XS or XXS is stocked everywhere that I can think of. Primark particularly has tons of XXS

I believe sizes 12, 14 and 16 are most popular so shops tend to stock those in abundance.

Hardly anyone is a size 4-6 (bar teenagers), so that's why you see so few.

I was a size 6 about 20 years ago. It wasn't easy finding a 6 in a shop back then either. I'd sometimes go to the kids section as it was easier to find something that fit.

Yes the most common sizes are always sold out, why don't they stock more of them? You would think that if you were very small or very big it might be difficult to find sizes, but it seems to be the reverse, particularly in fashionable or sale items.

I agree.
My sister (in her mid 50s) is a size six and has always found it hard to find clothes. When it was around (and she was younger) she bought a lot in TopShop.

How on earth do you work out I’m jealous when you have absolutely no idea who I am or what I look like? It wasn’t “ pathetic” … it’s a well known quote from Friends when someone complains about a minor problem.

Primark is primarily aimed at teenagers/early twenties age group though.

They probably took the size 6s off today because of the high winds…

Seriously though- I was always very lucky in the sales when I was a size 6-8. Try getting any bargains as a 12.

Swings and roundabouts 🤷‍♀️.

i was a size 6, 20 years ago and it was like that then too. Lots of stock wasn’t available in a size 6. I can’t remember the store but one I was in only had one pair of shorts they made in a size 6

Is it? I think there’s quite a broad range of clothes there personally.

OP, m&s kids has some cracking bits! I’ve had a few tops from there I love

No, it doesn’t mean a minor problem. The context of that line is when someone is complaining about something that’s actually got good connotations; a problem lots of people would love to have. Not a minor problem, but something other people would actually want as a problem because it means they’d have the same attribute.

Like complaining that your pool cleaner was late so you had to wait an extra hour to swim in your lovely big pool.
Complaining she can’t get a smaller sized which means she is very svelte, which is something a lot of people would want even if it means struggling to find the sizes.

That’s what “are your diamond shoes too tight” means. It’s about jealousy.

Aw, I think I know which shopping centre you mean. They only stock big sizes for all the fatties nowadays. Shame. Have you tried the teen(y) section?

To be fair it’s always been the same, also with the bigger sizes - can’t for the life of me find things to fit in the shops, was at next looking for pjs the other day, I need a size 16 bottom and size 24 top, couldn’t find a top to match any of the bottoms - it’s annoying 🙃

Primark xxs is more an 8 by my sizing (in that I fit in and am a size 8, a size 6 in next and some other places, but definitely a truer 8).

I think size 6 and below are fairly minority sizing so they get less in and sell them.

Sigh. I used to be a size 4/6 way back in time! I found that Jane Norman, New Look, Quiz, Urban Outfitters etc did size 6. Most, however started at an 8.

I am very very firmly a size 10 these days.

Are you a teeny-tiny? It must be very hard for you.

I had this exact issue last week. I wanted to try on both 12 and 14’s in some styles but there was never both. I gave up and ordered loads online and have just sent loads back because I only wanted to try some stuff!

I don’t entirely disagree - I find it astounding that in these days of stock
control that some stores don’t have a wide range of sizes available. M&S locally being one. Often no size 10 or 12. If they sell out quickly, have more stock!

I don't think it's just a size six issue, I quite often can't find a 16, which is a pretty standard size. It is also difficult to get size 8 women's shoes, which is a big bigger than average, but not crazy large - most shops don't stock them or only get one pair in that size. It's probably the same for size six clothes, it's pretty small so they're betting on not many people wanting it.
I agree it's annoying, but at least it's saved you money.
ETA if you measure the waist of lots of a similar size, say 8s you'll find they vary and you could try on the smallest ones.