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.

Honestly I just think it's sod's law in action. Plenty of 8's and 12's in my local shops here in Yorkshire but never find a sodding 10.

But on average there's good stock of 8-20 in the shops. Primark have the dolly sizes that Topshop used to have, not sure about the others as I'm a creature of habit and shop on line if it's not local.

What I’ve noticed is, whatever size I’m looking for, they always have loads of the next size up and the next size down but none in my size.

My teenager wears xs/size 6, she never seems to have any trouble finding them in stores.

Primark quite often has size 6.

Same...I used to be a size 8 (many years ago!) and it was usually the smallest size available in most shops.

Apologies for anyone I’ve offended…I wasn’t expecting to read the digs and I appreciate MN deleting one of the worst comments.

If you are insecure about your weight, then rather than take it out on people online, you could always try to do something about it. Diet, exercise and discipline. Heck, there are even jabs available now!

Definitely nothing below a size 6 in normal shops. That said I am not obese and I don’t think I’ve ever been a size 6. 😂 It would be really quite a small size for most adult women. Especially those of us who are very tall. That said, we found plenty of small sizes (0!) in places where teens shop (Hollister, for example). But I think most grown women with money to spend and shopping in Next or whatever are not buying size 2. I’m at a loss for where to buy things for teen dd though. Just somewhere normal and not designer.

I am a size 8, and do not refer to myself, or others of a similar size as 'teeny tinies'. It sounds a bit mean to me.

Diet down to a minus 10, you heifer.

My teen and most of her friends wear sizes 6/8 and don't have any trouble finding clothes 🤷‍♀️

I, on the other hand, am a fatso and can hardly find anything decent.

What shops were you in? I was in Zara, H&M, Mango, River Island, Next, Primark H&M and M&S today and they all had size 6/XS. Even F&F did when I popped into Tesco!

I doubt you're all shopping in the same stores.

🤣🤣 such ground breaking advice . You need to try much harder 1/10

The OP responding in kind. Half this thread is people thinking it’s ok to judge and comment on someone’s size… but because it’s about a thin person, the insults are seen as totally ok. But when she claps back, after taking it for pages, you come along and act like she started it?

Mumsnet can be disgusting sometimes and this thread shows it.

I’m not making any nasty comments about thin people. It’s annoying when you are outwith the “average” range for anything (try finding short length trousers anywhere and size 7 ladies shoes)

I’m talking about the people who look at someone who is a size 12/14 and declare them unhealthy because “we’ve lost sight……” yadda yadda.

I do laugh at the suggestion that people posting about being overweight are totally supported though. You obviously don’t frequent those posts enough because there definitely is not a lack of nasty comments there. Even if some of them do start with “Kindly……” 🤦🏻‍♀️

My daughter shops in the same stores I do. Primark, M&S, supermarkets etc. Size 6/XS is very common. If there is some “over 50” store I’m supposed to shop in, I’ve no idea where it is.

Wasn't there a Victoria Wood sketch where she talked about a tiny friend who bought children's clothes and spent the VAT on tequila? 😆

Unusual to be wearing the same lines and shopping equally in all stores...teenagers usually have a different style to middle aged women and some shops are aimed at certain age groups and profiled accordingly for style and sizing (teenagers tend to be slimmer).

Size 6 wasn't a thing when I worked in retail 25 years ago. Sizing started at 8 and often didn't run bigger than an 18, even in the petite ranges. I don't think failure to stock enough size 6s is what led to the downfall of the high street.

There's a little independent clothing shop locally in my parents' village, and it caters for medium to very large sizes - of a range starting at 14 up to 36.. (!)

I am a bit surprised this size even exists, letalone has clothes at all for it. I mean. I guess I need to be more open minded but it's Norwich I'm in, not America 😬
Having said that, a friend who's a nurse told me that Norfolk is the bariatric capital of the UK apparently, so perhaps that may explain the clothes sizes! 🤔

I used to do that with shoes when I was a skint student.

Could never get away with children’s clothes, though, even at my slimmest - just not cut for a woman’s bust and hips.

I think it isn't the sizes stocked that has led to the downfall, but the absolutely dire quality of the offerings. That is my experience as a humongous size 12.

Great idea!

Depends I guess ?
I was in a small Fatface store because I happened to have time on my hands so had a look .
There were a few things I liked but they had size 6 , 8 , then 18 …no 10 or 12 to try .

Physical retailers definitely are carrying less stock now - it's understandable, because there's no sense in paying for the space if you simply aren't going to use it, but it's still irritating if you want to try before you buy. One chain had cords I liked but only Size 14 in the colour I wanted and only one pair even of those. I might look online but I'd rather keep the store in business.

What really is driving me nuts is that food retailers have row after row of tarted up pre-prepared chicken products - seasoned this, crown of that, ready to bake the other - but sweet FA when it comes to just actual chicken that I planned to cook for myself. One had nothing suitable at all, the other very limited choice.