Clothes sizing is mental

[BorgQueen]

I’m an 18 according to size charts but usually go for a 20 for comfort.
I’ve now ordered seven pairs of cotton cycle style anti chafing shorts , new look size 22 fits so I ordered size 24 and 26 because I bloat up in the heat and hate tight waistbands.
The 24 and 26 from new look are exactly the same waist size as the 22 😡 but 2 inches longer in the leg so touching my knees.
I ordered size 26 from cotton traders and they are unwearable, tiny cut you in half waist, badly cut so they are down at the back and like bump cover maternity wear at the front 😳 and awful scratchy cotton.

I’m waiting on some from curve wow so we’ll see how they fit.
I must have spent £30 on p+p alone.

The only ones that fit in the way I want ( loose, wide waistband I can roll down to hips and loose around the leg ) are ones from Next in a 26 but they aren’t cotton and are quite thick material so I can wear them as shorts but not under a lightweight dress.

I don’t think you understand what cycling shorts are!

Ok so what’s unusual here is that you want UNDER tummy shorts when the whole world in shape wear of any kind wear OVER tummy shorts

glad you found some

It’s wild. Im now a 6 in M&S and Next, with 37 inch hips and 36 bust. 25 inch waist but still it’s wild.

I’d have been a 12 15 years ago.

All consistency and standard in sizing has gone out of the window (and no, it's not a mass conspiracy to flatter fat people but I've learned that people really really want it to be and I'm too hot and tired to explain the difference between size inflation and the fantasy of "vanity sizing"). But this is why it drives me bonkers when people say "I'm a dress size X, am I fat/unhealthy/overweight?". With only the largely random and increasingly meaningless number on your clothes to go on? How are we supposed to know?

Sizing is wild. I have clothes from an 8 to an 18 that I wear regularly. All from different stores, but even things from the same store, at the same size, fit differently. I am on average a 12 but I find some brands more generous in sizing than others and size up or down accordingly (and return a LOT!)