do you take any notice of which size your clothes are?

[blushingm]

i ordered a 20 and a 22 in 2 styles of jeans.
In one the 20 was even a bit loose but in the other the 22 went no where near me. I just can't face needing/buying a 24. I feel ashamed enough I need a 20. Does this sort of thing ever bother anyone else or do you just go by what fits rather than what size it is?

I get bothered.

oh i'm glad it's not just me. my friend buys anything from a 6 to a 12 and says it doesn't bother her.......but it really gets me down

It's not a size thing. I am different sizes to you but personally i HATE it. Would rather squeeze into my old clothes and lose weight!

the problem to me is the different sizes in different shops - trying on clothes is really boring, you get hot and sweaty, the lighting is unflattering.

I buy everything online and visit the post office a lot for returns.

And all of my clothes are made of wool, cashmere, or modal jersey. I wear nothing tailored as tailored things don't fit as I am very hourglass (44,29-ish,44).

I range between a small 12 and a large 14. 14 is my cut off point. If they get tight then it's time to lose the weight. I just can't bring myself to buy a 16.

And wowzers Laurie you really are an hourglass!!

Yes I do. Same approach as Bunny and Ruby.

I guess once I get a fair bit older I may have to admit I can't stay the same size, but it's worked for the last 20 years.

I don't worry too much about sizes because sizing is so inconsistant they're pretty much meaningless. Depending on the shop and the style of the clothes I can be anything from a 10 to a 16 (most frequently 12 on bottom 14 on top)

I tried on 3 different dresses in one shop recently and for each dress I needed a different size so it's not even consistant within a single store.

It's a real pain because everytime I want to try something on I have to take 2 or 3 sizes to the changing room which limits the number of different items you can try on.

If I don't like what the label says, but it fits, I cut it off

P.S. Most of my clothes are size 12/14 but the other day I had to buy an XL dress

no it doesn't bother me, I have clothes size 10, 12, 14, 16, and they all fit fine. In some shops I'm extra large but it doesn't mean anything, I am the size I am, and if the clothes fit and look good, then I'm happy whatever the label.

It does mean I never buy anything online, but that is probably a very good thing for my credit card.

I won't buy anything if it's a size 14 (unless pregnant or shortly have birth), I will lose weight instead. I bought a 10 the other day I was very pleased, although it is all bollocks, there is noway I should fit into a 10, I am 5.8 and weigh 10.5 (ish).

I shouldn't care but I do.

No. If I like it I'll buy it no matter what the size is.

Most of my clothes are size 12 but I went in H&M last week and bought a top which was a small (presume that means 8/10) and a fitted jacked which was a size 16 (the 12 and 14 were way too tight). I also bought a size 8 coat in Oasis which I think must have been labelled incorrectly!

No. I am like Laurie in that I buy everything online because I get so fed up trying things on in the shop, if they even happen to have it in my size. Plus feeling inadequate next to all the young skinnies!

If it fits and I like it and it looks good, I don't care. I'm 42, and a tallish/size 16.

It is all rubbish though, and I think the shops have got worse in the past 4-5 years. I have trousers from one place in a 16 that hang off me now, and yet a 16 this year from the same company was far too tight/small. It used to horrify me to buy a size 18 but you know what? It actually means nothing. The sizing is so random that who knows what size you actually are? It's whether you're healthy, happy and feel good in what you wear that matters. :)

No. Don't give a monkeys about sizes.

Different shops cut to different shapes/sizes depending on what sort of body shape they think their average customer is (i.e I can't wear Topshop because they cut with a small wait-to-hip ratio for all of those beanpole teenagers, but Whistles fits me really well, when I can afford it, because they're more generous on the hip and define their waists more). It's much more important to find a shop that cuts to your body shape than worry about which size you have to buy things in.