Have clothes just got bigger?

[Oly5]

I'm 5ft 4 and currently weigh 11st 8lb. I'm trying to get down to pre-preg weight of 10st 12lb.
BUT, increasingly I am a size 10 in tops and find that I can fit size 12 trousers and skirts 80% of the time.
How can this be? I am overweight, I know it.
Have clothes just got bigger? I can't even imagine where all the skinny ladies are shopping! Tops must drown you?!

Wow, it sounds like I'm lucky to fit into the clothes I do at this weight. Until having my DCs three years ago, I used to go to the gym 3/4 times a week - for about a decade. Maybe my body is still hanging onto some remnants of the more toned me! But still want to shift the weight as it wasn't there before kids!

Are you sure your scales are accurate OP? I wear size 10 tops at 5ft2 and 8 stone 10 lbs. I do have generous norks though...

In general I agree about vanity sizing. And inconsistent sizing. Even within a brand I need different sizes in different styles.

Yes they're right, I also got weighed at the docs recently. I don't have particularly big boobs and people always say I'm slim up top. Oh well, I guess I should just count myself lucky for now! how many lbs do you guys think there are between dress sizes?
Even at 10st 12lb, I remember being roughly the same dress size?

it is surely not news that vanity sizing is a thing

or even surprising, really its just that the average has changed
So, say 20 years ago:
8-10=slimmer than average
12=average
14-16 =larger than average

the same is probably true today, but today's average woman is larger, therefore size 12 is larger

I'm 6ft and weigh just under 12 stone and I need size 12, sometimes even 14 in trousers...don't know how you fit in the size 10 OP, but sizing is all over the place these days that's for sure.

Maybe it's the shops I'm shopping in. Haven't been to Topshop, for example, since my teens. I also never go in places like Mango or Zara. I will try Topshop on next time I'm in town..!

I just don't shop in places where the proportions are out on me. Women / girls have very different shaped bodies. I do not buy trousers in places like Oasis or Warehouse which I think are cut for pears. Topshop and river Island for apples (skinny legs and big tummies). I'm 5ft 3 and hourglass but on average I'm a fairly true 8 (narrow shoulders and small waist) , though I do buy children's coats etc from h&M etc. Being fairly busy (32E) I'm amazed by how many of the more expensive high Street stores are massive on my bust.

My sister is very small (size 4, and 5ft). She buys asos petite and zara, primark and next kids.

Width if shoes have also gone up. I used to get away with a size 5. I now am a 3.5.

Sorry busty not busy!

Oly I would say it depends on where you carry the weight and the fabric. 9mths pg at 10st4 with a large bump I was still wearing non maternity size 8 jeans (done up) and 8-10 tops and dresses. I do have 14s from h&M in my wardrobe too. I prefer to look at the item and decide how I want it to fit and buy accordingly

Oh yeah. I'm 43 and two stone heavier than when I was 18.

However I am still a size 10. It's ludicrous.

OP I'm 5 10 ish and weigh 10st2 I wear between a 10 and a 14
I'd like to know where you shop

Blardy Zara keeps me in my place

I actually find that suprising ronald. My friend is that height but maybe 7lbs heavier and is an 8, with the odd 10 for her chest. Admittedly she's very muscular but I can't imagine at that weight and height you are carrying much flab that's taking up space.
I suppose build and where you carry it accounts for a lot though, I've got friends who would need to be seriously emaciated to get their hips or chest in a size 8, let alone a 6, yet my build would need an unhealthy level of fat to get to a size 10.

This thread is making me concerned. I am 5ft 7 and 9 stone exactly, but am finding that 1 year post pregnancy even though I weigh a bit less than before I am tending to need to buy size 12 rather than my old 10s. I usually shop in Zara, H&M, &otherstories, Hush, COS.
Why am I going up a size when everyone else is going down?

Frankly some shops have become ridiculous.
I'm 5ft and weigh 7 stone 4 which gives me a bin of between 20 and 21 I think.
I find in Topshop petite I'm a size 6 or 8 and I would say their sizing is true.
Boden petite I take a 6. Next and Gap petite ranges even hang off me at times!!
I can't consider Sainsburys TU range. Always too big. Monsoon clothing also drowns me.
I am obviously short but not extremely skinny and it is just ridiculous!

I hadn't appreciated that vanity sizing is now so mad that warehouse now do a size 4. In the old normal days in the 80s and 90s, that would have been a size 10!

novice my petite friend gave my tall dd some size 4's from when she was a teen, jeans, sparkly tops, dresses etc. And hailed as the holy grail, some immaculate but old school skirts that actually fitted. I was delighted to at last find an option for clothing my then almost 10yr old, and set off shopping thinking the only problem was that some adult clothes wouldn't be appropriate and 4's aren't stocked everywhere. Until I realised a modern size 4 was also a hell of a lot bigger.

Lurked did you actually find a 4 anywhere?! I say this because every once in a while I will see something in the shops I like and a 6 is still not always on the racks so end up having to order online.

novice I've found tkmaxx the best for a 4, and indeed for 6's. Especially in their young range. Or any other outlets selling brands. Expensive but high end fashion has more of a thin following. Years ago I lived near a place that sold lots of ex catwalk/ catalogue stock, loads of small sizes, so have a look locally. Dd has grown since and is a small modern 4 now, for anything smart there's little out there. Look in dept stores too- some have ranges that come in a 4. It is mainly ordering for dd though, this summer she's mainly sporting age 8 shorts ( or trousers worn as crops) and baggy tops. Young ranges and cheap independent ( everything £10 and under type) usually have smaller fits too, and if you're shorter kid/ teen clothes. Although I realise none of those are useful for smart. Again if you're shorter look at online Asian (Chinese etc) market, they are usually small too. Or if you're near a city with a large Asian community.
I'm a 6 too and I found most of the above applies to that too. Especially hard cos we're tall with long limbs so Asian/ teen stuff is out.
I know it still involves ordering but at least you get a choice rather than buying anything that vaguely fits!

I agree about vanity sizing, but also think everyone carries weight completely differently. At my heaviest I was the exact same weight as the OP, at 5ft 6, and was a good side 14 across the board. I'm now ten stone three but that can fluctuate up to about ten and a half, and am generally a 10 on top and 12 bottom. I generally shop in Warehouse, Topshop, Whistles and Oasis.

Man I'm gutted now lol. I'm a size 8 for the first time in my life and now realising I'm probably just a size 12 lol.

I'm 5ft 4 and 8st 7lbs.

lurked

yy i'm not fat, I'd agree, I have tits, no arse
fairly muscle free
but a proper frame...big joints when I lose a bit of weight
I literally can't get some 10s on

I'm 5 ft and 10 stone 10.. ( I'm dieting) and I mostly a 12 but wear some 8/10's .. I have a small rib cage and have always weighed heavy compared to my similar sized friends .. Some people just fit clothes differently .

Sizing is just bizarre
I bought an asos dress from their standard range. Size 14, fit lovely
Buy another dress but this time asos curve range. Size 22
I mean.. What?!

Olivestree it will probably be where your hips and rib cage are now wider / broader and the change to where you carry your weight. After my first I ended up half a stone lighter a year on but with love handles.

Bishbosch, glad I'm not alone in weighing what seems 'heavy' but fitting into 10s/12s! I'm still going to diet though as I feel all flabby after two dcs and mentally I iust want to be back to pre-pregnancy weight