Either H&M are bonkers or I am delusional

[SharingMichelle]

Grabbed this skirt last time I was in H&M. Not terribly exciting, but I thought it looked useful. Picked up a size 14.

Couldn't be faffed to try it on. Was in the queue to pay when I looked at it again and decided it was cut on the small side so I switched it for a 16. Am generally a fairly standard 14 with the odd 12 thrown in on a good day. Oh well.

Got home. Couldn't do the bloody thing up!

Back to H&M. Switched the 16 for an 18. I have never worn an 18 in my life. Tried it on this time, just to be safe. Horrendous!! Could squidge my tummy to death and get it done up, but all buttons gaping. So tight it was indecently short.

They didn't stock a size 20! I switched the blasted thing for store credit and came home.

Surely I can't have jumped from a 14 to a 20 without noticing? H&M are bonkers, right? Please could someone reassure me? Or set me straight? I am rather bloated at the moment, but my old clothes still fit, so surely...

It's nothing to do with vanity sizing - it's the inconsistency we're talking about here. I have H&M clothes that range from a 10 to a 16 - nothing to do with vanity sizing at all - it's the fact that they are not cutting the material according to strict guidelines relating to size.

Don't these inconsistencies often come from the fact that too many pieces of fabric are piled on top of each other before they're cut? More expensive clothes would be cut one piece at a time, but factories churning out fast fashion cut costs by stacking the material and making one cut through the pile, so it's much less precise and anything cut at the bottom of the pile is likely to be a centimetre or two out. I think it's something to do with that, anyway ...

It's really not vanity sizing. I struggle to get in a size 20 (trousers/jeans) in H&M yet in their tops I'm a 12/14. I'm usually a solid 14 in everywhere else from Topshop to Next.

Oddly, I do have a couple of harem type trousers from H&M which are labelled a Medium which fit just fine.

I bought DS 2 pairs of jeans in h&m last week. Meant to be the same size but 1 pair are an inch longer than the other. Both waists are the same size so just saving one pair until he gets taller (probably next week the way he's growing!).

I can't buy any shirts from h&m as the ones that fit my back gape around the button. Bigger ones hang off my shoulders and are baggy on the back. I'm a 14, 34 E boobs so not an unusual combination.

I am anything from an XS to a not getting past my mid thigh size 16 pair of shorts in h&m. It's not good for the self esteem!

I knew what skirt it would be before I even clicked on the link. The exact same thing happened to me although I'm a size 14 and the size 16 would only button up if I wore it under my boobs and it was so tight it made me look like a bag of lemons. It will end up being flogged in the sale for £3.

I'm normally an 8-10, had to buy a fitted white shirt at speed for a funeral and dashed into H&M. Luckily I tried it on as I ended up having to buy a 16! I'm fairly certain that's not down to vanity sizing.

You're probably right about the piles of fabric lurking. In all shops I often take 2 or 3 of the exact same item in the same size, to see which fits best as there is often a noticable difference.

I have 2 pairs of M&S suit trousers in the same style, bought on the same day, both a 12 Long and one pair fits and the other is too small.

I'm also annoyed about the seemingly massive gaps between sizing. I have some other M&S trousers where I have 12 and 14 in the same style. The 12s I can't do up, the 14s are so massive they look like I am wearing 'before' trousers in a weight loss advert. So it would appear that I am a size 13, which of course does not exist.

Someone upthread mentioned bras - I ordered black and nude in the same size and same style online from Bravissimo. I had already ordered about 10 bras and had to send them all back and reorder some that were nearly there in a bigger size and was a bit at the end of my tether - I just wanted some bloody bras that fit. The black one is noticably smaller than the nude one .

Isn't vanity sizing supposed to make you feel good?! Like putting 10-12 labels on clothes size 12-14? That's certainly not what h&m do.

I find H&M very inconsistent too. Remember struggling to get into size 18 maternity jeans when all my other maternity clothes were a size 12. I've had a few H&M tops in size Medium that were quite roomy, yet also tried tops that were size 18 and wouldn't button up. Very strange sizing.

Yes H&m sizes are bizarre! I am a 12 but, in there I'm somehow become an 8/10 in tops and anywhere from a 12-16 in trousers depending on the style and cut! I love h&m but it's the one shop I always have to try everything on in. Can never just grab and go!

I'm normally a size 12 in bottoms. When I was pregnant I couldn't even get into the size 18 maternity jeans despite having actually lost a stone due to morning sickness. I was extra small though in their maternity vests despite my boobs growing huge.

Funnily enough my DS loves h&M ..He has just gone into next size jeans.. I put him a pair a size bigger from H & M in the sale.. I asked him to try them on and they actaully fit better than other jeans despite been a year older.

I find tops okay, and their sportswear but skirts/trousers are impossible to buy without trying.

H&M are notorious for this - sure it's come up here before.

I'm normally a 10 (New Look, Top Shop, River Island, etc); sometimes an 8 in places known for being generous / vanity sizing (M&S, Next). But I am at least a 12 in H&M and on occasion a 14.

It's really annoying. Don't care about the number, would just like consistency between shops.

i have a dress from h&m that is a size 16. It fit me best when i was a size 8

H&M sizes are odd. I've got XS through to medium. I have to go by what it looks like rather than the size on the label.

I bought two jumpers in H&M a few weeks back. Both same style, thin sweatshirt type, £5.99. Both in a size large. No time to try on as was during my break at work. One of the jumps fits lovely, a bit baggy, looks great with my skinny jeans. The other, too tight. Looks terrible, I'm smooshed into it and all my lumps and bumps show. I'm hanging onto it as I love the design and am hoping to lose weight - and they don't do bigger than an L!

I love H&M clothes but their sizes are so inconsistent.

I've given up on H&M completely and won't allow teen dd to buy from there any more. The quality of the fabric and the shrinkage even after one wash is absolutely shocking. We had a whole thread about it on here recently.

I have a denim pinafore dress from there bought in London a few months ago. I looked at the 14 (I'm a 12 but know H&M tend to run small and pinafores need to be too big not fitted) and it looked minuscule so thought I'd err on the side of caution and buy the 16 (which I've never, ever bought before). It doesn't even do up over my hips. Clearly their sizing department is run by drunk gnomes who do not have childbearing hips.

I love H&M, have a lot of clothes from there. Am usually a 10, but buy a 12 as I like stuff on the looser side. Was in there a few months ago trying on maternity jeans - was only about 16 weeks and not really showing, just thicker round the waist than usual. Thought I'd be safe with size 12s. Couldn't get the damn things over my thighs! Got up to a 16 (which barely got past my hips and wouldn't button) and then completely gave up. Glad it's not just me!

Well I'm glad it's not just me!

I find them all inconsistent. I recently couldn't fasten a size 18 dress. So the next size would have been a 20.

I'm normally around a 14

Their maternity jeans are shite. I bought a 14 in the sale, when I was newly pregnant and a size 10, and Christ they cut so deeply into my hips they actually cause friction burns. Horrible things.

Their cheap T shirts, vests etc are all fine, not much room for error there. Shirts are not made for boobs larger than a C cup. Their floatier dresses, and furry coats all seem okay - generally, I find stuff that's labelled S, M, L etc are truer to size than the clothes labelled with numbered sizing.

well I don't think the inconsistency between 2 different items in h&m is unique to them alone, it happens in most cheaper end shops.

I notice young girls wearing their skirts really high up, so that might have something to do with it.

Saying that I'm usually a 14 and wouldn't even bother trying trousers in there, not being able to squeeze in size 20s is a bit depressing.