Are high-street clothes sizes getting BIGGER?

[morningpaper]

I am 5 foot and 9 stone.

10 years ago when I was 5 foot and 8 stone, I was a size 10.

Now I seem to be a size 8. EIGHT? I am quite FAT AROUND THE ARSE. In fact if I wear any sort of GATHERED skirt I look like a duck.

Is it just me or what?

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did you just dribble on my head?

lol yes they are getting bigger, I'm loking forward to my size 16 becoming a 14 without having to do anything

Hope so - cos I certainly am!!

yes i think they are, i used to be a 12, now, well pre-pg, i was getting in 10's and 8's, was i chuffed until bf moaned a 6 was too big for her-boo hoo!

MP I'm 5 ft and nearly 9st as well. I used to be a size 10 at 8st (many years ago). I still can't get any 8's near me though, unless it's a smock. where do you shop?
I'm generally a 12 or sometimes a 10.

I shop at high quality outlets such as Asda and Peacocks

have just bought a Red Herring (Debenham's) dress and shirt outfit which was a size 8 and fit fine

yes, they are.

I am apparently the same size as I was 5 years and 2 kids ago - which is funny cos my jeans from then don't go over my arse!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOoo dont say that , they r getting smaller!!!!!

Definitely. I have been looking at various websites recently and a size 6 hip measurement is roughly 34 inches. At this rate I will be a size 0

(surely a 34/35" hip measurement= 12?)

And which poster recently found a dress pattern from the 70s which had smaller measurements?)

But that means I haven't lost any weight at all

And yet my clothes don't fit....

my aunt sent me her 70's laura ashly shirt waister dress size 14 which just about closes round my norks. i also have a vintage pair of trousers in size 16 that give me a muffin top. but i can wear size 10 dresses from white stuff and even a size 8 skirt from oasis (but i haven't dared try it on since i got back from holiday). so yes they are getting bigger.

OK I went into Primark today where they had an AMAZING selection of belts, but NONE of them - NONE! - were small enough for me

I have a 28 inch waist

Hardly a stick insect FFS

I was imagine these tiny women in factories in Thailand pissing themselves laughing at the enormity of our clothes...

OK have measured my hips

38 inches!

So why are the size 8 FITTED dresses in Peacocks BAGGY?

Seems bonkers to me

Eh? 38(ish)" hips! I have 38" hips and I' a 12.

Must pay a visit to Peacocks for anego-boost....

I am at the other end of the scale to you mp (6'2" and size 16) and I find a huge variation in size from shop to shop. Just ordered some La Redoute stuff but all too big under the arms, whereas in H&M the trews were all mighty tight in my size. Dotty P's tall range seems to assume that if you are a size 16 you have large appendages that stick out half way up your thigh and all their trousers are cut accordingly.

Ormian yes try Peacocks for instant ego boost!!

I agree I should fit into 12s

i am 5ft 2" and just over 9 stone, most of my wardrobe is size 12, for comparison, my waist is 32", and my hips are 40"

i have a peacocks skirt on today, corduroy 'a' line size 12

But probably Peacocks don't make for tall people - I'm 5'11 so I suspect I end up with trousers ending at my shins and tops that finish just under my ribs ....

It's called vanity sizing - shops put smaller sizes on bigger clothes to make us feel good about shopping there.

for Mercy:

By iota on Mon 23-Apr-07 10:57:56
so I have just dug out an old pattern that I used to make a school tennis dress in the 70's and the sizes in inches are as follows:

8 = 31.5/24/33.5

10 = 32.5/25/34.5

12 = 34/26.5/36

14 = 36/28/38

16 = 38/30/40

I was a 12 in those days BTW

I have two pairs of size 16 jeans from M&S, bought a couple of years apart. The older pair is on the tight side, the newer pair needs a belt or they fall down a bit.