Has clothes sizing changed a lot in the last few years?

[NotAnotherUserNumber]

I was shielding through the pandemic and didn’t really buy any new clothes for a couple of years. I have recently started to amend that and update my wardrobe, but I am finding I am ordering the wrong sizes.

Is anyone else finding this? I am wondering if clothes companies have upscaled sizes to help the many of us who have gained extra pounds during the pandemic.

It is definitely not that I am smaller (in fact I have gained about 8lbs and done much less activity over the last few years so I am undeniably larger).

It is making online shopping really difficult. Is anyone else finding this or is it just bad luck with the brands and items I have tried? The ones I have tried so far are Hush and various US brands from The Outnet. Wondering if it is happening generally and whether I should be guessing smaller sizes with my next purchases?

I think it's partly vanity sizing like you say but partly that oversized is the fashion now, so you are actually supposed to look like your clothes are a bit too big for you, with lots of excess fabric. You do normally have to size down to get a more fitted look.

The brands I’m ordering from definitely haven’t! I’ve put on a lot of weight, I’ve gone from a 6-8 to a 12-14. I’m definitely not bigger than that though and I find the sizing accurate (Zara, COS, &OS etc).

Can't say I've seen any difference in the last couple of years to be honest. However, as a generally trend over say the last 10-15 years definitely. I'm generally a size 8-10 and outside of pregnancy pretty much always have been, but in some shops (I'm looking at you, Next) I can buy a 6 that's still too big for me 🤷🏼‍♀️

@TheOGCCL I think you are right that it is also partly current styles. I am about 5ft 4” with short legs and quite a small build and definitely finding issues with current dresses just swamping me. I think you have to be tall and willowy for the midi dresses with voluminous sleeves etc. to look good.

I have definitely bought size 8 and 10 from Hush before and I don’t think they used to make smaller than this. For my recent purchase they only had a 4 in stock (which I bought to check out the fabric assuming it would be far too small), but it must be the biggest size 4 ever made and is still absolutely swamping me.

why is women’s sizing so random!

why is women’s sizing so random!

Why do we even need sizes rather than just set out the dimensions?

I don't think it's just about current styles, or even about vanity sizing any more. I'm just finding sizes are increasingly unpredictable, even at places like M&S, which I used to think were pretty reliable. There's no consistency anywhere. Yes it makes me even less fond of online shopping.

I'm finding sizing really inconsistent and it's so frustrating you never know even with the same brand if their size 12 is always going to be the same. I understand different fits and styles but if I buy three different skirts from the same brand and one falls down and one is too tight around my waist, then something is wrong with their sizing!

I’d say it’s changed. I’ve had a clear out recently and got decluttered clothes 20+ years old. The s12 from 20-odd years ago are smaller then the s10 I have today.

I think everywhere is just more inconsistent. I've ordered a few things recently and ended up keeping a 14 from one shop and a 22 from another. I'm an 18/20 generally. It makes ordering online impossible (I actually ordered the 14 because the 18 was huge).

I'm a 16 and have recently bought 2 x size 10s. And couldn't fit into some size 20 trousers ! I'm forever returning things to asos, it's madness

It's yet another attempt to normalise being overweight. Make clothes bigger them people can pretend they're not getting fatter.

@NotAnotherUserNumber Ha I’m 5”4 with short legs too and then a larger top half so being swamped in clothes is not great but I’m trying to adjust my eye a bit. Just because you can get into a certain size doesn’t mean it’s necessarily best. Sometimes more fabric is more chic and relaxed and ‘luxe’ especially cheap things. Doesn’t look as skimped on. I don’t wear dresses though, I feel both under and over dressed in them at the same time.

Obviously there's been size inflation over the past few decades, but I think what you're seeing since 2019 is the movement to over-sized garments being fashionable: kicked off by That Zara Dress.

If your eye hasn't adjusted to modern styling and you're aiming for a more form-fitting look then it will seem as if vanity sizing has suddenly ramped up a gear.

It's a win-win for the fashion retailers: they can sell the exact same garment to a size 8 teen who'll wear it over-sized as advertised and to her size 14 mum who can wear it bodycon.

It seems that some retailers have started selling clothes in US sizes without telling us, I'm looking at you ASOS.

As a skinny teen in the 1980s I was a size 10. I remember because it was the first adult size I bought after children's wear. There was no such thing as a size 8, as far as I remember.

Roll forward to 2022 and I am definitely plumper than my teen self having had 3 kids and reached the menopause. And lo and behold I am a size 8 (or a size 6 in Hush). I reckon that I would be a size 12 in 'old money', i.e. at least two sizes bigger.

So that's a significant vanity sizing progression over the longer term.

I don't think this is related to vanity sizing any more. It's probably due to factories being all over the place and having no international standards. I'm a 12 in most shops, and recently I had to buy XL trousers in Zara because the hips were so narrow, the L would not go up. The XL is too large at the waist now.

I'm an hourglass and I'm finding it more difficult to find clothes that look good, to the point that I've now learnt to sew my own clothes

It's just so variable. My standard size is 10 M&S/Next I have to buy 8 or even 6. Zara I seem to need the largest sizes! I have old stuff from years ago and most of that is a size 10. I do notice places like Next have changed sizing - I have a size 10 suit that I bought 20 years ago and it's more snug than their size 10 now but is comparable to size 10s I have bought recently from some other places.

White stuff clothes have gone enormous. I've a size 16 dress from 5 years ago which is snug yet a similar dress bought this year in 14 is ginormous. Both similar fabric, style etc.

I've found the opposite actually- clothes sizes are smaller! I know this as I'd worried recently about weight gain and ended up sizing up to a 10 from my usual brands (having always been a 6-8). However playsuits from the same brand from two years ago are a size 6 and fit perfectly. Go figure 🤔

I think clothes sizing is all over the place its not standadised . I'm having to buy a 6 for trousers in some places my bmi is 20.5 so I'm not that skinny.

It’s vanity sizing and it’s out of control, frankly. I’m a 90s size 8 and I have to buy a size 4 in Reiss. It’s ludicrous.

I also think when people refer to someone as a “skinny size 8” or even a “a skinny size 10”, what they’re usually describing is someone who is at most a size 6 in today’s sizing, because size 10 is now huge. Easily bigger than Marilyn Monroe’s size even though the ‘body positivists’ want us to believe she was a size 16 😂

Sometimes it's different even within the same model. I recently bought some trousers, in Long and Regular, because my inseam length fell between the two. The Long fit well except for being too long, but the Regular was too tight on the hips/bum. Meanwhile, the same size Regular in another style was baggy! Despite this, their size guide continued to reassure me that the style was merely a matter of preference and the fit should be the same :)

I really find it hard to judge as when I weighed about the same day I was wearing clothes that were bigger sizes however they were loose on me and find talk of vanity sizing doesn’t really help with my issues with my weight etc.

I'm not sure it's huge I'm a 10 when my bmi is around 22 so not overweight size 12 is around bmi 23. I do agree when you get smaller the sizing is more off. Marilyn Monroe had a classic hourglass shape which made her look curvy but she was slim , curvy used to mean the shape not being overweight.