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?

Also the human race is getting larger they grew on average nearly 4 inches extra over the last century. Average foot size is 2 sizes bigger in 4 decades turning into giants.

I haven't found this at all. I was a size 8 two years ago before I gave birth. I'm only slightly bigger now than I was pre-pregnancy and my old size 8 clothes are just a little tighter than they once were, I find size 10's more comfortable now.

I completely agree. My old size 12s still fit me. But increasingly I’m buying an 8 in today’s clothes. My BMI is 25!!

I've been buying from Hush for years and haven't changed size, except in jeans for which I've gone to a 10 from an 8 thanks to some recent weight gain. Some of their tops are bizarrely sized though, I accidentally ordered a top in a size 4 last year and it absolutely swamped me.

I imagine the 10s you bought have a lot of stretch to fit you as a 16? There’s no way that much extra fabric would be used otherwise. It’s all about the margins of fabrics with clothing production.

Same well-known brand jeans/shorts, similar style/cut and fabric.

Recently purchased size 8 are too baggy

My 1990 size 10 shorts won't do up by a long chalk

Go figure.

Sizing means nothing now. A primark 14 is an M&S 10. A river Island 14 is a Next 10.

I just hold things up to see if theyre a similar size to what i already own.

What i have noticed is that nothing is tailored and waists are huge on everything. I think its the oversized trend.

Sizes are insane. In current sizes I am usually a size 8 but a dress I bought over 30 years ago is still a perfect fit despite it being a 1990s size 12!

and even the size 8 thing isn't 100%. In most shops it's a pretty good guide but in some shops I might be a 12 or even a 14.

I find Primark sizing in tops and dresses to be big. I also find in River Island I need the smallest size in tops and knitwear.

No I don't think so. I am buying a size smaller. But I have some old pairs of joseph trousers - they are my gauge for how big I am, and they are loose on me so I am smaller.

In the 90s when my BMI was around 20, I was an 8-10. Currently my BMI is 28.5 and I am now only a 12-14. Ridiculous.

Definitely has in my lifetime!!!

I'm pretty Euro 36 used to be a 10 and now it's a 38.

Next we're among the first retailers to vanity size but I think a lot have followed suit as nations are getting bigger.

Pretty sure

Were

I was always 6-8 I remember as a teen Topshop introducing a size 4 when I was about 13-14 and having a pair of trousers in a 4. But now I'm a 4-6 even though I'm definitely bigger than I was as a teen. In most cases I need a size 4 or xxs. I find it frustrating as if something's too big I can't size down as the don't make smaller.

I'm finding the oversized trend a nightmare. I bought some lightweight summer shirts from H&M, and deliberately sized down one size as I wanted them more fitted. They were almost knee length on me, and wide enough for 2 of me. I looked like I was wearing an old fashioned nightdress like Wee Willie Winkie. Admittedly I'm short (5ft 3) but not particularly slim (size 12). I've given up even trying to find a dress that fits me and is flattering, and doesnt make me look like a child playing dress up in my mum's clothes!

Yeah, I go by the clothing dimensions in the size guide. I don't like oversized either, makes me look bigger than I am.

Drives me mad. When I buy online now, I order in 2 or 3 sizes as it's so frustrating.

I have a dress I wore on my honeymoon over 30 years ago. It is a size 14 and still fits me perfectly. Last year I bought a dress from the same brand and it is an 8. I measured them, they have almost exactly the same bust and waist measurement.

I don't think this is a recent occurrence but vanity sizing is definitely a thing.

I remember at school in the late 70s it was the girls with anorexia who wore size 10 jeans. Nowadays the same size is fairly standard.

Dress sizes have changed, a huge amount, alongside modern manufacturing inconsistencies and it has been a while since you could trust what the label said and what the measurements should be, against what they actually are. It is not just an issue with women's clothing either. I collect vintage patterns and they're a very good indicator of just how small a vintage 14 was compared to size 14 today. This old Daily Mail article shows just how sizing has been impacted by inflation! https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3198374/Chart-reveals-clothing-sizes-changed-past-60-years-shows-size-12-Marilyn-Monroe-00-8-today.html

I can remember trying a dress on ages ago in a shop whose offerings were meant for adults (I was barely in my teens) and there being a size called ‘standard size’ if my recollection serves.

I honestly think that calling for sizing to be standardised is a road to nowhere and won’t happen but at the same time I think that there needs to be an acknowledgement that bodies have changed and maybe stop harking back to the sizes of yesteryear and accept the new norm and stop talking about vanity sizing.

Not recently. I still have my size 14s from when I was 15. I'm now a size 6-8 (through weight loss) and I swim in my old clothes