Are you able to tell what someone’s dress size is just by looking at them?

[Niftythrifter]

Which is what happened to me the other day, namely someone was able to get my dress size spot on. I can’t say that I can do it.

Well yes to a degree, I don’t really know how tall sizes work because I’m quite short so I think tall women can look bigger than they actually are if that makes sense.

photos can be very deceptive too! But for the majority of women stood in front of me yes I could guess their size fairly accurately

Nope, because my own dress size in one shop is totally different to my dress size in another - there's no consistency!

No, I am awful at guessing. Although when people put pictures on here and say guess what size I would say that the majority of mumsnetters are equally as awful as I am!

I could have a good guess if they're built similarly to me, not otherwise.

I once had a customer who ran a clothing factory. He turned up with a load of samples for me. He'd guessed my size exactly right, but I suppose that's what he did for a living.

I struggle judging if something will fit me never mind guessing someone’s dress size.

Not a clue

I dont even know my own size properly. I was in a department store the other week (not in the UK), I picked an extra large top and tried it on, came out of the dressing room to show my partner, we agreed we liked it but I wondered if it was slightly too big, the assistant heard me musing about whether I needed the large rather than the extra large. She shook her head at me and said 'you need medium', she was right!!

I dont know how they do it.

Tall women look bigger than they actually are?? 😱😢

I thinktall women look smaller than they are🤷‍♀️

Nope. If they're within a dress size of my dress size (eg. One size smaller or bigger) and not a wildly different height, I can guess. But if they're much bigger or smaller or a very different height, I find it really hard to guess.

I bet you can't guess mine. I'm sure as sure that I'm a size 10 from the 2010s era.

But for whatever reason - I now fit in size 8 clothes from every store. Sometimes a size 6 😂

Baffles me. I'm definitely fatter now than I was back then.

Vanity sizing has confused me so much lately.

Me too, I think they look smaller

Yes, I sometimes dress people for stage shows and am usually spot on

Definitely not, I seem to see everyone as smaller than they are. Someone has to put on or lose an awful lot of weight for me to notice.

No but I worked with a woman who had worked for a famous bra brand and she could measure you -fully clothed- by sight. Told the majority of the team we were not the size we thought. We all got measured at a nearby M and S and she was 100% right on everyone’s actual size. I should clarify she did not offer this service uninvited obviously!! Quite the party trick though isn’t it. 😂

Same!!

DP says, you are tiny, you are a size 6 and I am always reply with - not a real 6!!

Sometimes if the person is similar size to me then it's easier to guess.

No, not a chance, because I can be anywhere between a 6 and a 12

There isn't standardised sizing any more, and your size in any particular brand doesn't mean anything.

I think you could probably lucky guess your way to a high hit rate though - because if anyone could be any of 4 sizes, then it's not that hard to get one of them

@EdithWeston I understand being an 8/ to 19 I. Terms of different brands but a 6-12 is quite a bit of a difference! It’s annoying the lack of size standardisation!9

8 to 10 that should say

I can tell what size they need in a wetsuit!

No-one has a defined size, as it varies so much. At best they'd be able to say 8 to 10.

But if a shop assistant has a lot of experience of selling the clothes in their shop, they could look at you and have a good idea that size X from their range will fit you best and be right most of the time.

I absolutely cannot do this. I embarrassingly proved this a few years ago when I asked if I could try something on that another woman had discarded in a communal chasing room. It wouldn't even go over my hips and I had assumed she was easily a size larger then me!

Not really no.

With my SIL I know she’s a size 8-10 and my DM a size 10-12. Most of the women I work with are much younger than me, into fitness but I still couldn’t guess sizes.

No, people carry weight differently. They also use different parameters to measure their own size. I'd say I'm 12-14 but that's in Zara for example. I can be a 8 or 10 elsewhere. I have a large bust and carry weight around my middle so need a larger size in separates than in a dress. Jumpsuits or Playsuits that need to be stretch on rather than button or zip are impossible to get past my bust etc. Tall people always seem to be smaller dress sizes than I'd imagine.

Can't think of a single situation where I've needed or wanted to, to check!