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Original poster

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

55 replies

Niftythrifter · 05/07/2023 19:32

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.

OP posts:
GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal · 07/07/2023 08:05

No. Tbh I don't think I'd be able to guess my own dress size if I didn't know if, I always assume I'm bigger than I am.

GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal · 07/07/2023 08:07

Goldfoot · 05/07/2023 19:51

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.

Actually this happened to me in a knock off designer clothes shop in Turkey! I went in looking for a pair of jeans as the weather was colder and wetter than I'd expected; the proprietor looked at me, handed me a pair of jeans - and they fitted perfectly!

They were great jeans, too, incredibly flattering, comfortable, and lasted me years.

Dinopawus · 07/07/2023 08:12

BarbaraofSeville · 07/07/2023 06:52

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’d go with this. I could probably also guesstimate M&S size 12 = New look size 14 based on my own frame of reference.

if someone is roughly my height I could probably size them between an 8 and a 16 but would struggle with taller or bigger bodies.

Teabutnotasweknowit · 07/07/2023 08:14

It's impossible for me to tell these days. A size 12 item of clothing is now several inches larger than in the 80s.

www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/fashion-beauty/a556302/chart-shows-shocking-change-in-clothing-sizes/

HamHand · 07/07/2023 08:39

Yes I can. Combination of long standing eating disorders in my younger years where I was pretty much every size under the sun at some point, and now working with clothes every day. I wish I couldn’t tbh, those old obsessions will never leave me I don’t think. It’s literally the first thing I notice about everyone.

mauveiscurious · 07/07/2023 13:47

A size 14 is different on someone 5'2 and 5'11 sizing is difficult

FinallyHere · 07/07/2023 13:54

Toddler101 · 05/07/2023 19:34

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

This.

Vicliz24 · 07/07/2023 16:01

Yes but probably because I was a personal shopper for many years .

ForTheSnarkWasABoojumYouSee · 07/07/2023 16:17

Yes I reckon I could look at a woman and fairly accurately say that she's an M&S size 10 or a Reiss size 8 or an H&M 10 on the top and 12 on the bottom or whatever.

Only in shops that I'm reasonably familiar with, and between sizes 8-18. I wouldn't be able to pick sizes of 20 plus.

And deliberately oversized garments make it all a lottery because women with very different sizes can wear the exact same garment with very different fits.

5128gap · 07/07/2023 16:19

If they were standing next to me and I was able to see their bust, hips and waist (not in baggy clothes) I think I'd be able to make a reasonable guess at it, yes. I know roughly the inches you need to be to be any given size, and I know roughly what that many inches looks like. A photo with no perspective, no chance.

iwantawisteriathisyear · 07/07/2023 16:21

bellac11 · 05/07/2023 20:01

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.

I worked in a small clothes shop for a few years. It was very much a shop that offered a personal service. After a few years I could look at someone and know what size they were and what would or wouldn't look good on them. Like everything it's just practice

Okaydonkey · 07/07/2023 16:29

No, I’m rubbish at it. But then, I find in clothes shops assistants always suggest a bigger size than I am. I try not to take it personally but I obviously look larger 🫤

rookiemere · 07/07/2023 17:00

Okaydonkey · 07/07/2023 16:29

No, I’m rubbish at it. But then, I find in clothes shops assistants always suggest a bigger size than I am. I try not to take it personally but I obviously look larger 🫤

I get the opposite.
I think I'm quite deceptive as have big hips but they aren't hugely noticeable, so if I'm ever given any garments, they're generally too tight.

Gwenhwyfar · 07/07/2023 19:28

chohiad · 07/07/2023 07:57

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

To buy someone a present I suppose?
I never buy clothes for others so not an issue for me.

I think I can tell quite easily on people around my height, but I have no way of proving I'm right. As for sizes varying by shop, I'd take the sizes where I normally shop.

Hardbackwriter · 07/07/2023 21:55

Topictwenty · 05/07/2023 20:03

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

Show quote history

I find the opposite - I'm tall and have quite often found that people underestimate both my dress size and my weight. I think most people have a range of sizes they consider 'slim' and so assume a slim tall person must be that size but of course you're likely to be proportionately larger if you're tall.

Dalekjastninerels · 07/07/2023 22:13

Roughly yes, but not exactly. No one would ever call me a size 6!

Sunnyfunnytimes · 07/07/2023 22:21

Pretty much yes, in a rough way , ignoring the noise on different brands or what it was 40 years ago. I can roughly say a ten or 14 or 18 , etc

not from a pic with no context though but in the flesh, generally yes.

Dalekjastninerels · 07/07/2023 22:24

Sunnyfunnytimes · 07/07/2023 22:21

Pretty much yes, in a rough way , ignoring the noise on different brands or what it was 40 years ago. I can roughly say a ten or 14 or 18 , etc

not from a pic with no context though but in the flesh, generally yes.

Same for me.

Dacadactyl · 07/07/2023 22:31

From an modern day 8 - 12 I'd have a good stab at it if the person was roughly my height, because ive been these sizes. Bigger sizes I wouldn't be sure.

toomanyleggings · 07/07/2023 22:34

Yes and their weight

polkadotpixie · 08/07/2023 07:32

No but I used to be able to tell what shoe size someone was by looking at them (managed a shoe shop for years)

BreakfastOfWaffles · 08/07/2023 07:36

I can't, mainly because there's no consistency in sizing. I am a 10, 12, or 14 depending on the shop.

JunipeJuniper · 08/07/2023 09:07

MissingMoominMamma · 07/07/2023 00:40

I can tell what size they need in a wetsuit!

The teenage employees at a water centre I was at recently definitely couldn't! They looked a group of us up and down and gave out wetsuits starting with who they thought was the smallest. I'm an 8 and was given a large, same as a lady probably 3 sizes bigger than me and bigger than several other women who were at least a 12 - noticeably bigger bust than me etc. I asked to size down but probably should have sized down twice. I thought it was a great way to give people a complex about how they look...

PuttingDownRoots · 08/07/2023 09:11

When I bought DDs school uniform last year, I thought the assistant was a magician. She was just looking at each child and passing them the correct items to try! Skirts in waist/length, blazers, PE kits...

I'm usually there in a shop looking at a few sizes trying to work out what size everyone (in the family) might need!

mynewusername2023 · 08/07/2023 09:13

Clothes sizes are so messed up, how can you guess. My wardrobe contains clothes that fit me that range from a 16 to 26!