Is everyone on the high street making clothes bigger?

[Lentilweaver]

Yes, I know everyone has ranted about this before, but let me have my rant! Sending back so many clothes and having to trudge to the post office because they are all oversize. Not just by one size, often by two. Am normally a 10 in M and S, now probably have to order an 8. It's the same with all the other bits I have ordered from Albaray, Mint Velvet, Uniqlo, Mango etc....

I haven't lost any weight. Seriously thinking of stopping online shopping. Or get out my tapemeasure?

Zara isn't. I'm a 12 everywhere and a "you fucking hippo have you tried wearing a yurt" in Zara.

Uniqlo? My 12 is still an XXL in a Uniqlo t shirt!

Oh, Thought too. Huge.

I ordered a dress from Uniqlo, not a tshirt, so I think they are cut differently.
I also wish there were more size 12 models. Very hard to tell sizes when everyone is either 8 or 24.

I found the opposite but sizes seem to be all over the place. I am bmi 19 with a 25" waist/27" navel and find m&s size 10 trousers tight at the waist.

You are right. I think dresses and tops are huge, but trousers run small?

I had to buy a size 6 in Oliver Bonas over the summer. I'm not a sodding six. I'm an 8-10 in most places, but that is basically an old-school 12.

I do wonder how on earth women who are properly thin manage!

We are all supposed to go around in oversized clothes so retailers don't have to worry about whether things fit people properly. It's another way of cutting costs.

I think La Redoute still cut small. I am a 10 (maybe, who knows any more) and often get Mediums.

It's insane. I bought a 'medium' pair of shorts recently and they are like wearing a circus tent. I am about as 'medium' as it is possible to be, but it turns out that as far as White Stuff are concerned I am small or below.

And I've recently fitted into an 8 in one or two brands. THat is beond mad. I'm 60 now and in my much-slimmer twenties I was 10 on a good day, 12 on a bad day. I always thought 8 was for supermodels. Now it turns out it is for comfortably curvy old codgers.

The tape measure might not even help. I've bought several things recently, having carefully measured and consulted the size chart, and they've still been massive.

Every time I use the UNIQLO fit guide thing, it tells me I'm a Medium. Every time I believe it and order a medium, it's too big.

Oh the Uniqlo fit thing never works for me. I thought I was using it wrong.

I think it’s just that the quality control is totally non existent as well. So even within the same shop you can’t rely on a 10 being a good fit every time. the size guide for M&S is completely off compared to the sizes the clothes actually are.
I hate the size inflation there has been. I have size 14 skirt from the 1990s where their waist is a bit snug. My latest pair of jeans from M&S was an 8. It makes me complacent about my weight.

The Uniqlo fit thing is absolute nonsense. It reliably tells me I need a size bigger than I actually do pretty much every time.

Oliver Bonas are the worst for this. Their cuts are massive. ‘Cotton On’ jeans too.

M&S size guide is off too. Tells you to get a size bigger than you are.

I agree. I’m a 12, have been most of my adult life. I’m increasingly having to buy an 8 or 10 (and some 10s are too big)

Yes. Because people are getting bigger. My friend weights exactly the same now as she did when we were students in the early 90s, plus or minus a couple of pounds. Back then, she was a size 12. Now, she’s a size 6 or 8.

The problem with this size inflation is that we are now in the ridiculous situation where, for commercial reasons, the clothing industry is telling people who are actually clinically obese that they are a size 14. It’s no wonder we have a bloody obesity crisis in this country.

Yes! I now order size 6 if I can find them even though I’m an 8/10. Even the 6s are sometimes too baggy on me. I’ve still got a tent-sized Hush jacket that I thought I might be able to alter but I’m scared I’ll ruin it.

I am going to do what I do for M and S. Order stuff to the shop, try it on immediately, then return it rightaway. Will definitely make me buy less. Which is good.

I do think that retailers can't be bothered about proper tailoring because it costs money. My Albaray frock is so nice; pure cotton and a bargain in the sales, but all baggy everywhere. I think the model actually has it pinned to make it look more flattering. It can't be right that I am the same size as the 20 something model!

I think a lot of this is to do with fashion - it’s really fashionable at the moment for everything to be hugely oversized, literally massive. My dd aged 20 who is a size 8 is begging for my old t shirts at the moment as she wants them to wear with cycling shorts and baggy trousers - I’m a 20 and buy all my t shirts size 24-26!

The oversize look makes me look pregnant. DD is sloping around in a huge tshirt as well, but it looks fine on her.

🤣 brilliant description of how Zara makes me feel!

I know this is a monumentally unhelpful comment, but this is part of the reason why I try to make my own clothes (time and skill permitting). I am still in “old style” sizes eg 12 or 14 skirt/trousers when I make my own, as opposed to a 10 in ready to wear.

Similar to a PP, I feel genuinely sorry for the very petite or thin women out there.

Oh, if you want to see old school sizing in action again, try bridal or formal wear shopping - now THAT makes me feel like a hippo!

There are entire shops where not a single thing would fit me except socks! I just don't bother going in them. There's no point when the smallest size is a 10, effectively.

If they're going to do this to the sizes, they need to start stocking 2s and 4s. Which is ridiculous! There's no way on earth I should be wearing a size 2!

This thread has really depressed me .. might need some chocolate to cheer me up 😂😂