Is 'vanity sizing' getting worse?

[LaburnumGrove]

Years ago I was a 10 and my wedding dress was a 10 (very fitted waist) and my waist was 24 inches.

We all know that has changed and some 10s now are 28 inch waist.

But what about tops too?

I've noticed that more and more tops (T shirts etc) are available in a size 6 which was very unusual before.

I'm usually an 8 now in many clothes but some tops I'm verging on needing a 6. I'm petite and 32D bust but size 6 hardly ever existed in most brands years ago.

I couldn't give two shits about what size anyone else is wearing but what I do care about is me not being able to find clothes that fit me. I'm natutally slim and petite and size 6 is now frequently too big for me.

Yeah, a 12 from the 80s is more like a 6/8 now.

Even in the 90s sizes 4/6 were virtually unheard of. 8 was the smallest and it was tiny.

I think the 'boxy' cuts on everything make it worse.

I'm an Amazon woman. 5'11, muscled, big boned. Approx 40"/31"/41".

My most recent purchases - tried on in store to make sure they fit - were size Medium or Small. I would've gone XS in a Lululemon jacket if it weren't for the sleeve length.

I'm also increasingly finding Tall pants are too long for me.

Who cares?

People definitely seem to agree that it’s ’a thing’, but I personally haven’t noticed it.

I was a size 8-10 in most shops as a very slim teen in the 1990s, a 10 in my 20s and have been at the same weight and a size 12 (excluding pregnancy/post partum) for the last 20-ish years.

Sizes seem consistent with my gradual weight gain over the years and are the same in most shops other than a few weird outliers like Zara where I can be anything from Medium to XL and always have to try stuff on.

My mum, who has been the same weight all her adult life, had always been and is still a size 10.

I bought jeans for my male partner the other day, he tried them on and was laughing how big they are. They were supposed to be a 29waust. We measured and they were actually 34 so it's men's too. This was Uniqlo.

I will add that things have definitely got longer!

I’m 5’11 and often don’t even need to shop in the Tall range these days to get trousers long enough. Regular size often fits. This was unheard of 10 let alone 20+ years ago.

Completely agree! I now buy from Benetton and some more Eurocentric stores and H and M as they are more true to size.

That's BS. No one gives a shit.

Everyone on this thread who is ‘naturally skinny and petite’

like other people are unnaturally thin or decided they were going to be tall all by themselves 🙄 the internalised misogyny on this thread is astounding.

Inconsistent industry sizing is one thing and an issue. Calling it vanity sizing is just posters telling on themselves.

I agree, so tired of having to send clothes back.

I do agree vanity sizing is the case, but for as long as I can remember a size 10 was a 28 inch waist. I used to buy topshop jeans religiously in school 10+ years ago and vividly remember buying a 28 waist size 10. Sizes to differ between brands though 🤷🏻‍♀️

I'm not skinny! I'm chunky. But I also know that while now I'm a 14/16 that YEARS ago, when I was a 14, I was hugely smaller than I am now. I actually have an '80's size 14 dress. It's tiny. My thigh would struggle to get into the waist.

People that buy online and then have the hassle of returning things as the sizing is out.

That's why I prefer the High Street .

Vanity sizing is an industry term to describe this, not everything is misogyny

the fashion industry is famously misogynistic, borderline paedophilic and environmentally destructive so I’m not taking their word for it.

It's nuts. I'm a size 4 now. Definitely not smaller than I was as a size 8 20 years ago.

Yeah it's going to take a lot more than an arbitrary number for me to delude myself that I'm skinny. I just want some sort of consistent sizing so I know what size to order.

I think it’s as much to do with what kind of body you have tbh. I can remember being a size six in some shops twenty years ago (and a size two in Marc Jacobs) but having to buy size 14 shorts from H&M the same year because I have a small waist but big hips. I’m now a 12 in most shops but when I bought a vintage M&S dress in a size 16 (38 bust which mine is at its fullest) it absolutely swamped me. I assumed because it was almost 30 years old it would be more like a 12. M&S size 12 jeans bought recently were tiny on me yet New Look size 14 ones have about seven inches of give in the waist.

In summation it’s never made sense and I don’t think it ever will 😭

Whereas my Topshop size 14 jeans from my teens in1996 have also got a 28 inch waist! And my waist is 28 inches now, which makes me a 12 in most trousers. 10 in done skirts and dresses. I'm 5'9, so always struggled with arm and leg length. I was in a woman's size 12 skirt at 13 and I was basically a stick.

I also have in my wardrobe a fair few items from the 70s. According to those, I'm size 16-18, whereas my modern wardrobe is mainly 10-12.

Dd is an average height and size 14 yrb old. She finds size 8 too big, which seems ridiculous.

I have a 24’’ waist and it’s hard on occasion to buy things to fit. I sometimes wear children’s clothes. I try and find measurements when buying and on vinted ask people to measure the items for me.

The sizing is vastly different from what it was. I mostly wear vintage clothing, buying clothes from the actual era highlights this in a huge way. There is a wonderful vintage brand that makes their clothes according to 50s measurements. It catches people out if they don’t read the website properly but I find it so refreshing. It does knock the confidence of some people though.

I read on here i think that people are generally taller and wider now due to better nutrition, living conditions etc. So it makes sense that the norm will shift. I think the getting taller thing has peaked. I was shocked to see the average height for a man enlisting in the army for WW1 was 5'4". As a short person, it's great to have the option of different lengths. Would be good to have measurements rather than sizes - online shopping is crap when sizes are so variable. Saw some Top Shop bits in John Lewis which I would have needed to be 10 inches taller to be an option.

I don't know why women's sizes, particularly trousers, can't just do waist size & length like men's do. Why make up random numbers that are different in different shops?

I think they should go one further- waist+ hip+ length.

I used to be a 10 and now I'm either an 8, or sometimes a 6 or XS. I'm petite in height but not especially thin. My clothes that were 10 and still hanging in the wardrobe, mostly from the early 2000s, don't fit me at all, I can't even do them up.
It's just a number, but has given society an illusion of their size and probably makes them think they are a healthy weight when that may not be the case.