Vanity Sizing

Kyle

There was an interesting article in this morning's paper about vanity sizing. They sent a woman shopping for a black dress. She's 52 yrs old, 5' 11" and normally a size 6 or 8. She found five dresses that fit, and they showed photos of her looking great in each:

Calvin Klein, Size 4
Banana Republic, Size 6
ABS, Nordstrom, Size 8
Maggy London, Nordstrom, Size 10
The Limited, Size 12

Wouldn't it be great if all the retailers would play nice and conform to a standard sizing structure? It sure would make online shopping easier.

There's a company called Size Me Up that will soon be providing an online converter for clothing styles. So, for example, if you know you at a 6 in Gap Jeans, it would tell you what size you would need in J Crew. Supposed to be working soon at sizemeuponline.com

15 years ago

Shopping

9 replies

Latest reply was from Nicole

Tanya

Veteran

Interesting info Kyle. The sizing is all over these days. I am wearing anything from 0 to 6 depending on a company. That website idea is interesting, but I don't know how accurate it will be, considering that there are size variations within same brand. But it's certainly worth of a try.

15 years ago

Maya

Veteran

I would never want any kind of sizing standard implemented. That would be a disaster. After all, what would those who did not conform to this standard do? What would this standard even be like, and who would get to decide? If the average American woman is 5'4 and a size 14, should that be considered a medium? Then where would that leave people like Angie, Tanya, and Shiny?

I remember when Angie posted about an experimental size standardization system, where you could enter your measurements and it would tell you what your size would be according to this standard. I and several other women were not included in this system, which was an obviously pathetic attempt at vanity sizing, where a size 0 had 38" hips or something like that.

Even within a single store or brand, I think sizes can vary a lot. But the beauty of this is that just about everyone can find stores and individual pieces where the sizing and fit work for them. A little more hassle for a much better result. I think the better idea is to have more sites do what Boden does and just post the garment measurements online. I can't understand why that hasn't dawned on most retailers.

15 years ago

Active Member

As I've been re-building my wardrobe after losing weight, I've realized that I can't assume that I will be a certain size. I've bought in the last month clothes that were size 6, 8 and 10. I'm learning that if something doesn't fit, try the next size up or down for sure because you just never know.

15 years ago

Anonymous

Maya took the words right out of my mouth!

As much of a hassle it is to find the right fit, it is so wonderful when you find the right brand or style that works for you. If everything was uniform, I would probably never be able to find something that works.

15 years ago

Active Member

I heard about "vanity sizing" too, good news for those who are 10's and 12's; it's not so great for 2's and 4's because due to vanity sizing sometimes a size 0 can be a bit big for us! It's no fair!

15 years ago

Mai

Active Member

I think we really need to just drop sizing and go with measurements. It's so much more useful to know that a pair of jeans has a low-rise waist measurement of 29" (fits me) than that it's size 6 (may or may not fit me), or that a shirt is 32 inches around the bust (may or may not fit me, depending on how generous the cut is, but it's worth a try) than that it's a Small (could be way too big or way too small). The numbers are just arbitrary.

15 years ago

ImogenL

(website)

Active Member

If women weren't so obsessed about the size on the tag, there would be no need for vanity sizing. Over the years the sizes have been cut larger and larger, so what was a size 10, 10 years ago, is now a size 4 or 6, it's not that people have gotten that much smaller, it's just we all want the smallest number on the tag as that makes our ego feel better.

There needs to be a more relative standard, that is a size 10 has a 30" waist, a 32C cup bust and some other more standard measurements, rather than size 10 might have a 26" waist in some shops and 34" in others, all a size is, is a guide to help you choose a piece of clothing when you walk into a store.

We're all built differently, so some brands are cut curvier, and some straighter, which is fine, it's more about the wide variation of sizes that I have an issue with.

Time to get off my soap box.

15 years ago

Nicole

Veteran

Mai, you just described men's sizing. And I agree with you 100%. Think about it, a guy needs a pair of jeans, he knows his waist measurement and his inseam. He can walk into just about any store, look for his own combination of measurements, pull a pair off the rack, take them home and they are pretty much guaranteed to fit. I regularly buy my husband clothes online, and the only time I have to return something is if he does not care for the style. Even men's dress shirts are sized by chest/neck/arm measurements.

Of course there are different "cuts", but once you know what cut works, you can stick with it until the designers decide to rename a cut or invent a new one.

15 years ago

Nicole

Veteran

Imogene, the problem with a "standard" like that is most people are not standard from bust to waist to hip. If I compare my bust, waist, hip measurements to the size guide measurements, I'm a 14 at the bust (but 14's are HUGE on my shoulders and arms), I'm an 8 on the waist and a 4 or 6 on the hip. So finding things like dresses and coats is challenging, but if there was a standard that made 32C/30" waist/34" hip a size 10--then I would be SOL.

15 years ago

Category