Is it just me, or are clothing sizes getting bigger and bigger?
 

I was shopping today, and tried on a pair of pants in my usual size. To my surprise, it was too big! I'm really small to begin with, so there wasn't a smaller size to try on. I've also not lost any weight at all. I don't think it's fair.

According to my girlfriend, no. Check out A&F. Their womens' sizes are very small from what I understand. I guess it just depends where you shop.

I have heard that some designers do that because it makes women feel better lol :p

Well they should, because lately they've been making stuff smaller and making me feel like a lardass.

You are right!
 

The clothing manufacturers know that we girls like to all be a perfect size 6 (or whatever!) so as people get bigger, they cut clothing bigger and re-label it. I was a size 5 ten years ago. I am still a size 5. I weight about 25 lbs more now than I did then and I haven't grown an inch. People always say "Well Marylin Monroe was a 12!" Yes she was-back then. By todays standards she would have been about an 8. My mom backs me up on this. She was a 12 in highschool. She's an 8 now. And she is much bigger now than in highschool!;)

I feel bad now...I called the store's customer service number (it's a well known North American chain store), and I think I exagerated to the person who answered the phone about how much bigger it was. But it was still big.

KTSnake: Thanks for the note on AF. :)

Re: You are right!
 

I thought size 3 was like the perfect size? The Size to be? with some variation do to height?

Re: Re: You are right!
 

Odd numbered sizes are juniors sizes while even numbered ones are "Misses". Traditionally speaking, anyway.

Re: Re: Re: You are right!
 

Well 3-4 then lol:)

Sizes are getting bigger...or smaller. I used to fit into a 7/8, no problem. Now, at chain stores (Gap, Banana, JCrew) I wear a 4. Now I have to try on everything. :mad:

Re: Re: You are right!
 

A size 3/4 is very small for my body type. I would fall over if I were that thin.

Back to the original question: Sometimes I find the size of clothes varies greatly depending on the designer.

I think clothes as a whole are getting bigger. Its hard for me a lot to find pants, shorts, skirts and dresses small enough to fit me.

However it also depends on the brand of the clothing. A lot of sizes are mis-sized. For example at Guess or Express you can take 3 pairs of jeans of the same style back to the fitting room with you all marked the same size yet maybe only one pair of those three may fit you. I run into this problem a lot when i shop for clothes as well. It ticks me because it wastes my time.

American Eagle clothes run weird. The bottoms are huge, while the tops are tiny. You try to figure out how I can wear a size 0 skirt with a size medium shirt. :confused:

Don't know about clothes being bigger, but they sure are longer!! Manufacturers seem to think that if you are a plus size, you are also 6 feet tall. I haven't seen a skirt or dress this year that did not drag the ground on me, and I'm 5'4".

Maybe you should shop in the petite section. She is 5'4" and has a difficult time finding dresses, suits, and pants that fit properly. She does well with petite sizes. :)

It's true, clothing sizes are drifting. It's all about marketing. If brand X's size 12 jeans and brand Y's size 14 jeans fit you the same, which are you going to buy? The 12's, so you can say you wear a size 12.

The one thing that's not drifting is wedding dresses. When I went wedding dress shopping I was asked what size I wear for cocktail dresses. I said "10" and was sent to the 14s. :(

Well I work in the mall, and for those who are familiar with the Casual Corner, Petite Sophisticate, and Augusta Max, they are re-doing their sizes.
My friend found out that the Augusta Max, which was for "plus" sized women is now going to hold sizes 10 to 16 (or more). The regular Casual Corner is going to hold about the same sizes as it does now, and Petite Sophisticate still has sizes 0 on up.

AMEN! And I'll also second the thought on wedding dresses being cut really small. I went to David's Bridal to try on bridesmaid dresses for my little's wedding, and I had to go up 6 sizes from what I normally wear in order to find a dress that would fit me in the bust. Meanwhile, I am swimming in it in other places...you'll practically be able to make another dress out of the amount of material that will have to be removed to hem it. Oh, the joy of being short and busty. :rolleyes:

I have noticed that women's tops have been getting much smaller. I have several sweaters from one brand of clothing...both XL, both same style but some are a few years older. The older sweaters are larger and longer than the newer ones. I can't fit into any of the women's tops at Old Navy, and I have to go a size up at Target. It is annoying.

Re: Is it just me, or are clothing sizes getting bigger and bigger?
 

Gain some weight.

I've lost 30 lbs in the last few months and I still can't find pants that fit. I'm sick of all the stores with attractive clothing downsizing their clothes - they fit me when I weighed this much before, so why don't they now?

Limited has actually made their clothing smaller and stopped carrying larger sizes, however, I don't think we have stores in Canada.

Re: Re: Is it just me, or are clothing sizes getting bigger and bigger?
 

It's really difficult for me to gain weight.

American Eagle does make their clothes really big. I can wear like a 4 there, while I usually wear a 6 or 7. I'm bigger on the top and I've noticed that Hollister is extremely small!! It's weird to go shopping anymore. Whenever I got my senior prom dress, I had to get a 10 and I was TINY back then, like barely a 2.

I find shirst are getting smaller and smaller...and tighter and tighter. What's the point of wearing a shirt if it's barely there? You might as well just walk around in your bra.

There really needs to be some kind of standard. A size 14 in one store could be a size 10 in another.

I find that most brands are standard in their sizing, but some brands, especially those from abroad, tend to be smaller, even after converting to sizing systems of various countries. I think they convert it to an older sizing system.

excuse me but NWIH is a 10 a "plus size"!!! :mad:

no wonder eating disorders are everywhere.

Maybe it's a really big 10? Don't forget that a size 6 just a couple of decades ago was a size 10.

My thoughts exactly. Because of my height and bone structure, I'll never be under a size 10 (unless I want to look scary-thin).

ETA: And I don't want clothing companies to change their sizing just to make me "feel better." It's a number, not the definition of my being. I'd prefer to make my own clothing and tailor it to fit me well than worry if I'm a size 6 or 8 or 24 thankyouverymuch.

I find that Abercrombie has gotten smaller and smaller over the years, at least in their tops. I have a shirts that I got there in 98/99 in medium/large and they're comfy big on me. I have another shirt that I got in 2001, and I had to get an XL, even though I was the same size in everything else. Now, I don't even bother to buy tops there, and I'm only a 34/36 C. Since when is that XL??

juniorgrrl, I'm the same size as you and I had to buy XLs at JCPenney even. It was absolutely ridiculous.

I did a little experiment with stuff from Aber the other day - I compared a medium shirt from 1997 with an XL shirt from 2002. The medium was bigger.

A few years ago I heard that a size 8 was a big size. I've been an 8 since I was 14 years old, and it was considered a small size then.

My pea coat is from A&F. It's a medium and its a little big on me. I got it in 2000. I went in there last Friday night and there was no way I could have fit in most of the stuff there. :rolleyes:

I've heard that 8 and 10 are used for plus size models because they're chubby enough to give the look of "plus size" without actually being plus sized.

I've heard the term "vanity sizing" used when manufacturers go up a size (or more) in clothing. For example, I have to go down a size at J.Crew, DKNY, Gap, Old Navy and Ann Taylor. However, at Georgiou, I have to get tops in a medium, sometimes a large. Junior sized pants tend to be too small in the thigh, while misses pants can be too "hippy." The list goes on and on. It makes shopping for clothing via the Internet a real nightmare.

Very true - I've met a Gamma Phi from another chapter who was a "plus size" model - the girl could NOT have been larger than an 8, and was absolutely gorgeous, but in the fashion world, she was somehow plus size.

That is absolutely heinous.

I think some of you are probably just stretching the clothing out so it's not like the manufacturer really makes it that big.

-Rudey

You are right. Standards for clothing sizes abroad are very different, more like sizes here used to be. I have some clothes my mom gave me from the late 70s, and they're all size 10...and I usually wear around a 4 in today's sizes.

However, you'd be really surprised at how lax the sizing standards are in the US. The ASTM publishes a manual (which was kinda like our Bible :p) that details sizing requirements...however, there is an allowance of as much as 1/4" for some measurements. That can alter fit a lot. So a size 4 in one brand might differ by that much in another brand and still be labeled a size 4...and this can even happen in clothes that are the same brand. That's why I always try stuff on before I buy...even if you think you wear a certain size, you never know how an individual garment will fit.

Styles a few years ago were baggy and long. Shirts now are tight and short. That could be some of the difference in the shirts.

Sizes did change a few years back.

When I was at my ideal weight (back in 1981), I wore a size 11, just because I was curvy. It all depends on your body type. Now that I've had two kids, even if I weighed 115, I'd have big hips and would have to buy a size to fit my hips, even though my waist was smaller. I loved the baggies of the 80's for that reason! Nice cinched waists with plenty of hip room.. lol.

Dee

WORD on Abercrombie and Fitch. Way back in the early-mid 90s, I bought lots of things there. They were great for big comfy sweaters and big flannel shirts. I don't think I could fit into any of their shirts now.

And I have the opposite problem with Old Navy jeans that many people here do. I have to go UP a size in their jeans.

And in the fashion world, a "petite model" is 5'6.

I don't know if they're getting smaller, but they are definitely all over the map. I have pants ranging in sizes from 2 to 7, and they all fit me the same. What? How am I supposed to know what size to try on? It's all terribly confusing.

And shirts. Some places I'm an XS, some places I'm a M. I'm baffled by this phenomenon.