Comments on: Vanity sizing and the little black dress

By: kathleen

kathleen — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:27:32 +0000

Outsized? No. It just means that the *median* size of a given manufacturer has increased. Obesity is on the increase. You are to be commended for keeping your figure but statistically, most have not. More importantly tho, obesity is on the increase among the young. This matters because it’s young people who buy the majority of clothing. They are the new median size.

Smaller sized clothing is more expensive clothing. The wealthier are thinner than average. When we were younger, we perhaps bought more fashion forward, less expensive items. Now that we’re older, it’s time to gravitate to classics I suppose, items that last longer and cost more. It’s in that market that you’ll find more appropriately sized apparel.

Another alternative is searching out designers who design for you. By definition, they won’t be mass market brands (the mass market is oversized) but sell to boutiques. Yes it’s more costly but then they tend to produce domestically (no sweat shops) and don’t have the economies of scale. We aren’t the majority any longer and so, can’t enjoy the clout of being marketed to and designed for at costs we’re used to paying anymore. This is just one respect in which obesity incurs costs to everyone.

By: Teresa

Teresa — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:05:06 +0000

AllI know is that I used to be a size 2 and now a 00 is too big and I am the same weight/height. so if vanity sizing is actually sizing to the mean of a given manufacturer’s demography” have I been outsized or something? Did the manufacturers just decide that there were no small women?I should be a size 2 and a size small.

By: kathleen

kathleen — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 22:38:33 +0000

I understand you’re frustrated and perplexed. While you were at the wikipedia site, you missed the only fact based article explaining what is happening with sizing. There’s a rational explanation. In a nutshell, it’s sizing to the mean of a given manufacturer’s demography. If you just want to rail because you’re frustrated, so be it. If you want a rational explanation, this is the start:
http://www.fashion-incubator.com/mt/archives/the_myth_of_vanity_sizing.html

By: Frannie

Frannie — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 12:11:34 +0000

So, a week after reading this I was given an outfit that a friend bought in Italy. It is 2 whole sizes bigger than what I supposedly wear from American stores. AND this same friend gave me some clothes from a store that I frequently shop from and the pants are from about 3 y ears ago….they are all 1 whole size bigger and fit the same as the size I buy now. I knew I had heard of it, but that was proof positive to me! Same store — two different sizes, exact same fit. Crazy!

By: MomWeightLoss

MomWeightLoss — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 03:17:47 +0000

I'm with Hannha on this one. Vanity sizing and jeans...yuck. I hate that designers and retailers know they can mess with my mind. And I hate that I allow them to. MomWeightLoss's last blog post..convincing the hubby I'm right

By: Haystacks

Haystacks — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 04:20:05 +0000

Vanity sizing shows how much is wrong with this country. Clothing stores put alot of effort in creating a sense of cashe and chicness, and in their blind eyes, a plus size can never be this, but they still want the plus size dollar. Rather than having accurate sizing and just carrying bigger sizes, they insist on false “Vanity Sizes”. Would it be such a crime to simply carry clothing for fat people instead of cloaking the process in either shame or denial?

By: Jess

Jess — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:37:46 +0000

I don’t think men are immune from vanity sizing either…

I went to buy a pair of man-pants in a particular style/fabric. I try a 34, and get a 32. No problem, it’s the size I wanted and it fits as I wanted/expected it to. Man pants are fun and easy!

On to the next pair, I try a 33 and a 32, with both falling off. Surely I haven’t shrank an inch or two in the minute it’s taken me to try on shorts… I go to another store, notorious for vanity sizing in the women’s section, to also find that I would probably need a 30 to fit the exact same area as the first pair of size 32, but they would have been too short.

I leave the dressing room and yell at my friend “I thought men were supposed to have it easy buying pants and not suffer from vanity sizing! Maybe the stores us different inches or something…”

Somewhere in Europe, next to the kg, there is the Std. inch, the Gap/ON/BR inch, the JCP inch…

By: Big Girl

Big Girl — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:16:54 +0000

Hi there... I just found your blog. It's right up my alley. I'm a mom of one and totally stuggling to fit in work out time. What a constant struggle. And yes, vanity sizing works for me. Sadly, I totally buy into it. Big Girl's last blog post..Operators Standing By...

By: Amanda - The Mom Crowd

Amanda - The Mom Crowd — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:43:09 +0000

Vanity sizing works on me, but then it doesn’t make me want to work out. i justify it by saying that I still fit into some 4′s or 6′s, but in reality I know I am an 8. And that is my caution sign to get my butt on a treadmill.

I think Gap and it’s company of brother and sister store like Banana Republic and Old Navy are the worst offenders of this.

Amanda – The Mom Crowd’s last blog post..Kegels – A Lifetime Exercise

By: Angie

Angie — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:35:42 +0000

I think buying clothes nowadays just plain SUCKS! That my opinion and I am sticking to it!

Angie’s last blog post..Finding Serenity