Okay, so, Lane Bryant just lost my business

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

. . .I mean, okay, not like it had a whole lot of my business anyway, but still.

They have this new sizing system. It’s called the Right Fit system. It involves a color and a number. The numbers range from 1-9. There are three colors–red, yellow and blue. There are also petite, medium and tall fits.

Oh, yeah. There’s a size converter. That requires measurements. I do not have measurements. I do not want to take measurements. First of all, I’m sitting at my desk at work, and I’m fairly certain that stripping down to my skivvies and breaking out the measuring tape would draw a few raised eyebrows. Secondly, I am not Ms. La-di-fucking-da Fashionplate. My clothes shopping tends to go as follows:

1.) Find jeans that match the magic number.
2.) Pay for jeans that match the magic number.
3.) Profit! Well. That last part doesn’t usually happen. . .

Anyway. Point being, if I wanted to be measured for my clothes, I wouldn’t be shopping at Lane Bryant. I’d be shopping at Contessina de Zaftig, or whatever the high-end, plus-sized clothing store is.

I can’t help but think that this new clothing size scale–the numbers, at least–is meant to somehow boost the self-esteem of women who shop at Lane Bryant. “I’m not a 20–I’m a five!” This, of course, means that the marketing professionals think that the average shopper is about as intelligent as the bendy gecko toy I have on my desk. You know. The one that’s missing an arm-wire because it poked through the artificial petroleum-rubber flesh of his bicep, necessitating an amputation. Or de-boning.

So, yeah. Entirely new system that applies to some, but not all, of their products. I guess I understand the concept behind it; some people have larger middles, and some people have larger bottoms. Fitting right is a good thing. But, for Og’s sake, if you’re selling this crap on a website, offer a converter that makes bloody sense. For instance:

Size 20 = Size 5.
Yellow = Top-heavy
Blue = Bottom-heavy
Red = Average

Do not make me play around with your stupid converter. Do not make me pull up another size chart side-by-side so that I can figure out which number equals which size. You’re not revolutionizing the clothing market; you’re not even revolutionizing your fucking store. The rest of it uses the US standard–which, while it tends to suck, is at least relatively uniform. It’s just YOUR internal brand that’s different.

Well. I’m not buying your internal brand. You guys can bite me. If I can’t tell what freakin’ size the clothes are, I’m not buying them. And I’m certainly not going to your store to play Russian Roulette with a pair of flare-legs. Jeesh. . .

2

The measurements won’t help anyway. Going by my measurements put me two sizes above what I actually wore–they were hilariously large.

Once you figure what size you are in the new system, the jeans (I’d only seen it in jeans when I last went there, though I see that they now have regular trousers and capris) fit great, but I can see where you wouldn’t want to go through all the trouble. A more convenient conversion chart would be very handy.

3

I have no idea about Lane Bryant, but I believe most clothing retailers do think women are that gullible. Vanity sizing fools a lot of women.

One of my friends said to me the other day “I don’t feel like I need to diet. I’ve only gained 30 pounds and I bought some pants the other day and I’m still a size 10.”

Vanity sizing sucks. I don’t know how people trick themselves into believing it, but it makes it harder to shop because you have to try on every single thing. You never know if the sizing is real or not.

Good for you for taking your stand.

4

I’m not a big fan of the new sizing but I do love that their new system is designed to accommodate women of all different builds. Kind of boxy? No problem, you wear green! Lots of junk in the trunk? Purple for you!* It is nice to know that someone out there is noticing that although my former roommate and I were the same height and weight we wore different sized clothes because I am way curvy and she wasn’t so much.

*I am aware they have neither green or purple options, I just can’t remember exactly which color represents which body type at this moment in time.

5

To hell with their sizing system–anything you buy is either made of cheap polyester (read: Hot as Hell and Makes You Sweat) or falls apart!

I bought several tee-shirts from Lane Bryant a few months ago and half of them already have the hems unraveling. They haven’t been worn but a few times each.

It used to be that Lane Bryant made quality clothing. I have a silk blouse from there (I bought it at a consignment store, but it’s made from LB) and a leather jacket (same thing) that have held up very well over the years. Try to find silk or leather or even a good quality COTTON piece in the store now, and your search will be in vain.

Oh, and don’t get me started on POCKETS on the side legs of every.single.pants. I’m sorry, but regardless of my size, if I’m shopping in LB, what makes them think that I want to buy a pair of casual pants with huge pockets on the thighs??? Hello? I do not need anything to make my thighs look thicker, heavier or wider than they are!

6

Pepper Mill likes this new system, too.

I hadn’t noticed that they changed the numbers, too.

7

I love the LB pants sizes. I wouldn’t have had a clue what to order if I was doing it online, but I never buy clothes online. I went into the store and the clerk looked at me for a second and then handed me a pair of jeans she thought would fit. She NAILED my size on the first try, and they’re some of the most comfortable and flattering jeans I’ve ever owned.

I haven’t had a problem with the quality of their clothes in general, and a lot of my clothes are from LB. I guess it depends on what you get, and I tend to gravitate towards sturdy, comfy clothes anyway. I’m wearing one of their t-shirts and a pair of their khaki pants right now. They’ve been worn and washed dozens and dozens of times, and they’re still in good shape. Their bras are good too – LB is the ONLY place I’ll shop for bras.

8

When I first heard about their new system, my reaction was exactly the same. And I haven’t been back since last fall.

My guess is that it’s a little bit about vanity sizing, and a whole bunch about locking in the customer. If they can train you to remember that you are a purple 5, then going to any other store now become a pain in the ass. So much easier to just keep going back to LB and buying the purple 5.

9

I’d put up with the sizing nonsense if their clothes didn’t look like WalMart rejects. Honestly, they used to have a decent variety of casual, semi-professional, and professional clothes. Lots of different colors and styles. Last time I bothered stepping into one of their stores, the clothes were cheaply made, badly cut, and offered in appalling colors.

I’ll stick with The Avenue and Nordstrom’s The Rack.

10

Oh, I hate their Right Fit BS. LB used to be the only place that sold jeans that fit me, but with the new sizing, nothing fits and they gap in strange places that have never gapped before. Plus, they give me a new size every time I go in, even after measuring me and my measurements haven’t changed. :dubious:

Their quality has definitely declined and it’s impossible to find decent work clothes there anymore. Some of us still work in fairly conservative industries and aren’t interested in see-through tops or weird pant lengths. Or horizontal stripes. I have found their t-shirts to be durable, but that was a couple of years ago.

11

The Right Fit crap annoys me too. UGH. I hope my old jeans that fit well never ever wear out. They are not allowed.

12

Lane Bryant used to be owned by the same company that owned The Limited. I have a twinset I bought there ten years ago which still looks beautiful. However, more recently, the company that owns Fashion Bug purchased Lane Bryant, and I think this is the root of the problem.

That said, the Right Fit yellow jeans fit me very well. I have narrow hips and a small butt (in proportion to the rest of me) and if I want pants to fit my waist, they end up being huge in the butt and thighs. I don’t have this problem with the Right Fit jeans. However, I don’t plan on buying any more of them; I have jeans from another store which fit nearly as well and cost half what the Lane Bryant ones do.

13

Same here. I took my measurements and ordered my pants, and still wasn’t sure if they fit right (I have no idea how pants are supposed to fit, I’m a moron). So I put them on and went to a store and the woman there said “Oh no, you’re 2 sizes smaller! Take those off!” She was right. And my jeans look fan-tastic.

The nice thing is that now I know my size and color I can order online with no problems.

I agree that some of their stuff is of questionable style, but I get my “work clothes” there and for the most part I look fantastic.

AotL, you should really try a pair on in the store and see how it works out for you. You can’t really get the “Right Fit” by measuring yourself anyway.

14

That would explain a lot. (The change in ownership)

But, Telperien tell me of this “another store” b/c it sounds like the fit I need!

(I haven’t been to LB in a while for clothes, so I haven’t checked out the new sizing thing)

15

The Right Fit pants are the only thing I go to Lane Bryant for*. I have a 14-15" difference between my waist and my hip/ass measurement. The Right Fit blue pants are the ONLY non-Apple Bottom** pants that have actually fit me at my waist and my hip. They’re not tight at my ass and they actually fit my waist without having so much gaping that I can stack two fists on top of each other and fit them in the waistband, like most other pants.

My only problem is that I’m slowly losing weight and I’m already in the smallest Right Fit size. :frowning: I’m gonna be in that super frustrating area of “your ass is too big for any regular stores but is too small for plus sized stores”.

  • None of the shirts fit me, since I have a huge rack but a tiny ribcage, so all their shirts swim on me and look super sloppy***. I wish they sold their t-shirts in 10-12 (like the ones they make for the mannies to wear during promotions), because those fit me great!

** Yo, Apple Bottoms: MAKE SOME WORK TROUSERS, I’M BEGGING YOU. Your jeans fit me like a goddamn DREAM but I can’t wear jeans to work, okay?
*** You don’t want to know the nasty looks you can get from some fellow shoppers in a plus size store when you don’t fit into the smallest size. I’m not insulting you by being too small for it, so stop with the death glare, bitch!

16

Oddly enough, I don’t have a problem with them being part of Fashion Bug. I’ll still go to Fashion Bug for jeans. And the ones I get there seem to last a pretty long time.

Oh! And the sizes don’t need the freakin’ Pergamum Codex to interpret!

(Honestly, I think body-shape types for jeans is a freaking great idea, even if I’m one of those people who fits into normal plus-size jeans just fine. But, if you’re gonna do that. . .why not use traditional clothing sizes anyway? Or at least offer a chart that converts without measurements?).

17

But it’s just not simple. Because they’ve made 3 version of waist:hip ratio jeans, a 1 blue is not going to convert to the same generic size as a 1 red or yellow. Plus (keep in mind I only have experience with having a huge ass), it’s really not accurate anyway.

I estimate the Right Fit 1s to be their equivalent of a normal LB 14; both of them are the smallest sizes that LB carries, so logically…

But I can’t stuff my goddamn ass into a normal 14 to save my life. My waist? Sure, it can fit. I’d be busting out the seams because of the above-mentioned 14" larger ass. The Right Fit blue 1s though aren’t tight at all.
You can’t really convert to the standard sizes because they’re completely different from the standard sizes, which is the point.
To use another company, I have a pair of New York and Co. pants. They’re a size 18. NYCo doesn’t really size for asses at all. Therefore, these size 18s pull at my ass so the side pockets gape in a REALLY attractive manner. The waist is so huge that I could fit an aquarium into it, I swear. I’d estimate that my waist is an NYCo size 14, while my hips would be a (theoretical, since they don’t carry it) size 20. That’s a 3 size difference. Yeesh.

18

The Avenue, as mentioned by phouka, is quite good and that’s where I get most of my clothes. My good jeans, though, come from JCPenney’s–they’re a.n.a. brand and I recommend them.

Now if I could just get clothing manufacturers to put real sleeves on shirts instead of those tiny cap sleeves, I’d quit complaining.

I measured a pair of my Lane Bryant jeans once, and the difference between the waist and hip is about six inches. That’s the yellow style, mind you. As zweisamkeit says, conversion, while it would be a boon, is not that easy.

19

I hate the right fit because they don’t. I have a big belly (spare tire) and NO hips or ass. My measurements are something like 40 50 35. Every pair of pants I buy doesn’t fit, and then slides down and shows my crack.

And I can’t wear suspenders because of the big tits.

Sigh.

20

AMEN. I am SO sick of that…Old Navy used to be one of my favorite stores and they have plus sizes online, but I’ll be damned if I can ever find a summer shirt there with real sleeves on it.