Women’s sizes in clothing aren’t at all sensible; not only are they different between inexpensive/expensive clothing, they’re different between brands. Men’s clothes don’t do silly things lke that; a 32 waist isn’t actually 31" in some brands and 33" in others. Men can usually buy pants without trying them on; I can’t unless I know the brand well enough to know what size I am in them.
Spoken like somebody who’s never bought men’s clothes. I run into this problem all the time; some brands are smaller or larger than others. Sometimes there’s a difference in one brand between which fabric they used. A similar style may actually have a radically different cut. I always have to try on pants unless I already own the exact same brand and style and am confident I haven’t had any weight fluctuations. It’s not as easy as you seem to think, Gaudere. Still, I grant that more weirdness happens with women’s clothing than with men’s.
–Da Cap’n
“Playin’ solitaire 'til dawn
With a deck of fifty-one.”
[minor highjack] I’ve always been flummoxed about the price/value/material content ratio of women’s shoes as compared to men’s shoes.
A pair of black women’s shoes, total material about an ounce and a half, nearly indistinguishable from a gazillion other pairs of shoes, painfull and toe-pinching…cost = $75.00+
A pair of men’s wingtips, massive, thick soles, uppers heavy as saddle leather, comfy and solid…cost = $100.00+
I swear, you could just about create a pair of women’s shoes from the tongues of a pair of wingtips.
The costs vary, or course. But for an equal dollar amount, men get much more shoe material-wise.
Maybe it’s because men only have to buy 2, maybe 3, different types of shoes so there’s not as much of a demand. And, men’s styles don’t change too often–maybe once a century.
Ok. I’m done.
[/minor highjack]
Heck, it’s not only different between brands, it’s different within brands. I once ordered two pairs of pants from Land’s End. Not wanting to end up sending them back, I took all my measurements, compared 'em to the charts, and ordered size 12. When I got them, one pair was too small, and one pair was too big. Completely insane, as far as I’m concerned.
(Rysdad, men’s shoes are sold by the lb.)
I’ve noticed a couple of catalogues have gone into larger woman’s sizes - Land’s End and Cross Bridges or something. LL Bean has always, IIRC, had some larger sizes but not large enough for the size 15 >> 17 shoe guys.
Genetically, I’ve seen a couple of articles saying we have hit the max for people size. At least those of us in industrialized countries have.
Baby boomer wise, the sizes have to get larger because some of those guys are getting pretty plump–I think that accounts for the larger sizes just coming out in catalogues.
Pass the celery and carrots, thanks.
Oh, I’m gonna keep using these #%@&* codes 'til I get 'em right.
[Hijack]
I am the freakish height of 6’3" (WHOA! You hardly ever see that in modern America). Why the hell can’t I sit down on a public bus? I HAVE to take two seats if I sit by the window, or half the aisle if I sit by it. The buses are often CROWDED, so this is not good. Manufacturers of clothes and everything else seem to be going by some table of human dimensions compiled in 1649, the sadistic jerks.
Let’s get some guns and demand justice!
[/Hijack]
Amen. Like the Cap’n, I admit women’s clothes are worse, but the makers of men’s clothes are no angels in this regard either.
I (normally) wear size 44 pants (which are a pain in the ass to find anyway - no pun intended), but, depending on the makers and styles a pair of size 44s can range from closer to 40 ( :eek: ) to 46.
Eschew Obfuscation
lots of tall folks here! next trip to the mens wear department, try looking for short sizes. women have petite stores, men have clothing tghat needs to be altered. j.c.penney’s catalog states that the clothing is available in “regular and tall sizes.” regular sizes at penney’s start at 5’7". if you are a man, under 5’7" off the rack clothing is virtually impossible to find. i could rant on, but i have a pair of jeans from the gap i need to shorten and hem.
“don’t get strung out by the way that i look, don’t judge a book by it’s cover” (tim curry as dr. franknfurter in rhps)
Hey, even if the catalogue stores advertise the larger sizes, that doesn’t mean they stock them. I have ordered (or tried to order) a larger women’s size from Land’s End 4 times in the last year. Every last time they did not have the product in stock–even when I ordered the DAY the catalogue came in the mail!
One interesting fact–there has recently been a remeasurement of women for sizing. Last one was done in the 40s. Hopefully, the manufacturers will take heed. Sewing pattern companies have said they won’t be regrading their patterns because it would cost too much. Sewing patterns still reflect the sizes of the 1970s–a size 14 is a 36 inch bust for women. That’s about an 6-8 in retail (2-4 in really expensive clothes as pointed out previously!)
APB,
From a 5’3" chick to a 6’3" dude:
“How’s the weather up there?”
Hey, I had to say it…
“…short people aint got no…”
“…they got little eyes, they got little feet, they got little cars that go beep, beep, beep…”
(man the goofy shit one can think of to amuse themselves :rolleyes: )
Actually, the average adult height for an American woman is 5’3.6" and the average adult height for an American man is 5’9". So “petite” sizes start at a little over the average height. I think that clothes manufacturers are just stupid. If any of them had some sense, they would make clothes in a larger variety of sizes (and charge a little more for the rarer sizes). But they are so blindly prejudiced by what “fashion” dictates that they would rather forego the extra profit than make fashionable clothes in unfashionable sizes.
In general, businessmen (and businesswomen) are stupid. They often forego extra profit because it would require them to invest in things that violate their long-standing prejudices.
A good friend of mine is 4’11" and weighs 90 pounds. As you can probably guess, shopping is not easy for her. Her solution: buy party clothes from the kids section. She loves to dress up (I don’t think she owns a pair of jeans) and is always happy to tell me about the black velvet pants she got for $8 in juniors. She also can find stuff marked down a lot, because not a whole lot of other people are size 1.
I’m 5’5" and pretty averagely sized. I’m boring. <g>
~Harborina
“This is my sandbox. I’m not allowed to go in the deep end. That’s where I saw the leprechauns.”
Seriously? I thought the “size 44” refered to the actual, honest-to-God waist measurement in inches. I can understand how the cut of the pants can matter, but I though a 44 waist was always 44 inches, no matter what. (And I’ve never seen my brother try on a pair of casual pants. Suit pants, yes, but those have to get hemmed and stuff anyhow. He just looks at the waist and inseam size and takes 'em to the cash register.)
Dirt, me thinks there is a Gap in your brain < giggle > and if you really think those orange shirts should be worn outside of a Broncos or Bengals stadium, me thinks you need to go into a 12 step program for the fashion confused.
Hehehe, sorry I am in a spicy mood tonight.
Well, as someone who is 6’9" and closer to 300# than 200, I have to say that finding clothes is a bit of a challenge. Eddie Bauer is fairly good. My problem is that stores have pants with my waist size, and pants with my inseam, but never in the same pair of pants. Luckily my feet stopped at 15. That seems to be the cutoff for what stores carry. They are hard to find tho, but at least I don’t have to special order. If only I played pro ball, I could afford to buy decent clothes that fit well. I’ll just settle for being a slob.
Supposedly it does. In a perfect world. It seems, in our non-perfect one, that different companies have different ‘inches’, though.
What size is your brother? Maybe it’s a quirk of larger sizes that this happens.
Eschew Obfuscation
In the UK, we always have good old Marks and Spencer. Now even better than before, as they have added XXL across their menswear range.
Like Big Matt, I grew up with shoe purchasing difficulties (only size 14). Over the past few years, the problem has moved up the size range, and I have found the few manufacturers who make the splendid brogues that I can buy without too much shopping around.
What about hats though? [Serious] I have a big head [/Serious] but no-one seems to cater for size 7.5 - 8.
All of the averages so far have been US based. In Scotland, there seems to be a huge difference in average heights between Edinburgh and Glasgow. Whenever I go to Glasgow, I feel absurdly tall (6’2"), but I feel fairly normal in Edinburgh. I have friends working in Amsterdam, and I feel very short in the Netherlands. So, is the US one big melting pot, or do you have such marked regional differences?
Russell
RussellM-
I have not noticed any regional size differences in the U.S. I did make the same observation as you regarding Amsterdam, and in fact, I remember reading a statistic somewhere which said that the Dutch are the tallest ethnic group in Europe (and possibly the world-- I don’t remember).
“Every time you think, you weaken the nation!” --M. Howard (addressing his brother, C. Howard).
Oh yeah, and if any of you big fellers are ever in Atlanta, there is a shoe store here called, I believe, Friedman’s Shoes, which specializes in cool shoes for very big feet. All of the NBA players shop there when they are in town.
Like Russell, I also have a problem finding hats that fit. Anyony know of a haberdashery which can accomodate a big ol’ melon head like mine?