I don’t wear 501’s, but I had a rude awakening about my waist size when I ordered some pants online with a 32" waist, because I checked the jeans I had on and they were size 32. They were even a bit loose. The pants came and were quite tight. I pulled out the ruler. The tight ones were actually 32" around. The jeans were almost 1.5" bigger.
Now, I can take having a 33" in waist. I’ll deal. I just wish I hadn’t wasted $40 on the pants that I can’t wear unless I take them out an inch or lose 10 more pounds.
I would love to have real measurement sizes! I love to order online, but I end up sending back clothing more often than I keep it. I’m amazed that I wear something several sizes smaller than I when I was in high school despite the fact that I’m certainly not a smaller person than I was then!
Of course, vanity sizing can still creep in.
For example, I buy breeches for horseback riding that are sized 24, 26, 28, 30, etc supposedly based on your waist measurement. I’ve found that a 26 in the stores today is a lot large than the same brand size 26 I bought several years ago. Okay, so maybe a “26” isn’t a measurement anymore. Perhaps it’s just a size now.
However, as another example, I’ve ordered online and carefully matched my measurements against their sizing guide only to find my clothing was still several sizes too large! How can that be? Why do they say that a size 6 fits certain measurements only to have the item way too large for a size 6? It’s not just that the cut ends up fitting loosely, the darn thing is cut for someone much larger than the sizing guide indicated. Are people fudging their own measurements when determining their size?
If you ask me, garment manufacturers want to force women to spend 2 hours in the dressing room. I think they count on the stereotype of “women like to shop,” therefore they force women to spend hours in their stores trying on stuff.
Whereas the stereotype of “men hate to shop” means men have brand loyalty to the stuff they can go in and not try on.
My big problem is waist to hip ratio, it makes me want to cry. A pair of 16 pants is snug in the hips and somewhere between one and three inches too big in the waist. When I used to be heavier, not a problem, as women’s sizes were okay. However, now that I’m a 14W ish, not so much, as that is usually the smallest size made, if at all. Old Navy is about the only place I can shop as along with vanity sizing, they tend to have steals with more room in the hip. And sadly, weight lose doesn’t seem to help this problem at all, as it’s only made the ratio bigger. I’m so tired of pants that can easily be button but would never zip up. This is why I’ve only bought one pair of pants in the past year.
I am five feet, nine inches tall and weigh 117 pounds. I take a size 1 in junior sizes and a size 2 or 0 in womens. Yes, I sometimes buy clothes from the girls department. Whatever. I will also tell you that I am anorexic, have been hospitalized for it and have been through an outpatient program at the Saint Josephs Medical Center for Eating Disorders. Did it cure me? No way. I like being skinny. (I’m actually “fat” now by my standards, so they must have done something right.) Will this kill me? Maybe, but that’s my choice. In this culture, I’m smart enough to know that skinny girls get all the cake, so to speak.
FWIW, here’s a link to a set of pages about clothing standardization wherein you can find the actual NIST documents about sizes that are now being ignored.
I hate, as in loathe, shopping for clothes. I actually buy almost exclusively men’s clothes, for this exact reason. I hate not knowing what size I wear and having to try on eight different sizes of each article of clothing to figure out which one’s gonna fit right, and beginning the process over every time I go into a different store.
What good is having all the cake if you’re not going to eat any of it? And what’s smart about starving yourself to death?
Am I the only person who found this post extremely disturbing? Let me tell you, Creaky, being a rounded on the edges never stopped me from getting what I want. Being a size 8 or 10 is OK with me. I wish it were for you too. Don’t die over body image, please!
Rubystreak, it’s cool. I didn’t post that for attention, but I try to be frank when I talk about myself or state opinions. I know that it isn’t “smart” at all to restrict food, but it’s the way I’ve been for quite awhile and I do like myself at this size. I also know that a lot of this stems from low self-esteem and all that stuff (you learn that right off in the therapy), but again, it’s tough to eat normally knowing that I’ll feel bloated and uncomfortable and the worst, that I will no longer be able to fit in my “skinny” clothes.
I’m at a weight now where I can function and don’t feel tired or get sick a lot, so trading being 110 or below for feeling pretty good is a trade-off I can live with. I am in therapy, but this is something that is tough to break out of, especially because I don’t want to. And it really is my issue, I know; but I really feel that for me, I get more positive feedback from everyone when I’m skinny. I also know that I still have heart palpitations and lots of lower GI problems because of this, but that’s a consequence of the choice I’ve made. That’s cognitive dissonance, I think, or, as one of my doctors put it, “stupidity”.
Well, me too. I’ve never fit into a size 2 anything anywhere, but when the size 6 pants at the Banana Republic were too big and I had to go back for the 4s, I admit I was pretty gleeful. It was only after I thought about it that I got annoyed. Stupid brain, falling for stupid marketing.
Rubystreak, you were definitely not the only person who found that post disturbing. Creaky likes being skinny, I like eating. Think I’ll stick with the food, thanks.
Creaky, I’m sorry for being so flippant. I realized as soon as I hit post that I shouldn’t have said that. Apologies, and I hope things continue to improve for you.
Once and for all, I just wish there was a mandated international clothing size system for men, women and children.
But that would require something too much like concerted organisation from the fashion industry.
At the moment I’m an Australian size 12. Apparently in the US I would wear a size 8. I have UK jeans in a size 10 and European jeans in a size 28" (waist measurement).
The equivalency means that Australia doesn’t have a size 0 or 00, unless you’re a new-born baby.
My size 10’s are not “fat clothes” though. They are normal sized clothes for a normal sized person. Being skinny is overrated. Trust me on this.
Seems like you care a lot about what people think, and their perception of you. Do you expect them to say, “Creaky, you look way too thin. It’s unhealthy. Eat a sandwich”? They won’t, because it’s rude. But I guarantee that some are thinking that, especially if you are as thin as you say you are. Who exactly are you trying to impress? And why are they so important to you?
I guess this is a hijack. Sorry about that. I bet all the women on this thread who are size -1 and -2 don’t like someone coming in here and saying that anorexia gets people into those sizes, either…
Where was this size 0 when I needed it? (30 years ago)
When I was a telephone installer I went through jeans at a remarkable clip. I think each pair averaged about 3 weeks. I would wear them twice before washing if I could get away with it. And I had a 22-inch waist and 28-inch hips. The phone co. had to special order me a safety belt.
The jeans in the boys dept. fit well but were a bit on the short side. The smallest Levis I could find would fit okay in the hips but have a huge gap in the waist. Stuff from the juniors dept. just wasn’t tough enough for the job.
Oddly enough, western wear places like Sheplers and Miller Stockmen did have tough clothes for women in very small sizes. (Lots of tiny cowgirls I guess.) Whatever…about the time I figured this out I changed jobs and had to get a whole new wardrobe.
If there is a need for sub-zero sizing it is vanity sizing that’s to blame. I am sick of thinking I can buy a pair of jeans that have a tag on them that makes sense. Express used to be my favorite store, but now all of their jeans are made of a stretchy fabric and all of their skirts are ridiculously huge. I bought a pair of size 4 courderoy pants and had to exchange them for a 2. Then I realized that the 2 was too big because the pants stretch out when you wear them. Gap and Banana Republic are the same way. I’m not anorexic or too thin at all. I weigh 125 lbs. and I’m 5’4. That’s a normal, healthy weight.
Clothing manufacturers need to realize that there are a few women out there who just want clothes in traditional sizes. I used to be a 6, now I have no idea what size I am. I can’t buy pants from catalogs or online because I have no idea how they will fit. It’s really silly that we have to guess at our own pants size. I think we should do it like men do, with the inches on there instead of meaningless 0,2,4,6’s on them. It would help women of all sizes.
And women who are not overweight might like some pants that are not stretchy. I prefer a stiffer fabric for some types of pants, especially denim and cords. It just looks and feels better to me, and to a lot of other people. Just because 60% of Americans are overweight doesn’t mean that the other 40% can’t have the fashions they prefer. I wish someone would tell Express and other stores that.
Boy has my life proved this statement wrong. I’ve always been thin, and invariably, people say stuff. I had a guy spend 30 min at my table at work telling me how anorexic I am.
I’m not, for the record, nor have I ever been, nor do I think it is something to accuse someone of lightly. Also, when I was at my highest weight, it was the first time I DID NOT get dirty looks and rude comments about my weight… I was invisible, it was wonderful.
Now, ending the hijack.
The same problem exists with shoes. I sold shoes at one time and outside this illuminated community, your head would boggle at how many pairs of shoes I sold JUST BECAUSE the sizes ran large and it meant a lady that normally wears an 8 1/2 could buy a size 7 and then SAY she was a size 7. It didn’t matter that her foot was the same damn size it always was.
Understand folks, when I see another woman, I can pretty much tell how big she is. Guys don’t. There is an old joke, why are so bad with numbers? Because men always tell them that this [--------------] is 12 inches. Every centerfold in the world gives her measurements as 36-24-36. Most women lie so much about their weight/size that men wouldn’t know what any of it meant anyway. We also lack perspective on what that means. Do women really believe that that model that is 5’10" with all the curves god intended weighs 110?
Heck, Star Jones said she was a 14. I have been a 14. NFW was I within even 50lbs of her at her top weight. I doubt I was within 100lbs of her. But hey, she probably had a 14 somewhere in her closet and that was the gospel.
If women’s clothes went to measurements, men would be able to see what size we REALLY are, the HORROR. Vanity sizing indeed.
