# What Does Women's Size X Look Like? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 17, 2009, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-womens-size-x-look-like/506682 "2009-08-17T02:20:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-womens-size-x-look-like/506682/21 "2009-08-17T15:27:09Z")
> [@badbadrubberpiggy](#): > > Women’s sizes are messed up, and vary a ton from designer to designer. For example, I wear a 4…and a 6, an 8 and a 10. Depending on where I got each piece of clothing, or an xs to a medium for non-numbered sizes. Tell me about it. I started feeling angry just reading the thread title. ---
**Author:** ![FalconFinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@FalconFinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FalconFinder)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-womens-size-x-look-like/506682/22 "2009-08-17T15:41:59Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > I don’t think the model picture linked above is wearing a 4, but I could be wrong. > > My wife is 5’6". Before she had kids she weighed 118 and wore a size 2. After 2 kids she’s about 125 and usually wears a 4, but can still squeeze into some of her size 2 outfits. > > [off topic] Was it Family Guy? I was watching it last night too and also noticed the comment from Lois that she was a size 4. [/ot] What year was this or what manufacturer? Back in the late 80’s when I was 5’6"\* and 120 (my thinnest), I was lucky to squeeze (painfully) into a size 10! My most comfortable size (fitting, not loose, not skin tight) was around a 12/13. We won’t go into what size I wear now… ☹ \*Somewhere along the line, I seem to have lost an inch or so, depending on who measures me. I’ve gained weight and can only assume that’s where I lost height… ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-womens-size-x-look-like/506682/23 "2009-08-17T16:56:51Z")
Before I lost the weight, I was a size 10. I lost 40 pounds, and I can get into a size 4, but it’s a tad snug. Size 6 is more comfortable, but there is a gap. I think vanity sizing has something to do with it. When I was a skinny teenager mumbly mumbly years ago, I wore a size 8. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-womens-size-x-look-like/506682/24 "2009-08-17T17:17:57Z")
I like how my pants are simply given measurements like 34 waist, 34 length. Why aren’t women’s clothes measured like that? Would seem to save a lot of trouble. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-womens-size-x-look-like/506682/25 "2009-08-17T17:46:54Z")
> [@FalconFinder](#): > > What year was this or what manufacturer? > > Back in the late 80’s when I was 5’6"\* and 120 (my thinnest), I was lucky to squeeze (painfully) into a size 10! > > My most comfortable size (fitting, not loose, not skin tight) was around a 12/13. > > We won’t go into what size I wear now… ☹ > \*Somewhere along the line, I seem to have lost an inch or so, depending on who measures me. I’ve gained weight and can only assume that’s where I lost height… This was around 2000, no idea of a manufacturer. I only know the details b/c I was talking with a business colleague once who kept bragging that when we went out that night I’d meet his new (trophy) girlfriend (who was half his age), and that she was a size 2. Oh, and did I mention she’s a size 2? I remember thinking, big deal, my wife’s a size 2- and I only knew that because she had just come home with a couple new dresses. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-womens-size-x-look-like/506682/26 "2009-08-17T17:47:00Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > I like how my pants are simply given measurements like 34 waist, 34 length. Why aren’t women’s clothes measured like that? Would seem to save a lot of trouble. I completely agree, but I have no idea why they don’t do it. A few manufacturers sell by “waist size” but it doesn’t necessarily correspond with your actual waist size, either - IME, for clothes by “waist size” you actually wear the size that’s two inches or so smaller than your actual waist, but I’m not sure if that’s true of men’s sizes, too. I would kill for at least more length options - we get 3, at most. Petite, average/medium, and tall. I’m just this side of too tall for petites, so I have to hem all my averages. I know plenty of people who too tall for tall. Options in between those 3 lengths would be fabulous. ---
**Author:** ![MeDrewNotYou](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@MeDrewNotYou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeDrewNotYou)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-womens-size-x-look-like/506682/27 "2009-08-17T18:11:53Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > I don’t think the model picture linked above is wearing a 4, but I could be wrong. > > My wife is 5’6". Before she had kids she weighed 118 and wore a size 2. After 2 kids she’s about 125 and usually wears a 4, but can still squeeze into some of her size 2 outfits. > > [off topic] Was it Family Guy? I was watching it last night too and also noticed the comment from Lois that she was a size 4. [/ot] Yep, Family Guy, but I’m embarrassed to watch it. Love-hate relationship. 😉 > [@MeanOldLady](#): > > And then sizing charts aren’t always accurate! Anecdote: I was shopping from Lands End, where I’d never previously shopped, so I decided to consult their sizing chart before making a purchase. I’m between M and L (Grr!) so I really wanted to see how they defined those sizes. To my astonishment, their chart claimed that I should be buying a XXL shirt. Are they kidding me? I’ve never been anywhere near a XXL in my life. So I figure their sizing charts aren’t to be trusted, and buy a L just to be on the safe side. I planned on wearing the shirt at work, so I’d rather it be a bit too loose than a bit too snug. I’m not trying to pick up on anybody here. So when the shirt arrives, I’m swimming in it! I could have used the shirt as a blanket! Lands End, your sizing charts suck! > > In answer to the OP: It depends. Was any of this helpful? The whole thread has been pretty helpful, actually, if only to show that clothing sizes aren’t the best designed system around. 🙂 > [@amarinth](#): > > While it does vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, most have charts. > Here’s the chart for [Brooks Brothers](http://www.brooksbrothers.com/content/Fullpages/sizechart.tem?popup=1#women). > > Generally speaking, lower numbers are thinner, larger numbers are less so. A 4 is going to be smaller. A 14 will be fatter than anyone you see on television. This was a good start to get a handle on the situation. 4 down is pretty thin, 14 up is somewhat big. The rest of the thread is kinda just filling in the gaps. Thanks for the response all! ETA: Seeing how S/M/L lines up with the sizes is particularly useful. At least I have an idea of the difference between S and L for a men’s shirt, so I assume they’re somewhat comparable. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-womens-size-x-look-like/506682/28 "2009-08-17T18:17:54Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > I like how my pants are simply given measurements like 34 waist, 34 length. Why aren’t women’s clothes measured like that? Would seem to save a lot of trouble. Because the world is a terrible place. Actually, I have absolutely nothing to support it, but I’m convinced that it’s intentional to keep you in the store longer (going through the racks, finding different sizes to try on) with the hopes that you’ll find more stuff to buy. And can we please stop with the ridiculous notion that anyone below a size 6 or whatever is some anorexic waif? Some people are just small overall. Other people are naturally skinny. Not being a fatass doesn’t mean you have an eating disorder. ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-womens-size-x-look-like/506682/29 "2009-08-17T18:22:53Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > Is this correct? I agree it means “short” (-trunked and -limbed) in the the clothing-size world, but… > > Been a while since my high school French and I don’t hang with French peeps, but I thought “petit” was closer to “diminutive” in meaning and average use, even though “short” would be an acceptable translation in certain circumstances. > > I do not think the adjective “petit” would typically be used for a short, fat guy, would it? The “short” part, yes. It does mean “little,” as well, but as I left my high school French behind me some years ago, I am not anything like an ultimate authority, and I don’t even have a username like yours to live up to. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-womens-size-x-look-like/506682/30 "2009-08-17T18:24:59Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > Because the world is a terrible place. > > Actually, I have absolutely nothing to support it, but I’m convinced that it’s intentional to keep you in the store longer (going through the racks, finding different sizes to try on) with the hopes that you’ll find more stuff to buy. > > And can we please stop with the ridiculous notion that anyone below a size 6 or whatever is some anorexic waif? Some people are just small overall. Other people are naturally skinny. Not being a fatass doesn’t mean you have an eating disorder. And being a “fatass” doesn’t necessarily mean you just sit around and stuff your face all day, either. Or are you one of those people who thinks that only skinniness can be “natural,” but fatness is always artificially acquired? ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-womens-size-x-look-like/506682/31 "2009-08-17T21:18:05Z")
> [@Chief\_Pedant](#): > > Is this correct? I agree it means “short” (-trunked and -limbed) in the the clothing-size world, but… > > Been a while since my high school French and I don’t hang with French peeps, but I thought “petit” was closer to “diminutive” in meaning and average use, even though “short” would be an acceptable translation in certain circumstances. > > I do not think the adjective “petit” would typically be used for a short, fat guy, would it? It depends; many a short man has been called _petit_ despite his girth, but it really means “small”; when calling attention to a lack of length or height, the precise word is _court_. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-womens-size-x-look-like/506682/32 "2009-08-18T00:25:37Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > I like how my pants are simply given measurements like 34 waist, 34 length. Why aren’t women’s clothes measured like that? Would seem to save a lot of trouble. Because clothing manufactures hate women and want them to suffer. Actually I think it’s because the shops think the longer women are forced to wander around trying to find the right size the more likely we are to buy more things. ---
**Author:** ![MeDrewNotYou](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@MeDrewNotYou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeDrewNotYou)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-womens-size-x-look-like/506682/33 "2009-08-18T02:38:00Z")
> [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](#): > > Because clothing manufactures hate women and want them to suffer. > > Actually I think it’s because the shops think the longer women are forced to wander around trying to find the right size the more likely we are to buy more things. When I asked my sister about the size thing today\*, I heard the same argument. She also said she thought that the reason some places (I think Old Navy was mentioned above) was so that women can feel thin shopping there. She related that as a super-conscious teenager, she shopped almost exclusively at 2 or 3 shops that she was a size 7-8ish at so she could ‘brag’ (my words) to her size 10 friends. FTR she was and is generally a 10. Not my preference (you know, besides being _my sister_!), but if that’s supposed to be fat… \*- It was actually a really good thing to ask about, since she gave me examples of friends who are a certain size. It was a little easier to picture them than to just figure out the raw numbers from a table, but it also gives the table a real-world counterpart to compare to. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-womens-size-x-look-like/506682/34 "2009-08-18T06:41:47Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > You can’t trust the junior’s sizing, **Hilarity** , because the junior’s clothes are so incredibly crappily made these days. Picture cutting a big stack of pieces of shorts. A cheap pair of shorts from the junior’s section, they’re going to be cutting a LOT at once. A Chanel suit, if you buy from the highest line maybe they only cut one. Now, you’ve cut a big stack of paper before, right? The bigger the stack, the more not-to-size the stuff on the bottom is going to be - you know, sometimes the stuff on the bottom gets bigger than the stuff on top. So you have to try on every cheap-ass garment before taking it home, because you don’t know if it was on the top of the stack or the bottom - your 5 was on the bottom, maybe, and your 7 on the top. > > Plus, junior’s clothes are a lot more “up and down” than the misses’ section, which theoretically has more room for curves. Yep. Part of the reason of widely varying sizes even within the same style of garment is the cutting the pieces in huge stacks, and part of it is variations in sewing the seams. If you get one piece of a garment that was cut large to begin with, and then the seams are sewn very closely to the cut edge, that garment is gonna be a lot bigger than one that was cut small, and then sewn with wider seams. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-womens-size-x-look-like/506682/35 "2009-08-18T07:18:25Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Yep. Part of the reason of widely varying sizes even within the same style of garment is the cutting the pieces in huge stacks, and part of it is variations in sewing the seams. If you get one piece of a garment that was cut large to begin with, and then the seams are sewn very closely to the cut edge, that garment is gonna be a lot bigger than one that was cut small, and then sewn with wider seams. Back in the early '80s when my mom worked at Levi jeans factory, she was allowed to be off 2 inches either direction! I don’t know if there are tighter regs now or not. But the place she worked did close down… ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-womens-size-x-look-like/506682/36 "2009-08-19T11:32:24Z")
Levi used to be considered a fairly good ordinary brand. However, AFAIK, it’s shut down all of the American factories and now makes products only in overseas factories. ---
**Author:** ![FalconFinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@FalconFinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FalconFinder)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-womens-size-x-look-like/506682/37 "2009-08-19T14:27:59Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > This was around 2000, no idea of a manufacturer. I only know the details b/c I was talking with a business colleague once who kept bragging that when we went out that night I’d meet his new (trophy) girlfriend (who was half his age), and that she was a size 2. Oh, and did I mention she’s a size 2? > > I remember thinking, big deal, my wife’s a size 2- and I only knew that because she had just come home with a couple new dresses. Thanks! So, it appears the fashion industry \*drastically \*changed women’s/misses sizing somewhere between 1986/1987 - and 2000. When I was 120lb, I was really way too skinny for my frame and in no stretch of the imagination could have fit in anything smaller than a 10 – let alone a size 2! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![lexi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lexi/32/6806_2.png) [@lexi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lexi)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-womens-size-x-look-like/506682/38 "2009-08-19T15:31:27Z")
This new sizing bugs me to no end! When I was 17 to 23, at 115lb and 5’ 9", I wore size 9 in missus and 8 in ladies, my jeans had a 26 waist and my measurements were 33-25-34 - I was no just slim, but model slim. I had done modeling and for most of the shows, all the clothing and shoes too were size 9 at that time (1988 to 1992) - there were some size 7 women but the were the petite models (under 5’ 8"). Currently at 38, I weigh 140lb, at the same height, and my measurements are about 5 inches larger everywhere, and I find I am buying clothing anywhere between size 4 and size 9 - jeans sized by waist band are the only consistent thing, I wear 30 now. I am guessing if I was the weight and measurements I was when I was young, I’d be in the size 0 and size 2 range. ---
**Author:** ![andiepandie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ba0ec/32.png) [@andiepandie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andiepandie)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-womens-size-x-look-like/506682/39 "2009-08-20T20:19:48Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > Perhaps at one point it was… But I know that at some places (The Gap, Old Navy), a size 4 now will probably be too big for that model. > > Old Navy is really bad about the sizes, and The Gap seems to be imitating them. I bought a size 6 three years ago… OK, it got a bit loose, so I bought a size 4 two years ago… OK, this one is starting to get loose again. I hope it is a case of the jeans adjusting and wearing out because I definitely will feel uncomfortable going to The Gap and finding out according to them I’m now a size 2 (impossible). > > I’ve worn everything from a 14 to a 4, and again, I’ve found The Gap and Old Navy to be the worst offenders of vanity sizing. The jeans from the department stores are more likely to be truer to your model. I’ve also noticed this, especially with Old Navy. I don’t even bother going there anymore because if I want something that doesn’t hang off me like a tent I have to buy from their children’s section - but because children’s clothes are’t cut for people taller than 5 feet with boobs or hips, they never really fit properly either. So I just gave up trying to shop there altogether. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2009, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-womens-size-x-look-like/506682/40 "2009-08-20T21:23:30Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Back in the early '80s when my mom worked at Levi jeans factory, she was allowed to be off 2 inches either direction! I don’t know if there are tighter regs now or not. But the place she worked did close down… How much off do they let them be in metric countries? This could be a good use of that other way of measuring… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-womens-size-x-look-like/506682.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-womens-size-x-look-like/506682.md?page=3)