Men, don't loose weight. Just shop at Old Navy

[kenny]

Do sellers of women's clothes put size 4 labels on size 7 dresses so women buy them?
Or are only men stupid enough to fall for this?

The story:
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/mens-fashion/pants-size-chart-090710

 

[slg47]

Do sellers of women's clothes put size 4 labels on size 7 dresses so women buy them?
Or are only men stupid enough to fall for this?

Nope, women's clothing manufacturers are the WORST when it comes to this...10 years ago what was an 8 is now a 4 or a 2

 

[ForteKitty]

You have no idea how much this bothers me... But...

H&M is actually keeping their measurements relatively consistent over the years. And every time i go in i say, "i wear a size WHAT?!?!? eff this i'm going to Banana..." ( i wear a 4-6 in h&m. i am a 0 petite in banana republic...)

 

[ForteKitty]

Do sellers of women's clothes put size 4 labels on size 7 dresses so women buy them?
Or are only men stupid enough to fall for this?

Nope, women's clothing manufacturers are the WORST when it comes to this...10 years ago what was an 8 is now a 4 or a 2

Yep!! marilyn monroe's size 14 back in the day is a what, size 6 today?

 

[kenny]

So, today what do they call a woman who was a size 1 ten years ago?
A size -4?

Who are they kidding?

 

[joxxxelyn]

Banana Republic is the worst when it comes to women. Their zero is like a real four or six. What do all the REAL zeroes wear? When double zero gets to baggy will they make triple zero?

 

[ForteKitty]

real size 0 shop in gap kids... haha.

I wore a BR 0 all thru college in the early 2000s, and about 3-4, maybe 5 years ago, their 0 started getting really big and i haven't lost any weight. At the same time, they introduced 0p and 00, which actually to fit me. Since i'm a midget and 00 way too long, i just buy 0p now. They measure about the same. I do have to gripe about 0p boobs tho.. the girls can't breathe and there's not too much there to begin with.

 

[Autumnovember]

This is very interesting!

I seem to be a consistent size in all the stores I shop at....it used to be 982738971983937 sizes at 23239872139812739817 stores.

 

[arjunajane]

yup, apparently it is called 'vanity sizing'.
Although, I have to say the ones that irritate me more than this, are the opposite - those really high end boutiques where the clothes are sized smaller, so you have to go up..

 

[davi_el_mejor]

Banana Republic is the worst when it comes to women. Their zero is like a real four or six. What do all the REAL zeroes wear? When double zero gets to baggy will they make triple zero?

Banana, Gap and Old Navy are the same company, so it makes sense.

I hate buying pants.

 

[MonkeyPie]

yup, apparently it is called 'vanity sizing'.
Although, I have to say the ones that irritate me more than this, are the opposite - those really high end boutiques where the clothes are sized smaller, so you have to go up..

This.
I actually rather like places like Torrid that size in a very different way. Size 1 is like a 14-16, size 2 18-20, and so on. It makes me feel less disgusting. Honestly Kenny, if you have never been fat (and I have no idea what you look like), then you have no idea how much of an ego-soother this kind of sizing is.

 

[yennyfire]

Don't get me started! They are even doing this with children's clothes! It's horrible! I'd rather be a size 8 at every store I went to than having to take 3 different sizes into the dressing room to try on b/c I have no idea what size I'll be in each store! Grrr...

 

[JSM]

Oh yes, it can be infuriating. I have had clothes from size 2 to 12 in my drawers. (In reality, my measurements match up to a 6 in bridal sizes for most manufacturers, so that is what 'size' I consider myself).

 

[MonkeyPie]

It's interesting that this seems to only apply to smaller sizes - I am the same size everywhere, except at shops that cater to teenagers, which I shouldn't be shopping in anyway lol.

 

[Circe]

Vanity sizing drives me nuts. I go from a 0 to a 12 depending on the designer. I'm not sure what I envy men for most: the clear, simple, inch-based measurements (Old Navy aside, obvs), or the pockets. You guys don't know how lucky you are ....

 

[elrohwen]

I think Banana has changed its sizes a bit in recent years. I used to wear small tops there, and I'm almost 5'10" and usually 145-150lbs. I am not a small person! What the heck do people who are actually small wear? Recently I've been wearing mediums and even occasionally a large, so I think they've adjusted. Their pants seem to fit me about the same though.

 

[dragonfly411]

I find this to be quite common everywhere. Everyone has a different idea of what a size is supposed to be. I just keep looking until I find what fits.

 

[kama_s]

I think Banana has changed its sizes a bit in recent years. I used to wear small tops there, and I'm almost 5'10" and usually 145-150lbs. I am not a small person! What the heck do people who are actually small wear? Recently I've been wearing mediums and even occasionally a large, so I think they've adjusted. Their pants seem to fit me about the same though.

Yup. I was going to say the exact same thing. For the past few years I was an 'M' in BR sizing. I have gained the slightest bit of weight (rather, lost muscle ha) and beginning this summer my BR size is back to an 'L'.

Anyways, I love vanity sizing. Sucks to be ya'll pretty and thin ladies (KIDDING, Thing2, calm down will ya! )

 

[slg47]

Yes sometimes the shirt sizing is even weirder than the pants sizing...I wear a small at most stores and I am not small (especially on top!) In some stores I even have an extra small...so what do people who are actually small wear?

jsm agree with you about bridal sizes...those haven't experienced the vanity sizing so much.

has anyone seen pattern sizing (like on sewing patterns?) I think some companies have updated...but here is one for reference

Simplicity Misses Pattern size chart:

size 8 is 31.5 bust, 24 waist, 33.5 hip

Gap size chart:

size 8 is 36.5 bust, 28.5 waist, 39 hip

 

[partgypsy]

This size thing is totally true. When I was in high school I weighed around 100 pounds and my jeans were a size 8 or 10 (I don't like super tight pants and my waist doesn't go in very much). 20 + years and 2 kids later now I weigh, well I don't know exactly but around 125. Now the average pants size is a 6! sometimes 8 sometimes 4. If I was a 8 or 10 when I weighed 100 pounds, there is no way I'm a 4 now. Screwy.

 

[partgypsy]

Oh yeah, my husband is a big guy. He hates buying clothes so sometimes I pick up a pair of pants for him. He says he is 38"waist, but I pointed out that for all his pants, he is having to wear a belt to keep them from falling down, and he said, puzzled, yes but I know that's my pant size. I made him get a pair of pants that actually fit him and he is between 34 and 36. I am disappointed by this development because at least with waist size, pants length it should be objective and translate from 1 store to the next.

 

[kenny]

So buying pants at Old Navy is like buying a diamond with an EGL International report.

 

[rhbgirl24]

I agree. In late teens/early twentys I was barely 100lbs and always wore a 7 or an 8 pant. Now my sisters are same weight plus a little more and are in size 0 and 2.

 

[Callisto]

Yeah I find it more annoying than appealing to my vanity. It bugs me to always have to guess what size I'll be at a store. I once bought a skirt at Target and had to walk in and out of the dressing room 3 times with the same skirt because the sizing was so whacked. I picked up a size 3.. came back and grabbed a 7 cause the three didn't make it much past my knees... and had to come back for a 9 finally before I could even zipper it. It didn't bother me to get a bigger size, I just wanted to be done trying it on. The worst part is I can't buy any clothes online because I'm too skeptical about them fitting.

The men's pants sizes are ridiculous though! How do you lie that much about waist measurements... the number is supposed to be the measurement!

 

[slg47]

So buying pants at Old Navy is like buying a diamond with an EGL International report.

hehe vanity grading!

 

[kittybean]

So, today what do they call a woman who was a size 1 ten years ago?
A size -4?

00 Petite. Oh, but she'll have to spend another $50 to get those pants altered because they still don't fit. Or the salesperson will kindly direct her to the children's department, despite the fact that she was looking for clothing appropriate for a business professional work environment .

 

[soocool]

When I was 18 and about 20 pounds less than I weigh now at age 53 I was a size 9-11. Now I am either a size 6 or 8 .DD weighs what I did at her age and she wears a size 1 or a 3.

I had a garage sale a few years ago and was getting rid of some of DH's old size 34 belts. You wouldn't believe the size of the guys who tried the belts on stating that they were a size 34. They either said that it was impossible that the belts were size 34 (couldn't even get the 2 ends of the belt to touch each other) or fastened the belt under their huge bellies and were happy to see that they were still a size 34. I didn't realize that men wore their belts below their bellies.

 

[LGK]

This explains how hard it's been to find pants small enough for my husband. He lost some weight- and he wasn't big to begin with- and now there are literally no men's pants that fit him. The 28s fall off and most stores, that's the smallest size. He's been having to go to the teen pants and even those are tough to find. I couldn't believe he was really a 28- yes, he's thin, but good lord- I wore a 28 waist men's Levi's when I was like 95-100lbs and I have very small bones too. (That was awhile ago!) I didn't realize they were doing that with men's clothes too, how irritating.

For myself, I find that since I shop in the junior/teen girl's sections a lot, most of the sizing has seemed fairly consistent over the last 10 years or so. And mail order. Those have stayed pretty similar. Newport News has not changed their sizing much that I can tell over the last 7 years or so.

 

[PilsnPinkysMom]

Banana, Gap & Old Navy all run big... but they're in the same family of stores, so that's no big surprise.

I prefer buying jeans that aren't 'sizes' but waist measurements... That way I know exactly what to buy! Though I have a pair of 27in Joes Jeans and they're certainly larger than a 27. My waist is 27 and the jeans are way baggy.

Vanity sizing

 

[kenny]

The vanity scale: