Sizes

[Diana Michelle]

Guys have it so easy. Dress shirts come in neck sizes with a sleeve length and slacks come in waist size and inseam. They even have athletic cut or standard cut suits. There are even more and more manufacturers offering separates for mens suits. Women on the other hand are saddled with the non standard size 6 or 8 or 10 or whatever. It is even further muddled with the proverbial junior sizing, 5, 7, 9, etc. I have skirts in size 6,8, and 10 and all of them fit me. I can even think of a couple of size 6's that are looser on me than a couple of the size 10 ones!

Even bras that at least come in band and cup size can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Trust me here not all 36B's are created equal! Some manufacturers 36B fit me fine yet with other manufacturers they girls are swimming in there! It's like the apparel industry accepts men come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes but women are totally the same so they give us the proverbial "number" size which is best a suggestion where to start. Oh sure they give us a little leeway with petite and tall sizes in some garments but even there it can widely vary.

Maybe I am a little more sensitive to the absolute of sizes because of my height. I'm 5'8 the between height. It means a standard sized skirt that is knee length on a 5'5" woman is 2 inches or more above my knees. The same skirt in a tall that is knee length on say a 5'11" woman is calf length or longer on me. Don't even get me started on long sleeve tops! Most regulars end well above my wrist while many talls come halfway down my hand. If I find a long sleeve top that works for me my first question is "Does it come in other colors?" If it does I buy one in every color. It's not quite as bad in sweaters and I have even bought a couple of men's sweaters as they work with my larger than average for a woman shoulders and the sleeves generally the right length.

Dresses are even worse! As I said I have big shoulders for a woman which means certain styles and cuts just don't work for me at all. Then there is the bust to consider. I am not that "hippy" so it may fit fine up top but be baggy through the hips and butt. Many times I find Junior size dresses fit me better than Misses sizes. Also I'm not that endowed, 36B, so that doesn't present the issue of being too small or button gapping however some dresses lately seem to be cut for bustier girls so they hang unattractively on a more moderately busted woman. However there are a multitude of issues for the endowed woman like my sister who is a 36DD. Her complaint is many times if she finds a dress that works through the bust it is baggy through the hips.

At least with some slacks and jeans certain manufacturers offer a tall that works with my 33" inseam. Their talls are more aimed at the woman that is 5'7" to 5'10". Granted they are generally more expensive brands but still there are options available to girls like me but there are many women that can't or won't pay $80 to $100 or more for a pair of jeans. Two sources for more moderately priced tall slacks and jeans are JC Penney and Old Navy. Both have a good selection of styles and sizes and are of a decent quality usually.

This method of size approximation women have endured forever has always been a pet peeve of mine but reared it's ugly head just the other day again. Had lunch with my sister and we roamed the mall after. She found what was a cute dress so she tried it on. Her usual size 10 gapped at the bust even though she was wearing a minimizer bra and the size 12 was huge through the hips and hung to a very unattractive length. She suggested maybe it would work for me so I grabbed my usual size 8. I couldn't even get my shoulders into it and while the size 10 worked there, it was way too big everywhere else. C'est la vie!

Pantyhose manufacturers learned long ago "One size fits all" really means it "may" fit a few of you kinda sort of. What's wrong with clothing manufacturers? I realize we all have unique bodies and there is no perfect here however how about a few additional sizing factors such as bust and hips, not just giving us a number and making all of us figure out what it really means?

[Davita]

Guys can have a few problems with fit as well. Just because a shirt comes with a neck size, it doesn't mean it fits the chest, shoulders or arms. Get a gut involved and there goes anything to do with all the other measurements. Small medium and large and even tall and short aren't so great a measure for a guy either. As with womens clothes, every country seems to have their own definition for what an inch is.

Way back when I was skinny *sigh* it was hard finding pants that were longer than a waist measurement. Sure they made them, but none of the stores would have more than a couple pairs in the wrong sizes, of course. I noticed what was carried in the stores matched the shape of the majority and if you weren't that shape.... As with women's fashion, the brand affected the size they put on their clothes. Just look at the size ranges on the Internet. Nobody company has a large that fits my leg for a waist size and whoopie poop rich people company has that same size fitting a couple of me.

The bottom line is no matter what clothes you're trying to buy, know your measurements. Only after you have shopped for awhile can you be reasonably sure of your sizes for the different brands.

OMG! Clothes sizes are everyone's "button."

Now my big questions is why haven't all the sizings been unified? Why are there panties still being sold in 0 through 7, 8, etc when they have to be translated into a dress size or have to tell you what the size means in inches/cm? Why don't shoes start by telling you how long they are and wide like pants come in length and waist? Yeah there are pockets of change like Lane Bryant sells their panties in dress sizes, but not everyone else.

[KimberlyS]

I hate sizes both enfemme and male modes. I just think they put out clothes and hope people buy it. I have been lucky to find some brands that fit me and try to stick with those also. But then of course I loved the JCP Foundry brand and it fit well. They have discontinued it. ARRRRRRRG. Many femme brands seem to come and go so fast.

Kimberlys

[Diana Michelle]

I hear your complaints about men's sizing Davita. Not necessarily the same ones other than finding an inseam greater than the waist, remember Frank was 6'4" and Jim 6'7", but about fitting through the shoulders and maybe even chest then bagging elsewhere or vice versa. In some ways I am sure it is still true but I know at least some garments and manufacturers offer athletic cuts and I am sure cuts for the more portly. As for "every country seems to have their own definition for what an inch is" I will go one further that many manufacturers do as well! Let us be honest here the vast bulk of clothing is not made in the USA and the country of manufacture can have an effect. I will say certain manufacturers at least have a consistency to their sizes and while those tend to be the more costly brands there are some exceptions.

I agree with you Kim about finding a brand and sticking with it. I have my favorites and particularly when it comes to jeans and dresses those brands dominate my closet. That is somewhat true as well with long sleeve blouses but when it comes to separates like skirts, sweaters, even slacks it is not as much so. It can be frustrating when your favorite "brand" disappears and that happens from time to time but while it may take some searching at least I have been able to find alternatives.

One thing I have noticed over the years is at least with women's sizing there has been a shift. Back in my 30s and even 40s I generally wore a size 8, yes sometimes that would vary as the inconsistencies existed back then but 8 was my go to as a starting point. I am probably 12 to 15 pounds heavier or even maybe a couple more depending on things than I was back then, yet 8 is still my usual size today. I have a friend who has a women's resale/consignment/vintage clothing store and have talked with her about this. She says that is definitely true and that evolution started sometime back in the 80s. She says the size 8 of old translates into a 6 or even a 4 today depending on exactly what era the garment is from and its cut. In other words if you are looking for vintage garments be prepared to size up girls!

Please don't get me wrong here! I am not a size queen, well at least not when it comes to clothing sizes. The measure of a woman is not defined by her dress size still it would be nice to grab a dress off the rack and know it will probably fit rather than having to also grab the size below and above and hope one of them kind of fits.

[Heather W]

There is nothing I love more when shopping for clothes than playing "size roulette." I learned long ago not all size 6s are created equal, hell some of them aren't even in the same universe as others! Even holding them up against you before heading to the dressing room isn't the answer. It's more take your chances and hope it works for you!

I'm only 5'5", well technically 5'5 1/4" according to my latest physical, so I don't have the length issues several of you cite generally but even there not all manufacturers are the same. My biggest issue has always been my hips or perhaps better put lack of them. I do find junior sizes fit me better generally as they are designed for the less "hippy" but even there it doesn't always work. Some are so tight there would be a VPL even in jeans and others bag. Yes I have my favorites but even there variations exist. I have even found the same size, same style, same manufacturer 2 different pairs can fit differently, sometimes dramatically. I will say here at least shoes generally run more true to size regardless of manufacturer.

I definitely agree with you about bras Diana! As I developed I quickly learned there were tremendous variations in the same size from manufacturer to manufacturer. I swear that first time I went bra shopping because I actually needed a bra I tried on a dozen or more before finding that one that worked for me. It was a Maidenform and I have stuck with them for virtually all of my bras. What I find interesting is the company that owns Maidenform also owns Bali and Playtex but those do not work for me nearly as well if at all.

No one ever told me being a girl was easy but at least IMHO it's worth a few minor aggravations.