I live in Toronto, so I mostly operate from size 0s to size 14s. However, there are H&M's in Canada, whose smallest sizes run to 4. RECENTLY, I've seen size 2s. But in my heyday, I only saw 4s.
Now I know because of the non-standardized and vanity sizing, it's hard to get a real grasp of what actually constitutes what size.
The standard is minus 4 from UK sizes to find the US size. For the most part, do you agree? Others say minus 2.
Yes, in my experience you add "4" to the American pants/blouse size to get the proper British size. But just like in the U.S. some brands run smaller/larger so you may have to experiment to find the right size initially. I suspect H&M might run a bit small since they might aim for the younger European "slim-fit" body conscious style. Zara tops are quite slim-fitting, and even though I "technically" fit into their L size blouses my American football player shoulders bust out of even the XL size.
I think at the H&M in the U.S. they are relabelled with American sizes though? I have not checked in a while.
Last edited by bronzeager; 02-23-2010 at 12:32 AM.
I'm confused about the whole US vs. UK sizing issue as I have seen conflicting info about it, with some sites saying it's 2 sizes different, some 4. I think H&M come up a little tight though, from past memory. The UK sizes with H&m are a conversion from continental European sizing anyway, and the same applies to Zara.
Maybe the ones that say two are counting by sizes -- 8, 10, 12, 14 etc. So a British 14 would be two sizes different than the American 10 equivalent (but 4 in numbers).
Normally it's minus 2 sizes but H&M clothes come up quite small and there is a fair bit of variation even between the same size. I'd never buy anything from H&M without trying it on first but, at least here in the UK, they have fantastic dressing rooms, so it's not too much of a problem.
Oh, also I should mention that at my thinnest, I purchased a size 4 peacoat from H&M, but even then, I was NEVER a size 0 by any stretch of the American standard. At that time, I wore a size 4 dress from Club Monaco, size 0 dress from R&W, and size 5 pants from Dynamite/Urban . . . something. Yes, I am pear-shaped.
There are a myriad of reasons why this happened: Vanity sizing, the variation in H&M size that Trudiha mentioned, and the fact that coats tend to be sized bigger than their written size (as is my experience), i.e. I can wear a Size S jacket, even though my body may not be.
They also say that the distance between sizes decreases as you go down. For example, say someone starts at 200 lbs and a size 14. It might take them 30 pounds lost to get to a size 12, but then only 10 more to get to a 10 and 5 more after that to get to an 8 ...
This could be why you wore a size 4 pea coat but you weren't a zero maybe? Or did would that mean the opposite? Lol.
Hahaha. No I meant what you meant. I take no offense. :P
But to clarify for other readers, I meant according UK sizing, which you minus "4" to get the American size; if you go by that theory, I was a size 0 in American sizes, because I wore a size 4 H&M coat (which is UK sizing). However, like I said beforehand, even at my thinnest, I was probably a size 4 in American sizes, which is a UK size 6/8, depending. Anyway . . .
When items are sized S, M, L etc the UK size is one size larger than the US size. So when I buy t-shirts and sports items in the UK I always need a medium and yet in US clothes I mainly fit in a small. I like being small which is one reason whay I'll be buying my sportswear in the US when I am on vacation next month.
From Australian sizes I go down one for UK clothes and 2 for US clothes. So I wear a 14 here, a 12 in the uk and a 10 (yay for vanity sizing!) in the US.
Until I discovered this, and travelled a bit, I could never understand why girls over there were wearing much smaller clothes than me but were the same weight. I thought you must have been really squeezing yourselves in.
Why can't these things be the same size EVERYWHERE? It would make things much easier! We should all agree on some kind of sizing standard. Same thing with sizes in different stores. I happen to wear anything from a 4 to a 7 (with one random, obviously vanity sized "0", pair of pants) It's always different with tops too. Okay, I'm going on too much and getting on a different topic I think
Why can't these things be the same size EVERYWHERE? It would make things much easier! We should all agree on some kind of sizing standard. Same thing with sizes in different stores. I happen to wear anything from a 4 to a 7 (with one random, obviously vanity sized "0", pair of pants) It's always different with tops too. Okay, I'm going on too much and getting on a different topic I think
MrsLovett
I think back in the day, it used to be actually based on your waist size, as in:
So I always wondered, those giant Dutch and Swedish teens, how do they fit into brands like Zara and Benetton? I am a short large-boned Dutchwoman and I can't get my (normal-BMI) shoulders into a Zara jacket or my boobs into a Benetton sweater. How do those 5' 11" Amazon goddesses do it? They all seem well proportioned, not extra-skinny.
I've only been in these shops in Mediterranean countries. Is a Swedish Zara XL different from a Greek or Italian Zara XL? But Benetton everywhere only goes up to a 42, which is US 12 I think.
(In Athens, the only place for over-12 women to get halfway decent clothes is Marks and Spencer, unless you go the stretchy Lycra route, which many -- too many -- Greek teens do. I will always be grateful to M&S.)
UK Sizing vs. American/Canadian Sizing
which is one reason whay I'll be buying my sportswear in the US when I am on vacation next month.
It would make things much easier! We should all agree on some kind of sizing standard. Same thing with sizes in different stores. I happen to wear anything from a 4 to a 7 (with one random, obviously vanity sized "0", pair of pants) It's always different with tops too. Okay, I'm going on too much and getting on a different topic I think
