I hope you'all don't mind that I stop in here every once and a while. The "mens corner" forum isn't very active and I do have way over 100 pounds to lose. So I hope you don't mind the occasional appearance of the male species in your forum.
I'm just frustrated right now. I order clothes from a catalog, and no matter what I buy, it ends up being the wrong size. I'm was wearing a size 52 pants that fit comfortably, and so I bought a couple of pair of dress pants in a size 50 so that I could fit them when i lose a little more weight. I also bought two pair of jeans (they are from different manufacturers) in a size 48. Just for fun, i tried on the size 50s, and they fit looser than the 52s! One of the jeans (in the size 48) I could button up (but was tight). The other pair of jeans was really tight and I could barely button them. How could different clothing manufacturers be so different in the size?
Normally, I would interpret the fact i could button a 48 as a good sign, but I don't. I'm frustrated that I have no idea what size i really am. I would think by now that there would be standard size for various clothes (if pants are measured in inches, then how can they be so far off from one another?).
My mini goal has been to wear a size 48 by the end of January, but I want to do that when I ACTUALLY WEAR A TRUE SIZE 48, not just pants that say 48 but are way bigger.
Okay, sorry to bother you with that. I just needed to rant.
I work at Target part time and one time we were comparing sizes. We took a really pretty sweater in an (gasp) XS and compared it to the XL. I lined up the arm pits to get a true difference in the sweaters. There was less then 1 inch difference!! How can that be? Are these that poorly made? What should we expect from a $20 sweater?
Matt - woman's shoes are even worse - you would think a size 7 is a size 7 - not even close.
Welcome Matt! We'd love for you to join us! And as a self proclaimed clothes addict, I UNDERSTAND!
It is very very frustrating to be "different sizes". There should a "rule of thumb", but I get a feeling, any manufacturer can pick and choose what a size 14 will be. It really stinks.
My main store of choice is Lane Bryant. But when I decide to pick upm something from sy Sears, WRONG, completely different. This is why no one can shop for me, and of course cause am very picky.
And I notice too that even though it's the same store, same clothes maker, two differet shirts can fit completely different. I could be a 14, 16 or an 18 in Lane Bryant. Ot an 18 or 20 in jeans, all depending on the style.
I've never had luck shopping from a catelog at all. Ever. I have that body type, where the clothing must be tailored well, or I just look sloppy. Is there any stores close by that you can go and try the clothes on? It's **** to receive a package, and be so dissapointed and then have to send it all back.
I think most of us can probably relate to your frustration! I used to work taking orders for a catalog clothing company, and the line we were supposed to give re: sizes was to match yourself to the sizing chart listed in the catalog ... Since I was on the order side, I never got to hear the calls that went to customer service from people complaining when things didn't fit! When they say that a pair of pants is 48, I assume that the waist measurement on the pants is 48 inches ... obviously, that didn't ring true for those jeans you bought.
On the other hand, I suppose I could make one comment in defense of clothing manufacturers ... Our bodies are shaped so differently that it is conceivable if you have two people with a 48 inch waist, one might have slimmer hips and the other have wider hips, and obviously a particularly pair of pants would be loose on the one and tight on the other. A woman who in rather well endowed is going to have to get a larger top that one who has a smaller bust but the same size shoulders and waist. So the cut of a garment has everything to do with it. So in your case with the pants, for instance, if your abdoment is rather large, one pair of pants might fit you whereas another might be cut smaller across the abdomen, and though the waist on the second pair might be the same as the first, you can't get the second one on because it's not as large in the abdomen.
All that said, I certainly have no solution to your problem! If you can't go to a store where you can try things on -- some of these ladies, I remember, used to order several sizes so they could try them on, find what fits, and then return the rest.
sympathies from here. it's extremely frustrating. i recently bought 2 pairs of flannel pajamas from a discount store... the 2x fit. the 3x won't fit over my legs!!!
and one time i bought several t shirts at lane bryant: all the same style, all the same size. and they all fit so differently!!! SOOOO, i took them back to the store and we compared them all.. turned out that LB had contracted with garment makers in different countries. and the shirts made in one country were the same size, but when you compared shirts made in different countries, there was asmuch as 2 inches difference!!!
it's disgusting. and unfortunately, i think that the situation will still be the same once we're all nice and thin!!!1
You wonder if they make the sizes screwy on purpose ?
We get so frustrated with ourselves as it is, then you go to the store, you try on what you think will fit, winding up with a bigger size that is cut funny, and then getting more disgusted, leaving the store only to go eat to satisfy the disgust......do they do this on purpose to keep us large ? Mind games ? Like making food portions larger in restraunts.
Nice to know that women aren't the only ones who struggle with this dilemma! I remember in high school - all my jeans were 11's and 13's, but I had a pair of Gloria Vanderbilts that my uncle bought me that said they were size 7. Size 7. Whatever. I read a few years ago that the more expensive and exclusive the clothing designer, the larger the sizes will run. I guess that's so the rich folks don't get pissed off when they can't fit into a 5 anymore.
Thanks everyone for the welcome. Its a little embarrasing for me to go to the fat guy store, so I have been ordering clothes online (which has been a big mistake).
My waist is smaller than my butt & hips. That means I have this lovely perpetual gap in the back of my pants, and look like a plumber at all times.
My friend has a different problem. The pants will fit her for about a week, then she will lose a little weight & they will look like MC Hammer pants on her, with the crotch hanging down a bit.
Jiffy, you're exactly right about sizes being a problem when we get "normal" sized ... The only way to assure your clothes are going to fit right (other than driving yourself crazy trying them on!) is to sew them or have them made for you (and who has that kind of time or money!)
But I will say this: at least the clothing manufacturers are making decent clothing in larger sizes now. Some of you younger people won't remember the time when ladies over size 16 had very little choice - muu-muus, polyester stretch pants and big, shapeless frocks! (I don't know what the situation was like for men, Matt!
HEy Matt-
Just so you know Casual Male Big and Tall is a GREAT Store. I love going shopping there for my dad, and I've bought a few big flannel shirts there for myself. Besides all the guys in the store are oversized.. and you should be PROUD that you are having to buy NEW SMALLER clothes rather than embarrased to be there. TELL people. Shout from the rooftops you are losing weight. Trust me, they WILL congratulate you. I hope you have a Casual Male near you. My Dad shops there pretty much exclusively and as far as I know has had no problems with their sizes.
Oh Wait - I just noticed you're from Boston! HA! Me too.
So I know you have a Casual Male near you There is one in Framingham on Rt 9 right next to the Weight WAtchers center. If that isn't irony, I don't know what is. LOL
a little rant
