Confused About Sizes
 

I have been watching some Youtube vlogs from women on weight loss journeys. Most of them range in weight from 200-225lbs. Most of them say that they wear sizes 14-16. I weigh 190 and tried on size 16s and practically needed the jaws of life to get out of the outfits. How can women wear such small sizes when they weigh over 200lbs? It's depressing. :(

There's no rhyme or reason, that's all there is to it. Sizing has changed over time, and isn't consistent between brands. Your height and shape affect it. I had a thread a while back asking what size people wore, and it proved to me that I had to where bigger clothes than other people my height and weight. Not much we can do about it.

It definitely depends IMO where you get your clothes. I'm a 14/16 also and I find that if I shop at places like Walmart I'm a 14 but if I shop at more expensive places I'm a 14 or 16. *shrug*

I guess, looking back, even when I weighed 130lbs I wore a size 10 - when many women at that weight might be a size 4 or 6. It's confusing. Possibly, I just like to wear my clothes a bit looser than others.

Don't forget that there is vanity sizing as well as....well fibbing...comes to mind :)

Tea Granny- you are right! LOL! Didn't think about it that way. Maybe I will make new sizing tags for my clothes. Shall I be a size 6 or 8? Which would be more believable for a 190lb woman?

I don't get vanity sizing...I would still know the truth! I'm fat!

I think there are alot of factors. At my current weight I have pants that fit well in sizes 14, 12 and 10...go figure. It depends on where you buy them, the fit you desire (like you said), the fabric they are made of (stretch, etc.), among other things.

I also have to say that I see women who claim they wear a certain size and I look at what they are wearing and wonder how they wedged themselves into the clothing in the first place! Some women wear the low cut jeans and have lots of fat spilling over the top or you can see how tight their bras are under their tops...or their tops are so tight you can see their belly buttons. I could probably squeeze into a smaller size but I would look really stupic. I prefer to look decent, even if I have to wear a larger size.

AnnieDrews, I totally agree. I feel that I actually look heavier when I wear tighter clothing. All the bulges and fat rolls on display under tightly stretched lycra. That look is not for me. Plus, I need to breathe! I know that some women wear girdles or SPANX every day under their clothing. Perhaps that would make me look a bit better, but wrestling with hooks or wriggling out of tight hose every time I need to go to the bathroom? Especially with a hot summer almost here - I just can't do it.

So, my fat all hangs out under large tent-like fabric.

Exactly as others wrote! In a dressing room, 3 same-sized jeans (by different designers) can be either baggy, I-can't-breathe tight, or just right. How they're cut makes all the difference.

I agree it is depressing..I have some tee shirts ive had for 10 years or better i wear around the house they are an xtra large and fit great..I wanted to buy some new ones and now the xtra large is very small...I had to but a 3x to get a comfortable fit.. and im only 196 lbs..its getting harder to find clothes that fit right and the jeans these days.. urgg..low cut belly button showing they are awfull.. I dont like bending over and showing my butt..:o.. :lol: lol..Seems like everything is made for skinny teens...I hope to be smaller one day, but will never be a teen again..What happen to the higher waisted jeans..:?:..I miss those..

I was thinking the same thing! I have also noticed that people heavier than me say that they wear a size 2 but at my height and weight I hover between a 2 and 4, more often opting like you all to go up to the 4. When I was 126 pounds I was a 6, but it was a tight 6 and I hated wearing my clothes too tight. It was either go up a size or lose weight.

The other day, I bought a designer dress and it was a 4 but I live in NY and some designers here run very, very small. I also tried on a Juicy bathing suit (one piece) and although I fit into the size small, like most of you, I prefer to err on the side of caution and bought the medium. I am a mom and I am 40 and that must be considered when buying clothes.

Bottom line - it definitely depends on quality, designer, material, etc. I have cute Levi's capris in a 2P as well as expensive designer jeans in a 4 and both fit the same. It's frustrating no matter what you weigh! And being so short, everything needs to be hemmed so I always tack on an extra $10 to the price.

IMO, stores like Target and Walmart, while great, size their clothes very generically. I can't even buy stuff there because I would have to try on so much just to find the right fit. It's definitely a boost to the ego but then I go to Saks or Nordstrom's and am brought back into reality. I noticed that when clothes (tops or pants) are lined, I definitely need to go up a size.

I, too, don't like most of the jeans out there. I have heard good things about Not Your Daughter's Jeans and I love the Levi's capris I mentioned. They are definitely higher waisted than most others without being "mom" jeans. I got them at Century 21, not sure if you guys have one near you, but they carry tons of jeans and if you have the time and patience, you will definitely find something appropriate for our age!

Maybe they are wearing "women" sizes. You know, a 14 or 16 in "women" is bigger than a 14/16 in misses. Just a thought.

Gah, girlfriend! Don't you know that the minute you wedge yourself into a smaller size, forever after you're allowed to call yourself "a [whatever the size is]?"

It becomes part of your identity. It's irreparable. Even if it happens just once & never again.

Like everyone else in this thread & in the rest of the U.S., I'll bet these ladies have got multiple sizes hanging in their closets, but they're only telling you the littlest one they fit in.

Wearing Spanx, and with the help of their best friend in the dressing room, they wedged their butts into something at Old Navy. And they got one good clear view of themselves in a triple mirror for 10 minutes before a button popped. Which entitles them forever after to call themselves that size.

Particularly on YouTube, when they're publicizing their lives.

It's called YouTube Sizing. ;-)

Saef, I love it! I literally did laugh out loud when I read your above post!

"YouTube" sizing...I will remember that when I am standing there in the horrific flourescent lighting which shows every lump, bump, wrinkle, stretch mark, etc.

And it doesn't matter if you are a size 4 or 14, those dressing room triple mirrors are equal opportunity self-esteem destroyers. Not sure if you shop in Century 21, but their dressing rooms are nearly medieval - the lighting, the cramped, hot conditions. Torture!

At 190 I wore 16s, and I too felt depressed that heavier women could wear smaller sizes. At 154, my 12s are just now getting loose. It does make me feel even fatter than I already am.

I think as well as the fact that sizes by different brands are all over the place, people have their weight in different places. 2 people could weigh the same, but one is 2 sizes smaller in pants because she carries her weight in her chest, and the other is 2 sizes smaller in tops.

I also agree that people like to talk about how small they are. I have a friend who lost about 25 pounds and is down to 108 or 109. She is only 4'10" and has a really hard time finding clothes to fit because she says everything is too big. Now, she looks great and is small, but as someone else said she is not a teenager anymore and isn't tiny like so many of them. She had some shorts on the other day in size 0 and they looked good, I thought, but she said they were too big and was trying to find them in 00 at the store. We were shopping for a dress for her for a special event. She tried the 4, couldn't get it zipped, tried the 6 and it still wouldn't zip, so she didn't try anymore because the size was getting too big. The dress was obviously cut very small and had it zipped, it would have looked fantastic on her, but she worried more about the size than how it looked.

So, having said that, I have to share my size excitement today. I had a party to go to and most of the capris I had been wearing were too big--I was wearing size 18, but have a pair or 2 of 16s that are fit okay now. I found a pair of shorts from who knows when and put them on. They were a bit tight in the waist, but I had a loose top over them so they looked okay and I wore them to the party. When I got home I decided to see what size they were and they were a 12. So ladies, I guess I can officially say I'm down to a 12 now;)

I am 5'5" and just under 190, and I'm delighted to say that I am fitting into 14s these days, in pants at least. I have a very generous bust and tend to size a little larger on the top still.

I do a lot of resistance training, and I think that can account for at least some of the variations in size between different women at similar heights and weights. If you're not lifting heavy things as part of your workout, it's something you might want to look into.

All of that said, what Saef probably accounts for the rest of the size different. ;)

didn't read through, so sorry if I repeated anyone, but keep in mind that 14/16 womens(plus) is significantly larger than 14/16 ladies(normal/non-plus)

I once tried on a pair of slacks that fit perfectly and then went to purchase the same pair in several colors. The sales associate suggested I try every pair on to make sure they fit. She said that many of today's clothing is cut by machines, sometimes doing ten pieces of fabric at once, and you cannot count on two pairs from the same manufacturer that are the same size, to in fact be, equal in size. I also think different manufacturers size differently. If you want to feel good about the number inside a pair of slacks, try on a pair of Alfred Dunner! If you want to be down on yourself, try to find a pair of Calvin Klein.

This thread also reminds me of the recent hullabaloo over Kirstie Alley and her claim to now be a "stretchy size 6." I suppose she wears expensive designer clothing that does vanity sizing, because she really doesn't look like a size 6 - although she looks amazing for her age and she obviously lost a lot of weight during Dancing With The Stars.

Calvin Klein Women's actually runs a bit big. It's the first size 14 I got into. I still can't get into a 14 at Lane Bryant!

I'm not sure if anyone watched it, but Dr. Oz had a show on vanity sizing yesterday that was very interesting. In NY, he is on channel 5 and they replay the same episode the next day. So it is on again here today at 11:00 am. They had a seamstress measure size 12 pants from different stores like Gap, H&M and Coldwater Creek. The difference in waist sizes ranged from 33 to 38 inches. Incredible!

YUP - there is absolutely NO standardization of sizing in the women's clothing industry. The more money you spend (Chic designer wear), the smaller size you wear. LOL Two words: Vanity Sizing

I was wearing a size 4 skirt a couple of days ago. In NO WAY am I a size 4. If I still had the size 4 slacks I wore in high school, I would not be able to fit into them. I have size 8 slacks in my closet that I can't get into now, but somehow that new skirt fits in size 4? C'mon! I wish the fashion industry would stop the nonsense. Clothing sizes are a joke.

I can tell you that I am 202 and wear a 13/14 in jeans. I usually purchase American Eagle jeans because they fit my body well. I have much thinner legs and hips while my upper body is much larger. If it is not a t-shirt I am in a 2x. I have a friend who has the opposite shape and she wears an 18 but a smaller shirt size than me. Everyone is different. The apple-shaped women envy the pear-shaped women's tiny waists, the pear-shaped women envy the apple-shaped women's slender legs, and the hour-glass figures...we hate them all for having such da*n good bodies (jk, just being sarcastic).

I'm at 193 lbs and I'm wearing a size 12 in jeans that sit at the hips. However, I'm still in an XL top. I carry all my weight in the middle, so I tend to wear a smaller size of jeans that sit at the hips than those that sit at the waist. Cut definitely makes a difference!