You were size What??
 

I'm a couple of weeks behind on Biggest Loser. Jessica just got voted off. They showed that clip about how she's doing and she said she weighted 185 pounds and wore a size 10. I weigh 173, and I'm not even small enough to hope to fit in to a 10 yet. I'm still in a 12, and there are even some 12s that are still on the smaller side. How is it possible? Is it that she is probably a lot more fit, muscular and toned than I am? What size do you wear?

I would never take anything at face value from these shows, they manipulate/fib numbers constantly. My coworker was on a similar show and they made up so much stuff about her. I don't buy that a woman at 185lbs will be a size 10. Is she abnormally tall or something?

I was a size 10 at 138lbs and 5'5. I am now a size 6-8 at 132lbs, 5'5, and having done proper weightlifting for 8 years solid.

Sizing totally depends on the shape of your body and how you carty your weight. For example, I am sacha's size and am a 4.

I couldn't wear a size 10 when I was 185 pounds.No Way!

I weigh 185 and wear size 16 (not plus) pants and XL Petite tops. I have wide hips.

I wore a size 12 at 175. I am now 159 and wear 9 or 10.

Depends on the cut of the clothes.

I buy it. I'm 5'6 and 191 and fit into a 12 perfectly. It all depends on where you carry weight, how muscular you are and where you buy your pants :-)

And where you buy your pants.... LOL! :D

Back when I was thin, I wore between 8-10 depending on the cut, brand, etc. In juniors, I wore a 13. I weighed 137, and I'm 5" 4.5'. I'd say medium build.

Now, like I said before, I'm 172, and I wear a 12, probably upper end, because I have smaller 12s that are snug and a couple of 14s that still (sadly) fit. I'm way more fit now than I was back then, too.

Wow when I was that weight I wore a 16-18... and I tried on MANY different brands of pants.. some I couldn't even fit into their 18!

I'm 142 today and still in loose 8s. 6s are alittle too tight for me to be comfortable in but at least they zip and button pretty easy lol.

When I was 185 I was a solid 12. I didn't get into 10s until I was in the low 170s.

There are so many variables that it's hard to say if she's really a size 10. What brand is she wearing? Is she small or large framed? Is she muscular? Is she tall?


I'm wearing more and more size 4s right now and I'm 140lbs. I know some people would probably accuse me of lying, but I'm almost certain it's because I do quite a bit of strength training and weight lifting.

American Eagle :D

it's definately the shape of your body and where all of your weight is because I currently weigh about 278 and I wear a size 16 from American Eagle and nothing Plus sized and they are loose on me. It's all because I'm a little taller and I carry my weight differently.

It really depends on body type, muscle mass, bone structure, height, and how tight/lose someone wears their clothes.

I normally wear Levi's and here's how I fit into the pants:
14 ~200lbs
12 195-185
10 185-175
8 175-present
6? present

But my 8's are too big (I can pull them off without unbuttoning them) so it's probably more like a size 6 (28) in Levi's at the moment. With the last few pounds I've lost 2" off of my hips so I dropped a pants size very quickly.

I'm not that tall (5'6") but I have a large frame (primarily a larger upper body), do lots of weight lifting and cardio (I was a college athlete), I also carry a lot of weight in my bust, upper arms, and midsection. So it allows me to wear smaller pants. In tops I'm all over the place. I wear smalls at Old Navy and mediums in higher end clothes. I have a pretty small back so that makes a difference there too. It's just how I'm built. :shrug:

I know it might seem unfair but, on the other hand, it sounds like you have a smaller frame, which means you can probably go down into the smaller sizes if you choose too. Most likely I'll settle at a higher weight than you would and will never look "slim" but more athletic instead.

im 186 and i wear 8-10 in stores like banana republic and j crew.

s-m-l sized stuff, i am a pretty overall M. (sometimes a l if i go for a more junior store like forever 21).

The more expensive your clothes, the smaller size you can fit into. They say it's vanity sizing, but vanity sizing is a myth, as made-for-wear clothing came about in the early 1900s and every department store had different standards. Of course, Sears was followed the most closely for some time. Interestingly enough, this is also why people say Marilyn Monroe was a size 12. Yes, she was...but when she was famous, ready-to-wear clothing for women was on a sliding scale with girl's sizes...so 12 wasn't as large as it is now.

In reality, sizing is determined by the base the clothing company is marketing towards.

I wear a size 9 in crappy walmart jeans, but at the Gap? Size 8. A nicer brand like Seven or True Religion? Well, I don't know, but I'm willing to bet I'm not a 10. Probably not even an 8. I could probably wear a size 6.

And I weigh 140ibs at 5'1, and according to my tape measure, I have a 30 inch waist and just under 40 inch hips.

This is why Kim Kardashian, Ricki Lake and Kirstie Alley can claim smaller sizes...they're fitting into them. They just wear expensive clothes that run bigger.

The message here is...don't compare yourselves to others, especially those on TV. Weight loss shows give unrealistic expectations about weight loss to the masses, and the people on the shows. It's why most of the contestants end up gaining it all back...and then some. It's all deception.

I tend to experience the opposite! If I buy run of the mill mall clothes (The Limited, Express, etc) I'm a size 2. If I buy designer pants, I have to go bigger.

agree to disagree? i am 5'8 .5, 186, 30 inch waist, 39 inch hips. but 40 lbs over you with the same size.

i actually bought a pair of true religions recently, and they are a size 30 (so a 10) i find that the sizing in designer clothing is actually far smaller in many cases except for jeans. this being said, i just had to buy a formal dress, where most of my dresses for work at about a 10-12 (i have a large bust) my formal dress is a 12-14 from BCBG.

Yeah that. I've found expensive brands mean I go up in a size whereas in cheaper brands I can wear smaller sizes. I wear smalls at Old Navy vs. Mediums most everywhere else (sometimes the occasional large depending on style). In Old Navy pants 14's were too big for me when I was right at 200lbs whereas I had a pair of Levi's that were 14's and they were still somewhat tight then.

FWIW, I have a 32" waist (although our high hip measurement is really what counts for most jeans...) and 40" hips and wear something like an 8 now in Levi's but even those are too big now.

I wrote a similar post awhile back...I am 173lbs and 5'5 - and I wear a size 16 in bottoms and dresses! I wear an XL in tops. I have tried 14's or size L, but they feel and look way too tight! I know that I have big boobs and a big belly/hips...but...I really don't think it's common for anyone in the 180s to be a size 10 - even if they are 6 feet tall.

Most likely, Jessica fit into one pair of jeans that are a size 10, and now she's a size 10, even if everything else in her closet is a 12-14. LOL

Game playing. Yes.

Shoot, I wish I was a 10! I'm 180 and I'm a 16 still.

Yeah, I find the more expensive the clothes, the larger size I wear. I read awhile back about why that is. It has to do with the way clothes are cut on the machine for expensive stores vs. discount stores.

When I was a Gap size 6 jeans, I was about 155-160 pounds. I was an athlete then too, for the difference that makes. My BFF is the same height and 155 now, and barely can wear a 12. Build is everything in that regard.

Also something to consider is that I always wear a dress size about 2 smaller than my pant size, because I carry all my weight in my thighs/hips. So maybe they're going off her smallest area.

Height and body composition are both just as important, as weight is, in regards to size. I have a friend who is 5'9" and at 180 she wears a size 8 or 10. She doesn't work out heavily, this is just her body type.

My sister is also 5'9" (3" taller than me.) She has a pear-shaped body and I have an hourglass shape. When we are the same weight, she wears a size larger in pants than I do. I wear a larger shirt size. So, it just goes to show, you really can't compare yourself to others. We are all different in how we carry our weight.

She's 5'8" which could totally fit into a size 10 at 185. I can wear a 10 in some pants at 185, especially if a lot of her weight it muscle, she'd easily be a size 10.

I have a large waistline and high bodyfat. At 185 I was wearing a size 18. Now it 164 I am mostly wearing a size 16 with some size 14.

Isn't that how everyone measures themselves? ;)

you are also 4 inches shorter than Jessica is. she's 5'8".

Riiiiiight! :D

That's how I did it!!

I'm 5'5" and 214lbs and I can fit comfortably into size 14 jeans. 16's fall off of me. I however have no butt or hips.

There is no real standard in sizing. Also with jeans when they cut the material the cut it by the stack so the material on the top is the actual measurement for whatever size they are cutting but the ones on the bottom of the pile are a bit bigger. So even within the same size you can get a discrepancy of about 2 inches! They taught us this when I worked at Gap many years ago, they said if someone feels the pants are a bit snug try a few different pairs in the same size.

That's weird that all of you are saying you experience the opposite from expensive VS cheap. I wear a comfy 8 at the Gap, Express, and New York and Company. Certainly not expensive designer jeans, but far more expensive than my cheap Walmart jeans, which are a snug size 9 (I know it's a Junior size, but I figure a 9 is like a 10 with slightly less hip room). I'm a size 10 in some of the cheaper jeans carried by JC Penny, too. Possibly still a 10 at Old Navy? I haven't been there since I fit into 12s, and they're big on me now.

I always thought it was weird that sizes vary so widely, and came across some articles and people's personal experience stories stating that higher-end brands tend to run bigger. However, most of them mentioned shops like Ann Taylor Loft (where one woman commented that she was a 6 everywhere else but was a 00 there!), which I think are geared toward older women...so maybe it's only that kind of 'high-end' clothing? The stuff geared toward the upper middle class middle-aged woman.

I guess it would make sense that super designer jeans would run small...they have a certain demographic they want to fill, after all. So I probably wouldn't fit into True Religion or Seven jeans at all, thinking on it. xD As I said before, companies create their sizes based on the demographic they want to market towards. That, at least, is a proven fact.

Hence why it was such a big deal when H&M added an extra size. I think they squeezed all the way up to an XL and began a really cheesy campaign for a 'plus size' model. You could see their applicants, and half of them looked pretty petite.

I shopped almost exclusively at Ann Taylor and Ann Taylor loft when I worked corporate and wore the same size, or a size bigger, there as everywhere else. One of my biggest goals is to fit into Ann Taylor stuff again and I know that I will most likely need to be a small 12 everywhere else to fit into their 14. I outgrew their XL shirts 3 YEARS ago even though I still wear an XL everywhere else, so that's not ringing true for me at all. Also, I am always a size or two smaller in Old Navy pants, which I personally have found to be the most generously cut of them all. When I was a 6 in Gap jeans I was a 4 at ON.

And you can definitely not compare junior jeans and women's jeans at all. They're quite a bit smaller and cut totally differently.

I'm 5'2" and just into a size 4 in most brands in the low 150s. My defining brand is Levi's and my sizes have been:

4 - 154

6 - 157

8 - 161

10 - 176

12 - 189


And yes, these last few sizes have been really annoying, I didn't even have time to wear them before they were too big, it is a happy sort of annoying, but still annoying. I am a rectangle/boy shape with a slight hourglassing and I lift weights and workout a lot.

Ah ok, thanks for clarifying. I think it's more of our definitions of designer clothes. You're right places, like Gap, Ann Taylor etc definitely have larger sizes. I think most of us were comparing places like that to designer jeans like Seven and True Religion.

I don't have much of an experience with Walmart but I know clothes from Target also run smaller sometimes than Old Navy/Gap. :dizzy:

I always find it amusing how H&M is perceived in the US because I lived in Germany for many years and H&M is like the Old Navy over there. They always carried a large selection of plus-sized clothes over there too. If anything their clothes ran larger than other more expensive stores over there.

Well, when i was a size 34-which is not plus..its like a size 15ish in regular pants.. i was 280 pounds..

Some may ask how that works? well for one... i'm 6 feet tall and 2) my fat is carried on my stomach..not my thighs or my hips(What hips?) or my butt(what butt)...so it was easy to fit into boot cut and hipster jeans..anything that sat on my hips could be worn...big muffin top though...but i could fit them...at my wasit however, good luck.

It depends on where the weight is distributed...ive been porportionate my whole life until recently...it wasnt until i became obese that i started noticing i looked heavier...in fact, even today, people find it hard to believe that im 300 pounds..because im tall and my body puts fat a little everywhere instead of in one specific spot..though my stomach...definitly has got a huge pooch now!

This is a good example. I am also 5'6 and I weigh 197 but I wear a size 16. I have wide hips and a butt. My friend who weighs 30lbs more than me wears a size ten because she has narrow hips and a nonexistent (Her words, not mine!) butt.

I'm with you! I was right at 300 when I started this journey and most of my friends that know my weight still don't believe me because I'm so tall and it sounds like you I carry it about the same way! I'm 275 and in a 16 jeans, sometimes 14... which is what my best friend wears and she weighs like 180. It's weird to be 100 pounds more than someone and share clothes with them but it's all in how I carry it. and I have no hips or butt ! lol

Maybe she is taller than you? Or just has more muscle.

At my smallest, 185, I fit into a 14. But I am fairly short at 5'4.

At 180 pounds I could squeeze into my size 10s. Size 12 is definitely more comfortable. I'm almost down to 170 and my 10s are comfortable now. I am 5' 3". A few years ago, at my smallest post- four babies adult size I was a size 4 at 138 pounds.

I do notice that when I gain weight, I tend to gain it evenly all over my body rather than just in the hips/butt/thighs/stomach.

My best friend weighs a few pounds less than I do (is an inch or so taller) and cannot get into a 10 to save her life. She's a 14 right now.

isn't it funny or odd how peoples bodys are so different? A lot of time I thik it is the clothes makers fault and what country they were made in. I can take several pieces of clothing of the same size,try them on and on a few will fit.
That is a good body to wear a 4, I would probably pass out,LOL, if I ever got that far down.