No doubt vanity sizing is very real. One of the items that I dragged out from the back of my closet is a dress that I wore to my brother's wedding 12 years ago. It was a size 10, and let me tell you, it's way smaller than the size 10s I'm wearing these days. (Still, I'm excited at the fact that I almost fit into it - I looked darned good in that dress!)
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Oh i bet our plus size models over here are size 12 too..and 5"9, lol. I think real women's plus size starts at a sixteen or eighteen.
Vanity sizing, tell me about it. When my mum was 25, there was no such thing as UK size eight, which is my size, but some her her college clothes that say 10 or even 12 are AT LEAST as small as today's 8...
My sister wears a size 0, and I bet she could fit into a 00 too. She isn't anorexic, she may be slightly underweight, but not to the point where it is unattractive or just plain gross.
She's just... thin. Her entire structure is very narrow, her frame is naturally small. She has a figure, too... not just straight and without definition.
Some girls are just very small. But I agree, for the majority of women - 00 is completely out there and definitely not a representation of a healthy figure.
I think if they're going to provide the lowest of the low sizes in regular stores, they should provide sizes at least up to 20.
The only reason we have size 00 now is because "normal" misses sizes, the sizes that are sold everywhere and not in special plus size shops and departments, have grown into what used to be plus size range. In other words, size 14 now is a lot bigger than it used to be. It's what's new in misses sizes. Clothes with size 00 measurements have been available in misses all along-- except even ten years ago they were labelled size 4.
I fit into size 0 - 4 depending on the make and material. Sizes have changed over the past 10 years. I'm 122 lbs and wear 0 - 4. When I was 19 I weighed 105 - 110 and could barely SQUEEZE into a 6. In my case it's a combination of clothing including "stretch" material and having muscle helps A LOT!!!
Last edited by Libby1972; 08-03-2007 at 09:51 PM.
Reason: Forgot how to spell.
I'm a size 8-10 in Australian sizes which equates to around a US 4-6...I haven't seen any "normal" stores with sizes under about a 6 (US 2).
I don't really have to much difficulty in going from one brand in an 8 to another brand in an 8 and having them both fit the same.
There is definitely some vanity sizing because my mum was a size 10 (US6) when she was my age (23) and weighed 112 pounds at 5'7 where now I'D wear that size at 138 pounds and 5'6...although we do have very different body shapes lol. I'm mostly muscle where mum was just very slim (fine boned...so not like me!)
At my lowest weight I was 112 pounds and fit into a 6 (US 2) and I was so horribly painfully rake thin...bones poking out everywhere! I can hardly imagine just how tiny someone would have to be to fit into something a size smaller or two again. Craziness!
Let me tell you, the double 00 is there because sizes changed the past 10 years. I wear a 4 in H&M, a 0 in Hollister/ ABercrombie/ Jcrew/ Banana republic and a 00 in Old navy if they have it. WIDE rang of sizing, isn't it? Stupid dumb sizes.
I just wish that all the clothing makers would get together and use the same dang measurements for clothing! I wear anywhere from a stretchy 4 to a 10...depending on the maker. I have a pair of jeans from Old Navy in an 8 that are too small...but then have a pair of shorts from Faded Glory at Walmart in a 4...then I have a pair of Levi capris in a 6. I hate having to try everything on to see if it will fit. I have a 10 month old and when shopping with her I'd love to just be able to go to a rack...grab my size and buy it. But I've done that in the past and then usually I have to exchange it because either it's too big or too small. And although I'm still overweight...I'd love to be smaller...right now I'm 5'3 and 147.
Anyway...to comment on the plus size model thing...wow...and here...after all these years of dieting...and then finally opting for surgery to lose weight I'm still pretty much a plus size.... and here I was just beginning to think I was "normal".... that sucks...
I was at the mall and went to Aeropostle with my daughter who is almost 12 and skinny I thought a 0 would fit her nope shes in a 3 at 100lbs. So the 0 from before is not the 0 now I bet my 7 year old could wear a 00 the pants would just be to long is all.
Had a disappointment at the Coldwater Creek store. I've only recently started believing that I could shop at mall stores except for Lane Bryant, but that's another story... ... I asked the salesperson if there was a pant she could suggest to me that she thought was an example of the usual "fit" I could expect at Coldwater Creek. I was very clear that I was hoping to try it on to determine my size with them and then be able to buy easily in the future. I think she understood that I was a pretty good bet to buy several things from her that day if she could give me an answer. But she couldn't! I mean, it's to her credit that she was honest, but she had to say that their different pants ran large and small with lots of variables. After trying on a few I saw what she meant. I ran out of time, had information overload on too many items, and didn't buy a thing.
Anyway, I think one point clothing manufacturers are overlooking is that there could be a lot of repeat buying from customers if they would do some quality control work (like every other type of manufacturer has to do) and get reliable sizing in line. Especially a company like Coldwater Creek, which relies on convenient catalog shopping too, and loses money if they deal with returns.
People are busy and the days of shopping all day long are going to be a thing of the past one way or another - if a company would make it fast for me to make decisions, I would buy from them. That's the whole reason some children's clothing stores have gotten my dollars year over year.
00 is SO tiny. Even when I was anorexic and very skinny, I still couldn't fit a regular 0 in some designers. Like veggielover said, though, Old Navy sizes are bigger - I could wear a 0 in Old Navy and a 0 in A&F, while wearing a 2 in everything else because my hip bones refused to let me wear any smaller.
Some people *ARE* naturally meant to be tiny and have small skeletons. And I envy the **** out of those people.
The most disheartening thing right now is that in Hollywood, there's no such thing as too thin. When girls want others to consider them beautiful, they often look to the stars for examples. I predict a "thin rebellion" to happen in the next ten years - you know, when lots of Hollywood actresses will just say SCREW THIS IDEAL! and live well with healthy bodies. (Or maybe the feminist in me is just dreaming away.)
Vanity sizing does nothing for me. I would spend SO much more money on clothes if they would use measurement based sizing.
I have 2 young kids, if I could shop online and not have to return 80% of what I buy I would be a shopaholic. But it takes me forever to buy one freaking pair of shorts. Try on 12 to buy 1. Forget it, I'll just do laundry every day.
and here I was just beginning to think I was "normal".... that sucks...
