[valpal23]

Originally Posted by kelly315

I think Heba's legitimately a size 14- she's pretty tall (notice when she stands near Ed), and I've seen a number of girls fitting into 14-16 in the 200s.

I easily fit into 16's and some 14s right now.

[bopeep]

I understand how and why sizes have changed over the years (size 10 being the average size, and the average size is getting larger...), but man, the lack of anything approching a standard for sizing bugs me too! There are certain manufacturers and brands that I prefer to wear because they fit my shape best (very hourglass, but a fat hourglass), but other brands shouldn't be so far off that I'm wearing thing two or three sizes bigger or smaller than normal.

I had to buy a lot of new clothes recently because many of my old ones were really starting to look way too baggy. I'm a thin 14 right now, but in addition to the size 12-14 stuff I bought, I also bought a size 8 skirt (stretchy knit, but it looks nice), two size 10 dresses, a couple of size 16 pants, and even a size 18 skirt (a *tiny* bit big, but adjustable and I loved it). It took me hours and hours in the dressing rooms to try on three different sizes for everything, to find out what fitted. What the heck? How can any industry justify such a wide divergence in sizes?

I had to buy DH some new pants too, as he has also lost more than 20 pounds, but for him it was soooo easy. I went into the store (DH is violently allergic to shopping), grabbed four different size 34 waist pants, pay, go home. He tries them on and they *all* fit perfectly. I didn't know weather to cheer or cry!

But - we both feel great with the big mental pick-me-up from all the nice new clothes.

BP

[sws19]

Originally Posted by PhotoChick

There was a great thread on "vanity sizing" earlier this year that explained some of the whys and hows of sizing.

Not everything that is too big/too small is vanity sizing. I'm not saying it doesn't exist, but it truly is mostly in the higher end clothing lines and not so much in the ready to wear stuff.

.

Thanks for thread. Verrry interesting stuff. Though I have to disagree with you regarding the higher end clothing sizes. My experience has been that higher end clothing have smaller sizes. For example, I'm at least a 14 in something like Theory, Tahari, Marc Jacobs, etc., if I can even fit into anything of theirs at all. In the S,M,L categories, I'm larger than a Large in label stuff, so if the large is too small, i'm SOL. However, in more affordable brands like the Gap, Old Navy, etc. I could probably swing a 10 or 12. Of course, i just find this to be in general, not the rule. there are exceptions. Ie: in urban outfitters or delias, I was already the largest size there (L or XL) 10 years ago at about 135-140 pounds, which pretty much made me want to cry.

[sws19]

i would also add that size and fit is a strange strange phenomenon. when i was in college, two of my best friends were 6 ft and 5'10". i'm 5'4". we all weighed about the same, though the 5'10" weighed a little less than i did. an outside observer if they had to look at our body types would undoubtedly describe me as the short and stubby one while they were long and lean. yet somehow, we were all more or less a size 10 and a M. so we shared clothes. no joke. i mean, obviously the clothes we shared fit each of us differently and certain things of theirs i couldn't wear no matter what, like i could NEVER wear their pants (though one of them did wear mine, once, as boat waders!), but somehow shirts and dresses seemed to be interchangeable.