I hear you. I am short too, and nothing fits right. Shorts/petites are too short, and regular sizes are too long. SO...I mostly wear dresses. Of course, that means I don't notice when I've gained 20 lbs, because nothing is squeezing the middle of my apple shape.

I have also always hated looking in the mirror. I do have a full-length mirror, but I have trained myself to never look at the full shape -- just at how my legs look or whether my shoes match my dress. Never do my eyes linger on my torso, arms, or face.

We should probably work on that, huh?

Before I got to your post I was already thinking Goldwater Creek.When I was heavier they were a godsend because being short and wide has a unique set of problems. But they had quality clothes; the same things in a wide variety of sizes.
As I am in Canada I always had to shop online and had to be pretty sure the size was consistent because of the huge cost of postage to send it back.

I have had to stop shopping there now because there is no way you can depend on what the size is no matter what the size is on the label.

Most people would pick a particular type of style in pants and stick with it knowing what fits them best. But the reviews on their site are all saying that the materials are not the same anymore, they are inferior to what they were even a year ago. This too changes the standard size.

So that is my off topic rant but I don't think "vanity"sizes is the issue. It is inconsistency in sizing all across the board. I hate to lose my favorite source of quality clothing but for the reasons you gave they must be losing customers in droves. I also noticed people say they don't offer petite sizes in the stores anymore, you have to order them on line.

Pat

Excellent points!

I really think you need that mirror. At your weight and heigt you should actually be quite slim.

You might want to google it because vanity sizing is real. I have a beautiful cashmere sweater that my mom kept from the 50's it is a size 8. It is no where near a size 8 in stores today. Yes, the average is up 2 sizes in the past 25 years from what the article I read said. It is very frustrating when you try to rush in and pick something up but have to stop and try on first. Did that yesterday in Target. Bought a size 14 in one pair of pants and an 18 in another Really?? I am getting used to how i look now so I am not so size conscious anymore.

Hi Pat,
They did stop carrying petites in the store-petite shopping has free shipping (for US, not sure about Canada). The quality depends on where the clothing was made. I still find great pieces there, but overall, it is not what it used to be. Sad, because the petite size fits me perfectly-the only store where I can buy petite pants off the rack and wear them. Everything else goes to the seamstress.

Talk about vanity sizing-I am 5'1" and 189 pounds right now and I wear a petite 10 at Coldwater Creek. My mom wore a size 10 in the 1980s at 5'4" and 140 pounds. Yes, it has changed a lot!

There's a whole back story behind how this first started.

YSL (Yves St. Laurent) revealed in the 90's that he actually made his clothes larger than the tag size so women would shop more for his clothing. It was definitely a marketing ploy. But then he came up with a 'couture' sizing which was actual runway sizing. It's also more expensive fashion too. But many followed in his footsteps because of the massive success of his sales.

Levi's has many different fits (501, 502, etc). so anything Costco carries is not going to have those different lines, usually just one fit in particular.

There are many brands out there that will actually take your measurements and create jeans for you. It is a take expensive to customize but these are high quality jeans that you will have for a long time.

My favorite brands that fit like a glove is Kut from the Kloth and XCVI. True to form, American made clothing that is fun and fashionable, more modern and offers a lot of different styles. I can usually find them at Nordstrom or Nordstrom's Rack, even small boutiques and sometimes Ross/Marshalls/TJMaxx will have pieces too.

Here are links to the sites so you can check out their latest lookbook:

www.xcvi.xom
http://www.kutfromthekloth.com/

I think your problem is that thinking a modern size 2 is tiny. It really isn't. According to the Levis size chart a size 2 fits a waist of 26 to 27 inches and hips 35 to 37 inches. It's small but not miniscule. So it's no surprise it fit you with room to spare at 118 pounds.

At your height and weight you could probably fit a 0.

Good post! ^^

That just is amazing to me. At my smallest, I had those figures, but I'm 5'7.5" and there is no way I should ever be able to fit into a size 2. My bone structure just should not fit into those smaller sizes. The smallest adult size I ever wore was size 6/8.

I also remember when I was a teenager (weight issues then too), I was amazed that my stick thin aunt had a dress from like the 60's or something that was a size 14. I was a size 14 and I was overweight, how in the world could that really thin woman wear a 14 also? That was my first clue into how sizing had changed.