I've been wearing size 10/12s now for a while. I couldn't find (read: looked around, but not drastically) for my tape measure, so I went off the sizing charts. At a 12, according to Old Navy, I should have a I "should have" a 30.5 inch waist. They fit PERFECTLY, so why should I believe otherwise?

Well, crunch time is on for a wedding I'm a maid for, and I went to get starting measurements. Imagine my surprise when I measure the smallest part of my waist and it's...36 inches. WTF?!

I'm even more confused because I have a size 12 Dress Barn party dress I wore over the Christmas season. It's snug, but I could breathe/walk and it zipped up without problems. Dress Barn doesn't have a size chart, but, by the standard Old Navy chart, I should be wearing an 18 - and those fall off!

Here I'm thinking to get into an 8 at the wedding I'll need to slim down 1.5 to 2.5 inches in 6 weeks. SEVEN INCHES? Have inches gotten larger since I bought my seamstress tape measure 10 years ago?!

Nope but vanity sizing is INSANE and evil.

Before getting pregnant I had a size 38 inch waist and was wearing size 14 and occasional even 12's if they ran really large! But according to the charts I should be well into the plus size range.

Tops are bigger too. I have a 46" chest (ok, prepregnancy) and I can fit into L/XL without them being to tight but according to most charts I should be in something that's like a size 20

Good luck with the weight loss, though!

This is insane, lol. Of course, bridal party dresses probably DON'T subscribe to vanity sizing.

Also, I remeasured right after I posted because I was so darned baffled. Before, I'd used a piece of bias tape so I would have "physical" proof of the difference since I never seem to notice the change. The way I figured, I could hold up the tape and see the different marks and say, "Ah, can't argue with that!"

I measured with just the tape measure this time and it came out 33 inches. I guess the bias tape is (a lot) thicker than it looked. All my measurements were off by an inch or more. I'll measure with the tape measure and then mark it off the tape next time.

Yeah, definitely be careful at vanity sizing. Mass-market American brands do it the most - Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, etc. all suffer from it. Don't rely on brands to give you your size; instead, keep a tape measurer at home to keep track of your measurements.

www.sizewize.com

This is a pretty cool site that lets you see what you are in multiple stores based on your measurements. I hate vanity sizing. It should be standard. I need to know what size my butt is darn it!

Besides vanity sizing, keep in mind that clothing measurement charts (unless otherwise specified) consider your waist at your natural waist line -- not necessarily where the waist band of that particular garment may be.

Hypothetically this is supposed to make your size consistent throughout different styles of clothing.

Low-rise clothing is what's currently popular, so the waist band often more resembles the hip measurement for that size than the waist.

This is true for both men and women.

I don't have a grading chart in front of me right now, but let's pretend we're talking about men's size 34 jeans. They're sized for a man who can put a tape measure around his natural waist (close to the belly button) and get 34". The waist band will be around 36", with a hip of 36.5-37".

In theory you will have the same measurements elsewhere as the model of your particular natural waist measurement -- of course that's almost never true.

Is that vanity sizing, though? I mean, if you have the same inches on a sizing chart, and Old Navy calls it a 10 and GAP calls it a 14, that would be vanity sizing. But those sizing charts are supposed to be accurate for actual measurements, I thought - that's why they're there.

That being said, I'm exactly like you guys - those sizing charts are never right for me. I always just figured I was measuring wrong or the people at clothing companies had a weird idea what an inch was.

I was just thinking about this....

IMO having size 30.5 inch waist is TINY!! If I had that waist I would be size 6 not 12....

are you sure you measured right? my waist is 36"!

sizing is so irritating -- i hope you get it all figured out soon.

JenMusic, I agree. Vanity sizing would be calling a "larger" size by a smaller number. Like, I have a size 12 pair of shorts from 1993 (kept for sentimental reasons). If I remember correctly, I was 145...maybe less, not more. Considering I could wear a 14 when I got down to 200 a few years ago, no way would those shorts be a size 12 nowadays.

The numbers on the sizing charts *should* be accurate to the actual sizes, but unfortunately the only way to get accuracy is to try things on and buy what fits, regardless of the number on the tag.

I was so excited about this site but I think it's extremely inaccurate. I do not wear a size zero in any brand. Bless the site for trying though...

ITA. I was also really excited about the site but it's not even remotely accurate. It said I was a 20 in lane bryant by my prepregnancy measurements but I can barely even wear a 14 there anymore!! And it's not like I wear super tight clothes either...

I have to tell you guys, I've looked and looked and looked at those measurements because I'd love to be able to order online (we just moved abroad and I seriously need affordable maternity clothes that I can't get here locally and ditto with bras!). However, they aren't even remotely accurate. I had a 38" waist (36" under my chest so even assuming I'm measuring inaccurately) there's no way a size 18 or 20 would've fit me (rather I could wear size 14 and many times pull them off without unbuttoning them!). You'd think they'd at least be honest with their size charts so people could order online but I guess they think people prefer to return for smaller sizes?

Thank you. I've been struggling with this. I have a huge waist 42 inches, and I fit in 16 pants wherever I go. I've been wanting to order a swimsuit online, and my bust and hip make me a 14 or 12, and waist is a 22!! So what size do I buy??? Frustrating. My hubby is the same size waist (although 20lbs lighter--we are both 5'9") and he wears a 36 or 34. At least now I know why, and that it is not the waist size.

At least we're all in this boat together. :P

In other sizing-news, hubby went out to buy new pants. I'd always been in the dark about men's sizes, figuring 32x32 was 32 inch waist, 32 inch inseam. Apparently they don't necessarily represent inches.

Imagine hubby's surprise when he walked into Old Navy wearing a 32x32 (FROM THEM), picked up a NEW pair of the SAME jeans off the shelf also in a 32x32, put them on, and they fell off. "Must be the cutting machine." Got him another pair, same thing. So, hubby who has gained weight in the past year has moved down to a 30x31.

runningfromfat, it must be doubly hard to figure it out while preggers. I wore sweat pants for the entire second trimester because nothing fit right!

Ugh, I hate the variance in sizes. Hate it!! I really find this frustrating when clothes shopping here in Canada, because Canadian clothing retailers don't tend to use vanity sizes, but they're mixed in with stores that use US sizes, so when I was at my maintenance weight, I was a size 4 at Old Navy and a size 11 at a local clothing store! I never know which size to buy. :S

Wedding retailers do seem to use actual sizes and not vanity sizes, though, if that helps. My wedding dress was a size 10, and my measurements at the time were almost spot on for the (non-vanity) US Misses sizing listed at Wikipedia.