This morning I was happy -- I'm a smidge away from my first mini-goal to be under 250 and I happened to be in Wal Mart so thought I would try some stuff on just because. See if a sale t-shirt fit as a treat, that sort of thing.

Well, that did not go well at all! I tried 3x and 4x and they were both grabbing me -- 3x was skin tight, 4x not much better.

Now I know I've still got a long way to go -- but give me a break -- a skin tight 3x and a tight 4x? What the what? The shirt I was wearing was a comfortable 3x from Addition Elle (Canadian plus store).

Anyone else encountered these tiny plus sizes clothes? Or am I just really that off base with what size I think I am??

the problem with sizes is that every clothing maker seems to have a different guidelines for the same sizes! So something that fits in 3X with one maker will not fit with another. Never makes sense to me. Case and point..im over 300 lbs and most of the time, 3X fits me fine. Every now and then though, i find that 3X that is unruley and decides not to fit. And then of course the other way..my mom will buy me something in XL and it will fit. I love those times. lol

Well I know when I was 250 I was a 2x, and most 3x's swam on me with the exception of a few tops. I figure their sizing was just wonky if most every other brand was predictably fitting. Cheaper clothes, in general, tend to have less generous sizing in my experience.

Could they have been a junior cut? I have tried on WalMart shirts and was horrified when the 3-4x's were tight, then I realized that they were either junior cut, or "shaped fit" meaning they are meant to fit snug. I have pretty much given up WM's plus size clothes because most of them seem to fit into one of these categories.

Clothes and the wide size ranges are really stupid sometimes.

I bought a 2x bike jersey.. (which is at least 2 sizes bigger then I normally wear) and it was TIGHT. Grrr...

So I feel your pain.

Congrats on the 250!

At 5'11", 250, you shouldn't be in a 3X or a 4X! 2X maybe. I'm only an inch taller and 40 pounds heavier and I wear a 3X, unless it's cut for someone with a chest in which case it swims on me. Sounds like bad sizing to me or the shirt is designed to cling (why anyone fat would want THAT, I can't imagine).

WOW! someone should set standards for sizing in clothing, huh!?!? in fact.... i'm wearing a cute shirt in 1X right now..... but the one i had on yesterday was a 3X. amazing, huh. so if i can wear a 1X in a shirt and i'm a good 20lbs or so bigger than you, that means you'd be like a Medium or Large, right? just think of it that way.

I've learned to give up on sizes, because each manufacturer seems to create their own definitions.

I'm wearing Mediums that swim on me and XLs that are tight to the point of cutting off breath.

I have UK22 Tshirts that go 'hello, every curve, let me stick to you' and UK16 blouses that flap in the breeze.

One of the wal-mart brands (and I can't remember which) is INSANELY small. Like I am wearing a 3x in it small (and I'm currently as we speak wearing a 1X from addition Elle)

So yah... I really like the wal-mart Bum Equipment tee's with a bit of spandex in them. I fit comfortably in a 1X and I am the exact weight as you and like 6 inches shorter

Sizing is all over the charts now. I wear anywhere from a size Medium to an XL in shirts, and sometimes the XL is too tight (broad shoulders and chesty). I have pants from size 8 to size 12 that fit.

I'm not that large anymore - XL's should always fit. And I KNOW I shouldn't be wearing an 8. I wore a size 7 (same as an 8 but junior) when I was 17 and weighed 120 or so.

Thanks ladies! That settles it -- whatever it was I tried on was odd. It wasn't me, it was the clothes. Back to being happy for a weigh-in at 250.2.

I was in CJBanks the other day, a plus size clothing store (it's a chain) in our mall. Nothing there fits me yet, but the store manager gave me an interesting tip, even the sizes aren't consistent in the same garment in the same size. She took me over to a rack of blouses, and took a blouse and compared it to all of the other identical (looking) blouses and compared them one at a time, and there was a tremendous amount of difference in some of them. Surely you would expect them all in the same size and same style to be the same size - but they weren't. There was as much as three inches difference (which means 6 inches difference in fit).

yeah, this happens in all sizes. I was shoping for my 6 yr old the other day, and It is so difficult to get her clothes w/o her trying them on. One 6x is huge and hanging on her, while another style in 6x would be too small. It happens at all ages and sizes I guess. Thats why I can never order clothes off the internet. you never know what will fit and what wont
congrats on your loss so far. you are doing great, dont let something like this get you down

I have had similar experiences. I have a wide range of sizes of clothing that I am wearing now, from 1x to 3x. I have a couple of 3x tops that I bought 50 pounds ago, thinking they would fit. Recently when I started wearing them, I hated putting on a 3x because I thought that 3xs were behind me. I had said, "I will never wear a 3x again!" Then I decided I was being silly because I needed the clothes.

I will say one thing, silly or not. I will not buy another garment that is a bigger size that I want to be wearing. It may be vanity, but I have worked too hard to buy a size bigger. Vanity sizing, come on!

I will echo everyone's sentiments. I try to figure out the sizes by looking at the actual tape width which those guidelines are sometimes available. I try to tell people there is nothing like the Plus size store I shop in LA, a 1X= size 10, a 2X= 12, and a 3X= 14. It's awesome, um or maybe not :P