Hi everyone,

I have another question for you.

What do you think of vanity sizing? For those who don't know, vanity sizing is being generous in the sizes, so that customers feel better and buy smaller sizes than they actually are. It is especially prominent in women's clothing, because there is no standardized sizing.

I ask this, because recently I bought a skirt from Club Monaco that was a size 4. And as much as I would like to believe that I've made so much progress that I fit into that size, I know deep down, I don't. It's probably a size 6-8. I tried to find another skirt with the same size to compare, but couldn't.

So why do this to myself? Because I find that misleading sizes in fact, do make me vain. I've tried to do some informal research over Google, and some say that 00 sizes really do sell and are usually priced higher than stores that don't offer 00, because they suppose it flatters the self-esteem.

So personally, I call upon the guilty:

Club Monaco
Old Navy
Gap

I think Chico's has gotten it right: they totally changed their sizing so they are 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5 and so on.

I think vanity sizing sucks, personally. I'd rather just buy a pair of jeans in a 16 in every store, and then when I lose weight buy the smaller sizes.

I really wish they'd just start putting measurements on clothes. If every brand has a different way of sizing, the number becomes completely useless. Isn't the whole POINT of a size that people know which pair of pants to pick up?

OMG ... I just vented about this. I went shopping today to get a couple more pairs of pants because when I did my initial weight loss, I didn't buy any jeans in between -- just used a lot of belts! Now that I gained a little back and can't seem to get it off, I needed to get a few in between pairs. I went from a size 10/12 to a size 4/6 and I have a couple of pairs of 4's from Express (LOVE them, btw). However, I went to get just some cheaper jeans today from JCPenny and Kohls'... not a single 4/5 even came close. I couldn't even get into the 6/7's -- even the stretch denim ones didn't work. That's what got me so upset in my other post. Anyway, Express is added to that list.


LIST:
Club Monaco
Old Navy
Gap
Express

Target's plus size section is really bad about it. It's the only place where I wear a 1. Everywhere else I'm a 2 or even 3. As nice as it is to see that 1 on my tag, what am I supposed to do when I get too small for the 1s? I'm still not even remotely near fitting in their normal section. They need to bridge the gap.

Did Old Navy change their sizing? I have a pair of low-rise boot cut jeans from three or so years ago and they are smaller at a size 12 than my Levis, Dockers, Calvin Klein, or Style & Co. (Macy's brand).

Banana Republic for sure. I always seem to be able to get away w/a size smaller in that store.

Old Navy changed their sizes at least twice. This is one of the reasons it takes so much longer for women to shop for clothes. However I wonder if its for those people who wear clothes way to tight for them. women with undies cutting their butt cheeks into quarters and pants that cause camel toe. I also think that the companies would be deemed insensitive if they put waist measurements on plus sized clothes for fear of hurting folks feeling and the fact that sometimes a women's hips can be more than the epected 10 inches.

The reason it bugs me so much is when I bought a pair of jeans for my father at Old Navy, they were given proper measurements - waist and length. However, we were given vanity names, Sweetheart, Diva, etc, and then meaningless numbers. It kind of bugs me as a woman that we are assumed at not being to handle the "truth" about ourselves.

So why buy there? Well, it doesn't change the quality of the clothes, and by limiting which stores have vanity sizes as not to buy from, you limit a lot of choices. Plus, I like the way that Old Navy jeans fit in the leg. I'm not really tall, and often when I buy pants, I have to have them taken in. I really just would like to have standardized sizes, like men do.


LIST:
Club Monaco
Old Navy
Gap
Express
Forever 21
Banana Republic
Target
ESPIRIT

You should try shopping at The Buckle. All of the their jeans are sized by length and height.

I don't think we have that in Canada.

I forget the brand, but I think there is some vanity sizing in men's clothing also (could it be Old Navy?). DH measured his waist and then we looked at his pants and saw that there was a 2" difference. It is nowhere near as insane as in women's clothing, but it cracked me up to see the look on his face when he was so confused as to why the numbers were different! I know, that's bad of me, but sometimes I can't help it!

My daughter is almost 10 and we are starting to notice size inconsistancies in her clothes. Really?? It's crazy! I had a stack of Old Navy capris and shorts I had bought for her last year in a size 10. We pulled in the waist thinking we could buy a bigger size than she needed and just loosen it the following year. She is wearing size 10 ON jeans this winter and they fit fine. When we went through her clothes this weekend, the 10 shorts/capris were WAY too small. What?? Her Justice pants fit just fine at a size 10. Now, we will have to start having her try on the clothes. My other daughter wears a 6 and the sizes seem really standard. IDK!

This doesn't even start on me finding clothes. Y'all have covered that one pretty well!

Wow. This thread really makes me angry (at the stores)!!! My son has started buying his jeans at Old Navy because he can wear their 40 inch waist comfortably and was excited thinking he had lost some in his waist. (He has weight issues and is really working on shaping up and starting a work out program.) Are we saying that the "40s" he is buying are actually "42s"? I'm a little confused but that is how I am reading it.

I'm not sure I would jump to that conclusion necessarily. The waist measurement in a size chart is based on a defined spot. It's the smallest part of the waist for women, I don't know for men. But on women, the waist measurement in the chart is obviously going to be a lot smaller than the one you measure in pants that aren't very high rise. I assume the difference is less for men, but still there. Especially if they wear the waist band below the belly.

Silly question: if your waist measurement is the smallest part of your waist, what part of your torso counts as "waist"? Is it the gap between ribs and pelvis (which is about 2 inches for me), or the smallest part of your torso (which is under my boobs!).