Vanity Sizing
 

0

Good question but I dont think so anymore. In 2001 I was @ 190 lbs and 5'9" tall. I wore a size 13/14 at most "trendy" stores - BeBe, Express, Cache, etc. I wore a 14 with most designers - Calvin Klien, DKNY, Lucky, etc. I am the same height and weigh 148 lbs today and wear a 12 @ Express and BeBe (as of last weekend) and my Lucky's are 10's and 12's. When I was losing weight I found my clothes were too big but the sizes were NOT moving. I was @ 140 in Feb and still could not fit in anything smaller than a 10. I think it is going the other way at this time. I should probably add I did NOT squeeze into anything - never sucked it in to button my pants.

:lol: I say this all the time to my husband. I'm almost 5'9" there's no way I should be a small. I worked with a Japanese girl for a couple of years and she could only shop in the children's section. Luckily for her, 10 year olds are dressing like adults these days. ;)

That's why they make clothes in size zero. Did you know they even made a size double zero? :eek: I didn't until a month or so ago when I was in the checkout line. The young lady in front of me was thin, but also quite short (under 5'); I'm pretty sure she was at her full adult hight and she didn't look emaciated. She was commenting about how she can never find jeans that fit and that she was happy that this particular store carried size double zero.

I don't know what girls smaller than her are supposed to do...unless they've come out with negative numbers for sizes. Maybe they have to make their own clothes. I understand that really skinny women may have difficulty finding clothes in their size, but it's still hard for me to pity them.

Years ago, when I first heard that Marilyn Monroe wore a size 14, I was confused because I wore a 14 and I recall thinking, "hmm, I don't look like her." Then later, I learned about the ever diminishing sizes and understood. Sure, it feels nice now to be able to buy a size 4 or 6 dress, but that number doesn't mean much when I still can't look decent in a bathing suit--which reminds me of another phenomenon: the ever-diminishing bathing suit. I could go on and on about how much they've shrunk over the years. The only decent bathing suits were in fashion before I was born. Now, we're given two triangles to wear on top, and for the bottom there's a triangle in the front and one in the back, and we're supposed to feel comfortable--yeah right. Ok, I'll stop now before I get carried away. :dizzy:

:rofl: Negative numbers for sizes!! Now it's going to be a competition to see who can fit into negative 7's. :crazy:

Marilyn Monroes's measurements - from Snopes.com: Did Marilyn Monroe really wear size 16?

Height: 5 feet, 5½ inches
Weight: 118-140 pounds
Bust: 35-37 inches
Waist: 22-23 inches
Hips: 35-36 inches
Bra size: 36D

I don't think she'd be a 14 today! Maybe she'd be a negative number with that tiny waist. :lol:

For me it seems that sizes have gotten larger. When I was in high school in late 70's , I weighed 135 and wore 7's and 9's. I weigh 148 now and wear size 4-5 and they aren't at all tight .I am 5'7. My waist was definitely smaller then, before I had children, but my thighs and hips were larger and more muscular then. My son's girlfriend is 5'9 and weighs 119 and and wears size 1-3.

Lillybelle, I was thinking the same thing. I read once that if Marilyn Monroe were alive today she would easily be a size 14 and not a 12.

My mom is very thin, always has been, at one time she actually bought a girls size jeans and they fit. Now she wears I think size 4 in juniors?

Since I was a size 16 about the same time Marilyn Monroe was it is easy for me to understand....a woman or missies size 16 was downsized to an 8-10......I weighed 140 pounds was 5ft3 1.2 at that time.....so if I get back to my highschool weight instead of a 16 I hope to be looking at 8s and 10s as Marilyn would as well........(ps....don't think she could have worn the tiny sizes in a dress as she was way more endowed then I in the above the waist department).....

Personally, I'm a "huge" fan of vanity sizing. :D I can't even begin to describe my delight that size 4's are actually loose on me. Last summer I was visiting my mother and she tried to return clothes that I'd given her that I wore 25 years ago (she defies explanation...just take it at face value.) I weighed about 110 when I bought those size 8's, and they fit perfectly. They were too tight on me last summer - OK, I humored her and tried them on- and at the time I was comfortably wearing size 2's. As I said above, I LOVE vanity sizing ;)

But I think this really ties into the "What is normal" thread on the Maintainers forum. I feel like I'm built like a cement block also (Meg's lying, she has a waist!) but last week at my son's chorus concert, I realized I might have been the smallest woman in the auditorium over the age of 15 and smaller than a lot of the teen-agers. Certainly one of the smallest. What do smaller women do? Hmmmm....there aren't many. I see a lot of larger wormen, a few my size, and very few smaller. There still are the size 2's I wore last year, size 0's, and at Banana Republic, Ann Taylor and others, 00. My daughter, who is really tiny and 24 yrs old, wears a 0. The trendier, extremely expensive jeans are sold by waist size and run small. Even wearing a size 4 in Banana Rebuplic and Ann Taylor clothing, there is NO size of Seven or Paige jeans that will go on my legs. They are cut for stick figures. Real tall stick figures :lol:

This is from a blogger "Skwigg":
Personally, I'd rather buy a size 4 than a 35.

Mel

CindyB
 

Yeesh - too confusing.

I know for sure that back in the early 70s when I was finishing high school I wore a size 7 and could just never get any smaller. I figure I weighed at least 5-7 pounds less then than I do now and I had a high school shape.

I will say that for the last at least 7 or 8 years, it seems like things stabilized and for the most part Talbots for example hasn't changed - the stuff I got seems predictably sized from the past to what it is today.

I remember my mom in the 50s and 60s talking about being a size 12 and so proud of it - even by the late 60s that was seeming like a big number to me.

So ridiculous!

Coming from Australia our sizes are different again.

An Australian 8/10(which I am at 36" hips 24" waist and a bust thats well...very sad - my hips and waist are two different sizes) is generally accepted as a US 4/6

I was at one point down to an emaciated 112 pounds and had 34.5" hips and a 22.5" waist and couldnt find anything to fit...some 6's did, but there weren't a real lot around.

As for jeans...I find the sizes being in inches frustrating when they don't state whether they're using the "natural" waist or the "drop waist" when stating the size. It means I can pick up a size 24 thinking yeah...that'll fit when um...no...the 26" or 27" does because they've measured further down south.

Bottom line for me...vanity or not...if it fits, i'll buy it. I'd rather have something a size "larger" and look hot than something that says it's a small or extra small (help us all in Supre where it goes to xxxsm) and look squeezed :P

My mum in highschool was a size 10 and she weighed a tiny 112 (she's an inch taller than I am at 5'7) and from looking at photos in todays Aussie sizing she'd probably have been a 6.

Today she is about 121 pounds still a size 10. (Mind you...I reckon she is is actually an 8 but for whatever reason she refuses to believe me :P)

Livi

I like vanity sizing but I think it also helps people fool themselves into thinking that they haven't gained weight.

One of my aunts is tiny, short and naturally thin. A few years ago, she was proud of a purchase she made... in the kids department. We all thought it was funny that she was wearing kids clothes but what are they going to do if they keep changing sizes?

The existence of size "00" is absolutely insane.

But, it's not true that men's sizes are totally uniform though. My dh has 32 pants that are loose at the same time as some 34s fit perfectly. He tends to have um, more ample thighs and butt than most men though, so can't just pick up a pair of pants and assume they fit, he always has to try them on.

I don't feel like my size 24 pants are vain. But I sure was excited the first time I could get them on and zipped without either lying down are holding my breath!:D

Shopping for my DH is very easy. Anything 32x34 in pants, jeans and it will fit. Large shirts fit perfect. I have to try things on or spend a lot of time taking stuff back. Some shirts that say large are way to short-waisted for me. Other large shirts would swallow me. I tried on a pair of size 1 jeans last night that are too small for my daughter. Perfect fit in hips and legs but an inch too small in waist. They fit right on my hip bones and I know that I can't lose an inch there, because nothing is left but my bones. Oh well, I didn't set out to be a size 1, I just set out to be at a healthy weight.

Size 1! :fr: :faint:

(I know it's vanity sizing but that is just so cool! :D )

Like I said, they were too small in waist but I couldn't believe I could get them all the way up, just not buttoned. My daughter hung them in her closet and said they are her "goal pants". She started today to watch her fat and calories, nothing too strict but healthier eating and getting a little exercise. She is bad to watch tv and play on computer all day. I have a hard time with her really wanting to "diet" . She is 14 and is 5'4 and weighs 129. She is thin in hips and legs but has a round tummy. I thought maybe joining a gym and taking water aerobics could be fun for us both. Is it wrong for me to let her try to lose a few lbs. ? I thought that just providing healthy food for her and having her exercise with me should help. I know she is worried about looking good for the fall when she starts her first yr. of high school.

So long as you encourage her to be happy with her own image and self worth.

My mum never pushed any of us to exercise or lose weight (bless her lol) she basically led by example. She's quite small (121 pounds at 5'7) but has a different body shape to myself...she's an apple and i'm a pear :P. We learnt good eating habits because good healthy food was what we were brought up on.

Thanks, she'd doing well on lowering her fats and cutting out the junk food. She lost 2 lbs. this week and is very happy. She has said that she wants to start walking with me every evening. I know she isn't really over-weight and I am hoping she wants to eat healthy for the right reason. She's a beautiful girl and I tell her this everyday.

I think there is nothing wrong with letting her "lose" weight, although I think THEY (who ever they are) recommend letting kids grow into the weight, instead of actually losing it, but whatever. I think being aware of ones body is important, no matter the reason. I have a 13 y/o and she is 4' 11", weighs in at 121 and wears a 4/6 (just bought an adult bathing suit for her:o) although for the most part she wears a kids 14. One thing to keep in mind also is that this is a cheerleader (competitive cheerleader!!) and is at practice or tumbling 4x a week, plus they have exercise "homework". So she is SOLID (great thighs and arms) except for the belly, that's the only place she's soft. I say this because if she wasn't a cheerleader and wasn't working out like she does (although she doesn't seem to recognize it as exercise, it's just fun) she would be headed down the overweight road already. So yes, let her, encourage her, help her exercise, find something she loves though, otherwise (as we all know) she will get bored and burn out. My 13 y/o has been doing this for 3 years and she still loves it, but before we found this she tried tap dancing, karate & horse backriding (which she did love, but too far away and expensive). Get her going, she'll thank you later.:hug:

Thanks for the responses. She now has a 3FC's account so she is trying to find some support with her decision to shed a few lbs. She loves to bike ride, and swim and is now walking with me of the evenings. I definitely did not put her on a diet , she begged me to help her. Peer pressure is so strong with all her 90 lb. friends.

I ordered a from vitoria secret a few weeks ago and after reading their measurment chart listed online. I ordered a pair of size 8 Jeans. When I checked back the next day in my email I realized I had selected a size 4!! oh no so I call up and they said just send it back once I recive it. Okay thats fine I thought, I hate going to the post office....but whatever. Well...when they came I looked them over, tried them on...and whats that? Oh they are a little loose!? Strange....especially since I can't fit into jr sizes (go up to a 13)

I hate the vanity sizing. American clothes should all have to go by standard sizing (well unless you are a specailty store) that way we know what to order and such.

okay part of me is happy that my tag says 4. But I also feel like a fraud. I am not even close to my weight loss goal...I guess I will be a 0 then?

I am only 1 lb. less than you and wear a size 4 in most things. However, if I buy jr.'s I get 5's or 7's. I have one pair of LEI jeans that are an 11 and they are as small as a 7. I know it's vain, but I prefer to wear the stuff with the size 4 tags, (Like anyone else will know, LOL).

This is my first reply to this board, but I do have to say that I was shocked when recently I tried on a bridesmaid dress. I told the woman I should be a 16...and she laughed. I tried on 16, which I swam in, then the 14 was still a bit roomy, then the 12 fit perfectly! I am definitely heavier and more out of shape then I was at my wedding in 2001...where I was a perfect 14 off the rack - while dieting, excercising, working out every day for those precious wedding photos! So from my experience, I would definitely have to say that the 12 of today is definitely the 16 or more of 2001. :?:

Yeah, I'm happy I bought a 12, but definitely know those hamhocks hanging off the sides of the dress are arms of fat girl, not a sweet 12!!!

I am 5'10"...the dress is #8585 from davidsbridal.

When I was in high school in the early 60s I always wore a size 12 to 14... and I was absolute skin and bones... skinny as a rail. Those were the days LOL. Yet when I was in my 40s and got down to 170 pounds... much larger still than when in HS... I wore a size 10 and sometimes even got into an 8.

wow, I am too young to have noticed a shift over my lift-time. I never realized this was true! Now wonder some things fit, and others (same size) I can't even get over my thighs. At this rate, we should just do away with sizes all together-- it's just as much guess work now as it would be then.

Because I know about vanity sizing, I have decided to judge my progress in size based on the clothes I own... I was a size 18 in high school (I graduated in 99), and I still have my trusty, rugged size 18 long Levi's hanging in the closet... when I can wear those, then I know I have accomplished something. I don't want to go around thinking I'm a size that I'm obviously not. I actually prefer to buy mens jeans, and I did so when I was 100lbs lighter... I like being able to walk into a store, look for the brand I want, and pull out a pair of 40/36 (or whatever I'd be wearing).... I can't wait to be able to do that again, as I love my Wrangler jeans (I'm a country girl at heart).

I prefer men's jeans also... I am small in the butt and thighs, legs, etc. and men's jeans don't have the droopy butts in them that the women's do! :)

Kindred and Lilybelle - Are you 2 6'0" tall??? I weigh almost the exact same and I can't get myself into less than an 11. Since 190 pounds I've only gone down like 2 sizes. I still have 13's that fit, I had 13's when I was 175! I want some of those size 4's!!! Am I a freak or am I just shopping at the wrong dang stores!?!?!?!

No, I am 5'7 and although my hips and legs are thin, I am broad-shouldered with large breasts. Like I said, it all depends on the clothes. In Levi's and Old Navy Jeans and Capris I wear a 4. In other jeans that I have they are a 6 or 7, and in the LEI's are an 11. Aeropostale jeans and capris are a 5. I now have 2 shirts that are medium, several that are large and 1 Tommy Hilfiger shirt that is an ex-large and they all fit about the same. Most of my skirts are a 4-6. I can't buy anything without trying it on as everything is made so differently.

Stephanie, BTW, have you ever seen a 90 yr. old man's butt? Well that's what mine looks like. LOL, that is why the smaller pants fit me. It's nothing to be happy about.

LMAO,the 90 year old butt! That's too funny, I mean not funny funny, but sounds funny! Haha!!!

Thanks for the info about the sizes!

LOL I can relate! :) Except the smaller pants won't fit me because I have more like a 40 year old man's "beer belly" stomach... no fair! I don't even DRINK!! :)

BTW just what are you doing looking at 90 year old men's butts????? :lol:

LOL, I spent 20 yrs. working as an RN so I have seen lots of Butts, both young and old. That's how I know what to compare mine to. Can't tell where my butt ends and my legs begin. LOL

Boy I can so relate to that. Even at my skinniest, i have no butt. and the bigger I get, the flater and wider it gets! Sheesh!! When I was thin, I had fantastic legs, tiny little waist, big boobs, BUT NOT BUTT!! lol. I'd love to have a butt like J-Lo :)

J Lo, would have been my idea of a great butt too. I wonder if they still make those undies that have the butt pads in them? I need them. Everyone tells me that I have no Butt.