What size do you say you are?

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...9QEwBw&dur=442

Do the measurements in this chart coincide with your size? Curious.

wow I haven't actually measured myself in yearsss...I know I wear a 36 bra band size or a 34 really but I cant find any 34 styles that I like around here...but I think I wear a 12ish in pants so i'm not sure...

I don't really know what my size should be since I never wear dresses and shirts vary majorly depending on the arms, but if I had to guess I'd probably say 20/22 and the size 20 is pretty close? I'm approx 45-35-50

Now that I've ventured into buying new/smaller clothes I have been incredibly confused by sizes. For one, my hips are slightly smaller than my waist, size charts always have larger hip measurements. My 'waist' (belly button level) is about 39-40 but the smallest part of my torso up under my ribs is 34...I have found size 9-10 pants that fit me really well and found others that I can't even button. I have a size 15/16 pants from years ago and they fit the same as the size 9's that do fit. Can you tell I have been getting frustrated?

its hard for me size wise ... all brands fit me different. i fit 16 pants comfortably right now... soon to be smaller!

Since manufacturers all use different measurements for their sizes -- and sizes have gotten larger over the years -- it is pretty arbitrary what "size" a person is.

I'm 5'9 and 149 and yesterday I put on jeans that all fit just right in the sizes 6, 8, 10, and 11 junior. So, you know, I'm an average size 8.75 give or take 1.25.

According to your chart, I'm a size 8 in the upper body and a size 10 in the lower body. The clothes that currently fit me vary in size from 6 to 12. Suffice it to say, I always have to try everything on and typically need to take 2 or 3 different sizes into the change room. It's like solving a puzzle.

Plus, I have a devil of a time finding pants to fit. About 15 years ago, I found one style that fit really well and I bought several dozen pairs (black, navy, brown). I now fit back into them and I'm still wearing them (thank goodness I bought them). In 15 years I've only found two other pairs of pants that fit me properly. I've been shopping the past two weeks for pants...not one pair fits. To get pants to fit properly in the hips/legs, they're WAY to big in the waist (as in they're falling off of me) and vice versa...very frustrating!

According to that chart, I shouldn't be able to wear pants! My waist is 34 inches (size 18 on the chart) and my hips are 37 inches (size 6 on the chart). I'm actually wear sizes 10 and 11. WTH?

Tuscany: I have the same problem with pants. And here I thought that losing weight was going to solve my clothing problems! I'm shaped exactly the same and so are the pants, so the problem is just the same.

I felt better when I read Do I Look Fat in This? by Rhonda Britten. Clothes manufactures use real women for their size models, but they choose real women who aren't very curvy because it's harder to make clothes with curves. Never mind that most women have curves.

I get the best fit by going to Nordstrom's and having the waist altered. If you take their credit card, you can get some amount of alterations per year for free.

Joy: I too thought my clothing problems would be solved when I lost weight, only to discover I still have the same problem, just in smaller sizes! Regrettably, we don't have Nordstrom's in Canada, but now and again, I am in the U.S. and I must remember to give them a try.

Right now I am 18-22 in pants depending on the manufacturer, which often means the more high end the designer the larger size I need as the high end designers tend to use less vanity sizing. Based on the chart I would guess I would be a 24 in pants.... maybe even a 26 if the thighs were narrow as I often have to buy one size up and get a belt to accommodate my thighs.

Shirts/jackets are another problem for me. I am a 16 in those chest measurements, and maybe a 20 or 22 for waist. For tops though it becomes whatever fits my shoulders. I love the look of fitted coats but if something fits my shoulders it gapes everywhere else.

This size chart seems to be aiming for an almost hour glass distribution of weight.

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This I know something about: clothing sizing

Like gardenerjoy said, designers and clothing manufacturers use "fit models" and not in every size. They cut up and down depending on the model's size.

My cousin's ex-wife has a fairly well known west coast clothing brand. We talked quite a lot about what she does as I have an abiding interest in fashion. Years ago she asked me if I wanted to be her fit model as she was branching out into plus sizes. If I hadn't been in AK at the time I probably would have done it.

MAK247, Depending on how long you've had those 15/16 pants, they very likely conform to the old "junior" sizing and will be roughly size 10 in modern sizes. Incidentally 15/16 started out meaning "15/16 years".

I owned/ran a vintage clothing shop for 4 years and I was sorely tempted to cut out those vintage sizing labels. The old size 12 roughly measures to and fits a modern size 4-6. Size 4/6's resisted trying a dress (normally) when they saw the size 12 label even though their eyes saw that it was roughly their size when they pulled it off the rack. Can you imagine the resistance in a modern size 10-12 to the vintage size 18 1/2 dress? Quite a problem that I tried to rectify by measurements and modern sizing on the shop tag. Still I had customers refuse to try on anything larger than their "size" dress.

Here's how this confusion happened: In the late 70s/early 80s manufacturers instituted new standards in clothing sizes in an attempt to standardize the industry, making it less brand dependent and to update sizes to consider the modern woman's height and concomitant weight gains over the decades, commonly called vanity sizing, but in fact while there is "vanity" sizing in the industry such as the 00 or sub-zero sizing, the standard changes did not start with that motivation.

Implementation of the new sizing changes started with the upper brands moving to mid tier brands followed by couture and mass produced clothing, To make things more confusing, sewing pattern manufacturers stuck by the old sizing years past the last ready to wear holdout.

Even today with international "standards" there is a fair bit of interpretation in the sizing which means you have to try it on. Being a thrift store fan I just try in the aisles over a tee and I re-donate if it doesn't work. I rarely have to do that though.

I'd say I'm a 1X, size 18W as an average. I found an adorable well made linen shirt very recently at a thrift that was marked 3X and it still had shop tags on it. It fit perfectly. It probably hadn't sold because it was mis-sized. I don't care. I've worn 3X before and it didn't affect my value as a person then, nor does wearing a mis-sized 3X make me fatter than I am now. I wish women's wear would go to a more man's type of sizing using measurements instead of an arbitrary number that women get so invested in.

My piece of history for the day.

According to that chart, I'm a small in the boobs and hips (A 6), and I'm a M in the waist (an 8 or 10). I usually wear a 6 in pants or a 9 in JRs, and anywhere from an XS-L in tops depending on the manufacturer and whether it comes out of the JRs dept or not.

My waist would be smaller if not for the loose skin sitting on top of it. *shakes fist*

According to that chart I'm a size 14/ large maybe even XL on top.

Currently I wear size 8 jeans and a medium/large top.