If you haven't had a chance to read this thread
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=65423
.... do. Not only is it interesting, it's enlightening and quite funny.

It also got me to thinking. This morning I took off my small pj's and stepped on the scale for a fluky 125.5 lbs. I put on small gotchers, small sweats and my large t-shirt. To go biking I changed into x-small shorts that were bigger and more comfortable over my bathingsuit (gotta tan my shoulders) size 12 and my sweater size medium. After I got home I had a shower and changed into medium gotchers, size 8 shorts and another size large T-shirt.
A little later if it gets cooler, I'll change into either my size 28 jeans that I need a belt to hold up or the 28's that hold me in.

No wonder we're confused!

To go to work I took off my size 8 jeans and put on my new size 4 dress pants (which I really should have gotten in a 2, they'll be too big if I lose another oz.). Took off my size small t-shirt & put on my size large button down shirt.

There's no rhyme or reason to any of it so I've decided to stop worrying about it. Oh, and most of my old 6's are still too small but the size 6 jeans that I just bought fall off without a belt now that I've worn them a couple of times.

LOL...BOY can I relate!! I was late for school today because I couldn't find anything to WEAR!! NOTHING FITS RIGHT ANYMORE!!!!!!

Here's are some examples of the size chaos in my life:


- 14 Levis jeans (perfect fit)
- size 8 Eddie Bauer jeans (too big)
- 8 Eddie Bauer bathing suit (perfect fit)
- size 12 LL Bean shorts (perfect fit)
- ladies small scrub pants (too big)
- large LL Bean t-shirt (too small) ???

And the WEIRDEST (and most annoying) THING...

One pair of size 10 Calvin Klein jeans fits perfectly, the other pair (which are exact same style from the exact same store) are WAY too big.

Last Saturday when I was getting ready for work, I took off my size 10 CKs and pulled on my small scrub pants, then I took off a small t-shirt and pulled on a large t-shirt (because it fits close to my body)?? and a medium scrub top.

It's insane.

It is so true . . . I've bought a lot of clothes recently so most of my pants are 8's and 10's now. But here is a story from a while ago when I was going from 12 to 10. I was at Kohl's, and I took three pairs of pants into the dressing room. One was a size 12 from one brand (CK I think), the others were sizes 10 and 12 from another brand. Guess what, the 10 from one brand fit, and the 12 from the other brand was so small I couldn't zip it up!!

Another one -- I was at Express since they were having a jeans sale, and I grabbed this one style in a 10 regular. It fit but was too long, so I grabbed the short. The short was tighter!! Since when do pants lengths dictate waist size? The girl at the store then told me that not only do they sometimes make the short ones smaller all over, but that they have their jeans manufactured at three different places, and the ones from all three are different! So you could take three pairs of size 10 short jeans in the same style and they would all fit differently!

Anyway, today I am wearing size 10 jeans that are a little loose, and a size small shirt. The funniest thing is that even though I am wearing a size small shirt, I am wearing a british size 32FF bra! How often do FF breasts fit in a size small? Most of my shirts nowadays are mediums, but I still have an X-large button-down that fits pretty well. I also have two suits, both size 12, which are only a little big. I also have a size L dress that is still too small!!

One trick: clothing you buy in stores that cater to teenagers is always cut smaller. A large from Charlotte Russe is waaaaay smaller than a large from a department store! And I fit into size 8 jeans at Old Navy months ago but I still buy 10's from other stores, so that one is kind of reversed!

OK, ya got me....what the heck are "gotchers"?

Same size craziness here. I'm wearing size 4 jeans, and a small Gap t-sirt which is huge. This weekend I bought size 2 Calvin Klein dress pants (I swear they are mismarked), but couldn't button a size medium silk blouse that I tried. I wore a size 6 dress to dinner Saturday night. I just returned a size LARGE long sleeve t shirt which I bought without trying- it was skin tight, and a size small nightgown that I couldn't get over my shoulders.

Gotchers are underpants, Mel .... you crack me up!

Size 22 to a 24 pants
X large blouse

Tops- small or medium
Pants- 4, 6 or 8
Bra- 34C

I started out in L or XL in tops, 14 in pants and 38 or 40D in bras.

(There's a pic of me in a size 4 dress in my profile, if anyone wants to see.)

I'm 5 feet 4 inches, weigh 169, and wear a 14/16 bottom, x-large top - I wear a 38DD bra.
I think it does have a lot to do with build also. I am "husky" as my Dad would say. I have huge thighs! It looks like my mom dressed me in underwear that was too tight when I was little - they just balloon right out!

The same annoying thing happens up here in the higher sizes, too--I am about 280 pounds right now and wear a size 22 pants. I'd like to mention that 30 pounds heavier, I also wore a size 22 pants! I have lost 30 pounds and still wear the same clothes. But I also see women on here who weigh anywhere in my range (280-310) and are about my same height (I'm pretty average at a towering 5'5 ) and wear a size 28 or 32. I also see women who are 50 pounds lighter than me who wear a size 22.

I think all of my pants are size 22 (I think I may have 1 or 2 pairs of size 24 that were on clearance and that was the only size left ), but my shirts are larger--up to a 32 (thank you, back fat!). Different manufacturers also cut for different body shapes--some size 22 pants are too big on my butt but are way tight in my waist, whereas some 22s are tight on my butt and thighs yet perfect around the waist

Kinda like how many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop? The world may never know...
And we may never understand!

I started out at a 22 to 24. Now I'm a 14/16 on top and halfway between 16 and 18 on bottom. My 18s are really too big, but that's what I'm wearing most of the time because the 16s are just slightly too small and aren't comfortable to wear for long periods of time. I know I was a 16 at 190 before I gained so much more, so hopefully I'll be solidly in 16s again before long.

Oh, and I'm 6 feet tall, just in case my pounds and sizes seem really far off.

OK, I don't have any big stories to tell but it makes me happy to know that when I wear a "short" pair of jeans that it's cut smaller than a "regular". I see a lot of people on here (and friends I have) who weigh a LOT more than me and aren't that much taller than me but fit in a size smaller than me (I'm talking 30 or 40 pounds heavier here). It sucks to be short! It's not too bad except when Capris come down as low as pants (I'm 5'3 so I'm not really really short...just pretty short *hehe) so I can't buy them or when "SHORT" jeans are WAY too long. What's shorter than "short"???
I'll have to remember that the next time I jeans shop so I can try on the regulars too and see what happens.
I actually haven't done much clothes shopping yet so my shorts are just about falling off me but it's the end of the season so I hate to buy new when I'll probably be a different size come spring.
NO rhyme or reason to anything, I guess we all just have to shop around and not live and die by what "size" we are.
Amber

Wearing a (UK) size 16 trousers, 12 tank, 14 jumper, and an 8-10 body-warmer!

I have size 14 trousers that fall off, size 14s that are tight, size 16s that are tighter than 14s, bras that are all the same size that either fit or don't fit depending on the time of month!

This is an interesting thread. It leaves us with one more number we should ignore (besides the scale) in our weight loss journey (says the woman who weighs herself religiously). I am more and more convinced I need to start taking measurements.

I have one more factor to add that changes things -- pregnacies and nursing. I am 17 lbs. below my pre-pregnancy weight, but just now squeezing into my pre-pregnancy jeans because I had a c-section (while overweight) and now have a lovely apron of a belly. Also, just after baby was born, my girls were bigger than any girls should ever be. Now, still nursing after 15 months, they are smaller than they have been in years. So I can actually fit into a size smaller dress now than pre-pregnancy, but just getting into pre-pregnancy jeans.

All these are UK sizes. Today I dressed head to toe in size 14 (for the first time ever!). The other week I went out in size 18 jeans and a size 12 top. I often wear a size 18 suit to work even though most of my relaxing and gym clothes are size 16, with some size 14 tops. I sometimes wear size 12-14 tops.

I can fit in size 14 skirts and trousers, but find it hard to fasten size 16 jeans because they're don't seem to be cut for my shape. Or at least they fasten, but they just don't look right.

Today I tried on two skirts in a shop. They looked identical, but in different colours. I tried a size 14 and a size 16. They both seemed to fit exactly the same.

At the moment I'm wearing a 16 skirt (loose) and a 14 top.