Just wanted to add sometimes people will say 'I'm a size 10' when they are squeezing themselves into it. While other will go with the size that is loose on them. Today I'm wearing a size 16(slim fit) that fit loose and I also have a pair of size 10s(stretch) that I wear. So what size am I??? I'd say I'm a size 12 because when I compare my measurements to size charts that the closest size.

I agree with most of you it's not about the size it's about the fit. I have to say though it felt awesome to buy the size 10s. :p

I've tried on pants that were exactly the same. Same brand, same size, same cut and had one fit tight and the other loose. Clothing sizes are just :?: :dizzy:. Lol.

At 167 I was a 14 in pants and a L or XL in shirts, now I'm mostly an 8 and sometimes a 6, and S or M.

I am a costume maker, and doing a lot of sewing, I have learned a lot about body types. There are many, many things that decide what size someone wears-weight is only part of the equation.

First of all-height. If you have a woman who is 5'0", and a woman who is 5'9" and they both weigh 160 pounds, the woman who is tall may look just fine, while the short woman may be on the chubby side at that weight. She has less body length to carry that weight on.

Second-fitness level, or muscle mass vs. body fat. Women who are more muscular can be smaller at the same height and weight than a woman of the same weight-but who is not as fit. Muscle is denser than fat.

Third-body type. When someone says they are a size 10 in jeans-it doesn't always mean they are also a size 10 in dresses and blouses. There are women who are larger on top/smaller on the bottom (apple type figures) who carry their weight in their faces, chest, back, arms, and stomach area-but who have small, thin buns and legs. There are women who are pear shaped-who have thinner upper bodies and carry more weight in their hips, butt, and legs. There are hourglass figure shapes, who tend to carry extra weight all over, but have the tendency towards a smaller, more defined waist. They carry their weight in their arms and bust, as well as their hips and legs, but their torsos-their waist, abs, and back-tend to stay slimmer.

There is also the tube body shape-which is mostly in taller women, and from what I have noticed, it tends to be a popular body shape among models. They tend to be tall, and have great arms and legs-long and lean, and pretty much resistant to cellulite-and when they put on a few extra pounds it tends to settle through the torso-maybe a little more in the chest, a little pouch in the tummy-but their legs and arms always look great.

So-if you have a bunch of women who all wear a size 10 jeans-they are most likely all going to look different-simply because their weights, heights, body shapes, and fitness levels are different.

Sizes are so frustrating, as are body dimensions.

I'm about 5'6" and 156lbs. I have a more-or-less hourglass figure (a rather large hourglass at the moment, but an hourglass nontheless), with hips that are slightly larger than bust. On one hand, it helps me carry my weight proportionately; on the other, it really makes buying clothing a pain in the butt. Shirts that fit in the waist are way too tight across the bust, and jeans that fit my hips are too loose around the waist.

If a shirt is stretchy, I can wear a small. If a shirt isn't stretchy, I have to buy a medium and just deal with a baggy middle. In dresses with flared skirts, I fit an 8; in dresses with straight skirts, I wear a 10. Pants, on the other hand, I'm a tight 12-14 depending on the cut :rolleyes:

I have the same problem! I am an hour glass figure, and my bust has always been bigger than my waist/hips. I find that the low rise jeans tend to give me a better fit, even if the size has to be a bit bigger. And as for t-shirts that fit everywhere on me, forget it ;)

My caboose is goose
 

I'm 5'4" and 177lbs. I wear a 14 (snugly). I have a big caboose.

I have mostly given up on judging by the number of the size, because they're all so different. Good expression, "vanity sizing". There are a number of stores that sell a size 10 that would have been a 14 twenty years ago. There are people here who weigh a lot more than me who wear much smaller sizes; I know a toned, fit 160 lbs is very different from a completely sedentary, fluffy 160, but that's not it, because I do a LOT of exercise & have always been pretty muscular (plus the fat, of course). So it's really the manufacturers who are confusing things.

So, I guess I'd just go by what's happening in the mirror!

cheers,
sue

And THAT is precisely why I say that size is 100% irrelevant. ONLY fit matters. No question about it - we are all being lied to on a daily basis on those tags... pay them no mind whatsoever.

Don't feel bad. I do weight training and weigh 195, yet I am still a size 22/24. There are some size 20s I can fit into, and I have found ONE size 18 pair of pants I barely squeeze into. I don't know what the deal is. I don't have big hips or too big of a butt, I think it's my stomach "pouch" on the bottom. It's bigger than my butt! lol

In terms of clothes: I have a pair of pants that are an eight that I love to wear. They are one of the few pair of women's pants that I own. Since I was onto a good thing, I went to the store to get another pair...same brand, style and size....except there was a "sizemic shift" and that new pair doesn't fit. I doubt that pants reverse shrink, so while some women notice that sizes have been changing to stroke our egos and keep us shopping, I've noticed the opposite, at least, in that one pair of pants. I have made the switch to almost all men's pants (aside from work pants), because all the wierd sizes and off the wall cuts of women's pants bug me.

This kind of gets to me too. I am 5'5" and 155 lbs, and I wear a size 16. In younger days, at 110 lbs I was a size 10, and looked extremely thin in pictures. At this weight I know I do not look normal size.

But a woman at work is 5'4" and weights 230 lbs and is in a 22x, and tells me that I must wear the same size as she does. So not only do I have to deal with the size issue, but also thinking that I really look like 75 lbs heavier than I am, when I have enough issues dealing with being 155.

Buddha - the lady at work probably doesn't see herself as big as she is, so when she looks at you, she thinks that's about how she looks. I know sometimes I will see a pair of jeans on a rack and think - that looks about the right size, and then when I look, they are 2 or 3 sizes too small - wishful thinking, I guess! Don't let her get to you!

Thanks, icme. I try to use what she tells me as inspiration to get me to the gym sometimes when I don't feel like going. She has told me that several times, whenever I get something new, she complements me on it and then brings up the size thing - so even though I have told her I am size 16, she keeps persisting in that vein.

Well the next time I get something new, if she brings it up - it won't be a 16, it will be smaller. (Don't I sound vindictive)