Don't forget there is a factor in "vanity sizing" as well. Some women's clothing manufacturers have been changing sizes to make women "feel better" about themselves. So, what USED to be size 20 is now an 18. Or, with a different manufacturer what used to be a 20 may now be a 16!!!! It makes it almost imperative to try on clothes before you buy to avoid a trip back for a return/exchange. You may be able to wear a 10 from manufacturer A, but only fit into a 14 from manufacturer B. Most women stick to pretty much the same brands and outlets, so don't really notice the differences till they shop outside their norm.
I am new to the forum, but I wanted to tell you what my size/weight look like. At 180lbs (my lowest) size 14 jeans are very loose on me. I presently weigh 258, and 22 shorts are loose, but my 18 jeans are not comfortable (I refuse to buy new ones though!). I completely agree that everyone is different. It really depends on how you carry your weight, what your weight is made of (fat or muscle) bone structure, and of course the manufacturer.
I just wrote basically the same thing you did on another thread. And I do exercise and do weights -- you can see the muscles in my shoulders and upper arms and thighs. I don't totally understand it either. I suspect at least some of these other things are involved:
1) bone structure (I'm pretty sure my PELVIC BONE all by itself will not fit into a size six, and my shoulders rival those of a defensive lineman)
2) clothes size inflation (I buy my work clothes from higher-end stores that don't do vanity sizing)
3) age (I'm 42, OK? Parts move around ... OK, downward)
4) lycra? Which is to say, I see a lot of ladies in the malls that probably say they fit in a size four but: just because you can do it doesn't mean you should.
I'm sure that only nos. 1-3 apply to our classy ladies here on the forum though.
Who knows! I have always wondered if I'm denser (physically!) than other people, because I weigh about 180 right now, at 5'3, and 12s are a little loose on me. At my heaviest, 215, I was in between a 14 and a 16. I think most people would never guess that I weigh 180 (I hope I am not being naive here!)
I also think a lot of it depends on where you shop for your jeans-Juniors sizes are too small, but at my height, most regular women's clothes are too large! I mostly stick to Gap, Limited, American Eagle, Target... anything right in between juniors and womens.
But I like the advice to just cut the tag out. Who cares what size you wear?
O.M.G! LOL @ 2 spaghetti noodles holding up a meatball! I think we must be twins! and I to am 5'2" . Built like Humpty Dumpty. Very little muscle mass, unfortuntely..I think the variation is mostly muscle mass differences, height differences, and bone/shape differences.
So me at 5'2" with low muscle mass and apple shaped=
at 158 lbs I am a 14 comfortably
at 170 I am a 16 comfortably
right now am probably around 163 and the 16's are loose enough I can get them off without unbuttoning them.. but my 14's are slightly tight. But I can still breathe in them and don't have to spend 10 min pushing in my love handles while holding my breath and sucking it in while putting them on.
Sometimes its shocking though to see someone at 250 lbs can be the same size as someone at 165.
I am a perfect hourglass. Big boobs, big butt and big hair to balance it all out. I have a tiny waist (relatively -- I'm not blind) that "enhances" my booty and tatas. Read that, makes 'em both look huger.
When I gain weight, I gain it everywhere which is a blessing. My fingers, my toes, my face, everywhere...which makes it harder to detect. Unfortunately, as I lose, I also lose it everywhere evenly so it's harder to detect.
At my largest 259, I wore an 18w sometimes a 20. At 5'3", that's a lot of fat stuffed onto a short skeleton.
At 235 I wear a 16w.
When I was at my lowest (post kids), I was 175 and a size 10 was loose.
My WWs goal weight is 135. HA! I'd be a size 2/4 and that will never happen. I wonder if I am sabatoging myself thinking like that, but to be quite honest, I don't want to be that small.
MY goal is to be able to walk into any store and be able to buy a cute outfit without it being the biggest size they carry. I want to be able to go shopping and try things on without stress that nothing will fit. I want to confidently buy a pair of pants when I am in a hurry not having to try on 17gazillion pairs and going home with nothing.
Fat and muscle ratio makes a big difference for me.
At my highest weight (280#) I was very out-of-shape and all fat. I wore a size 26. I lost 80 pounds and 7 seven sizes. I was working out a lot and was comfortably in a size 14 at 200#.
I gained half the weight back (up to 240#), but still had good muscle tone so I only went up 2 sizes to an 18. (Previously at 240, I was in a 22.) I'm now at 225# and am almost back in size 14.
Hmm, I wish I could help you out. I haven't been buying myself new clothes throughout my journey, so I just recently discovered I am fitting very snugly into 18s nowadays (first time since middle school!) It's a weird feeling. I am a pear shape and can fit into xl t-shirts at the moment. I'm not sure about dressy tops and whatnot.
Like others have mentioned, different body types require different sizes, even if the weights are the same.
Edit: For reference, I was in a 26 at my highest weight.
I have a little upper body but a HUGE lower body. Right now, at 5'3", 140 lbs, and extremely pear shaped, I wear a small top, but a 10-12 in bottoms.
But, I've noticed a huge amount of variation depending on the brand and the cut. The last time I went shopping I could fit into a 30 in curvy fit jeans from Anthropologie, but the size 12 shorts I tried on at Old Navy looked like they were trying to strangle my thighs.
When I was 160 I was wearing a 12-14 in bottoms and a medium in tops.
Fat and muscle ratio makes a big difference for me.
At my highest weight (280#) I was very out-of-shape and all fat. I wore a size 26. I lost 80 pounds and 7 seven sizes. I was working out a lot and was comfortably in a size 14 at 200#.
I gained half the weight back (up to 240#), but still had good muscle tone so I only went up 2 sizes to an 18. (Previously at 240, I was in a 22.) I'm now at 225# and am almost back in size 14.
That's how I am. I'm at 240 right now and my 14's are falling off. I carry my weight in my belly and ginormous boobs, but have "normal size" arms and legs. It's all very strange.
So I keep coming across posts where people are saying "I wear a size 8" and their ticker says they weigh 150. "Size 12 is falling off of me" and their ticker says 158.
I am busting out of my 12's right now (which is part of what got me wanting to do WW because I REFUSE to upsize again). And I am at 163.
Is it a height thing? (Im short 5'2). Is it an exercise thing? I am SO out of shape that my exercise right now is just walking. I smoke, have asthma, and am overweight so a crazy burn workout of 30 mins of cardio about kills me.
I am also 5'2. I weigh 145 and wear a size 8 in pants. I am pretty curvy and muscular because I lift. I feel very dense LOL.
I am surprised sometimes that I see people "bigger" than I am fitting into smaller sizes. I really think it is a brand thing.
I noticed that if I buy clothes at Kmart or Target, I get a size smaller than if I buy something of a bigger designer name at another store. I got a tank top (Basic Edition brand) at KMart in a size medium and after wearing a couple times, it was so big that my husband asked if I was wearing something from my heavier days.
And it really is not about the size you wear, it is about being healthy and happy at that weight. Vanity sizing is fun, but it is not a reflection of health.
I am 5'1 and hovering between 138 - 140 pounds and wear a size 7 normally. Recently I bought jeans that were a 5! I have always thought that I was built more manly than most petite women but hopefuly once i loose another 10-15 pounds I will be petite all over! Thats my goal at least. To know I am short but 'small' in general. not small (short) but with a belly!! haha
I think your body type has everything to do with it. We are all built so differently, it is really amazing if you think about it. I think to that everyone likes different styles in clothing which makes a difference also.
I think I have found a clue: the way pants are cut in different fits. I tried on some pants last week; I fit perfectly in "regular" size 8 shorts and pants at the Gap. But also at the Gap I tried on a pair in a low-riding style and fit in a 6. I didn't take them because they made me nervous about how they would stay up. I came of age in the 70s and 80s when waistlines were closer to the bellybutton, and I always feel like the lower waist things are about to fall down on me, since they are sitting on the brink, as it were, the widest part of the hip.
(Am I also the only one who feels a little ... funny at seeing those muscles low on a fine young man's belly when he wears those pants? Obliques I think they are called. Like a Victorian gentleman must have felt when he caught a glimpse of forbidden feminine ankle under a skirt. In my own younger days those things were normally hidden deep under layers of denim and cotton, probably also some untucked flannel shirting.)
So if the people posting the smaller size pants are younger folks or otherwise trying on low-waisted pants, that could account for a size.
I must confess also that since I posted here last, weight lifting has caused me to drop a size in a month without losing any poundage.
I also think that height has a lot to do with it. My SIL are about the same weight - 5 lb difference, I wear a 26 and she wears a 20 - the difference, she is 6 inches taller than me!
