Just a Thought. You Might Think I'm Crazy lol.

[leesooim]

OK, I just had to comment on this: VANITY SIZING.

It's insane. I have a pair of petite jeans from JCrew that I bought in 2002, size 12. I cannot zip them up at all and they are still quite tight in the thighs and butt (but I can get them up over my hips without much of a "struggle"). JCrew jeans now fit me at a size 8.

I recently splurged and bought some "future" size clothes from Old Navy -- size 8 to be exact in their petite wide leg dress pants and their perfect flared khakis. I CAN zip these up, but it's quite tight and uncomfortable (and of course I am not wearing these pants yet). I find it amusing that a size 12 khaki skirt I bought in 2001 also from Old Navy is as tight as these brand new size 8 pants I just go from them.

And the other day I bought a couple pairs of jeans from the LOFT on clearance -- one was a size 8 regular, the other a size 10 petite. Both fit just fine.

I realize manufacturers are different, but the truth is, clothing is cut bigger but sizes are getting smaller. While it's a big ego boost to say "I CAN WEAR SIZE 8 JEANS! YAY!", I know the truth is they are probably closer to a size 12 from 10-15 years ago and it BUGS me lol. I feel like the clothing industry is contributing to the obesity problem in this country!

[~BookDiva~]

Amen... :-)

[jenssensmom]

It took me a minute to figure it out, but many of the old clothes that I cannot get into are sized as a "junior" and I couldn't figure out why I could wear a size 2/4 in Ralph Lauren when I go shopping at Macy's but when I pull out some old stuff that I kept from years ago between sizes 5 to 11 they were too small. Many designers do vanity sizing now, but I think that sometimes we may be trying to put on a junior cut size thinking its the same as a Misses. I found this to be the case as I shopped resale stores because they just put all the stuff together in one section without consideration as to whether the jeans are a junior, misses, or women's size.

[leesooim]

This could definitely be the case also, but the stores I shop in, with the exception of Old Navy, don't have a juniors' section. Occasionally I go to Macy's or something, but usually I stick to the "boutiques" (Ann Taylor, Loft, Gap, JCrew, Banana Republic, Coldwater Creek), especially for my work wardrobe. I avoid the juniors' section like the plague in department stores because I think it would only depress me lol.

[jenssensmom]

I wear a lot of Ann Taylor too and I find that AT and Ralph Lauren's sizes run very close. They are very comfortable for me, too, for work. I wear a 6 in Talbots but when you hold it up next to AT or RL in a 4 they look exactly the same..LOL...I was in juniors sizes just ten years ago (I'm 39) so I know a lot of the stuff I just never let go of was sized as junior. I had to get rid of it all so I wouldn't have an unrealistic expectation...LOL...but I feel great and am very happy with my "misses" figure!! LOL!

[cruzn2lose]

When I was 20-22 or so, I weighed between 110-115 lbs. wore a size 7. My sister in law who is a little bigger now than I was then, is a size 4....I completely agree....though I knew this for a while because of that reason....it's ridiculous!

[michelleb]

I totally agree on the size thing!

[leesooim]

I admit that without vanity sizing I probably NEVER would have wanted to go clothes shopping, but it certainly would have put my weight/size/overall health to the forefront of my mind when I reached for a pair of size 18 jeans and discovered I was actually a 22 or something. It's a bit of a catch 22, but it annoys me because I know the purpose of vanity sizing is so the clothing industry can sell clothes more easily lol.

[Kelly Jo]

Does anyone watch Biggest Loser? If you saw the makeover episode this season, they told Kim she was wearing a size 6. Did she look good? Yes. Has she lost a ton of weight? Yes. Is she a size 6? Hell, no. At least a 10, maybe a 12. Drive me crazy.

[4linton]

You poor gals, I mean in, You know the guys sizes are in inches and there is no cheat on that. Yes the cuts are different to give us booty room but a 40" waist is a 40" waist. It's like they play games with you ladies which I think is great when it's downsizing and cruel as hell when it's on the upside. I noticed this years ago shopping with my size 6 wife who has been the same for 20 damn years,( I hate her), I can understand your uproar.. Good luck with this, as I secretly smile and feel ashamed of it at the same time.

[grammargirl0309]

Remember, though, that people in general have gotten bigger, and not just weight-wise. People are taller, healthier; the average height of a man used to be something like 5'5"; now it's 5'9" or 5'10". And fashion models have just gotten smaller; no average woman looks like a clothes hanger. A lot of juniors sizes are cut weirdly small, even though many teenagers are overweight. I don't see much difference in sizes from the past decade or two. I wore a size 6 in high school at a weight of 135. I'm now 140 and wear a 6/8. If anything, we need to stop idealizing the fashion skinny ideal, and cutting clothes yet smaller isn't the answer.

[leesooim]

I don't think making sizes cut bigger but smaller on the tag helps anything either though, unfortunately. I don't idealize any skinny supermodels (although I wouldn't mind being 5' 10" instead of 5' even lol), but at least in my experiences as a 5' tall woman, I find that sizes are very different for me these days, as I pointed out in my initial post comparing jeans I bought in 2001 versus jeans I bought a couple months ago.