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acacongua
Oct 16, 2007, 2:00 PM
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I've always worn size Med, and my weight is close to what it has been since high school (I'm 31). Now I wear size Small. I thought the girls grew some!
I have an older style of Banana Republic pants that do not allow me to breathe if I put them on. However, every pants I've bought in the same size from the same company in the past year feel a bit baggy on me.
Are sizes getting redefined as our body sizes go up (on the whole as a society)?
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kimmyt
Oct 16, 2007, 2:55 PM
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!!
I'm not the only one who has noticed this...
I guess some people refer to it as 'vanity sizing', I think it occurs primarily in women's clothes, I would think because the large number of people nowadays that are overweight or obese. So, people hate being a size 12, so clothes companies think 'oh we'll make them a size 8 and then they'll buy our clothes!'. I guess it works.
Pisses me off to no end, because seriously? I'm not a freaking 2. Yet in several stores, I have to buy (almost) the smallest size there. If the sizing were true, then I'd be one of the smallest people around, but I'm not. I've got curves. I couldn't imagine being smaller than I currently am, I'd have to shop in the kid's section! (although kid's clothes now are looking more and more like adult clothes, but I guess that's another rant...)
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wonderwoman
Oct 16, 2007, 3:36 PM
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I especially notice this when I go shopping at Old Navy! It's nuts!
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acacongua
Oct 16, 2007, 3:39 PM
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KimmyT -
Size 2 is usually the only size left on the clearance rack. I envy you.
I guess they got to use what tricks they can, but it sucks when I order clothes and have to pay the shipping to return them after I find out they don't fit. Bitches!
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granite_grrl
Oct 16, 2007, 3:49 PM
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Clothes sizes are weird. I do think that main stream clothing has a lot of vanity sizing.
Ex - I know that my feet are a solid 9.5 woman's. Other my steel toed shoes I wear at work, I'm not sure the last time I actually bought something that was a 9.5. Seems that size 9 almost always fits me for most shoes.
I find it much easier when I have to ask for stuff in men's sizes or euro sizes.
I will also admit that I am wearing size larges far more than I used to in high school (same thing, in the past 9 years I haven't gotten much bigger, used to always wear a medium). But I'm not sure if I just now enjoy clothes that are fit more comfortably or if clothes sizes are actually changing.
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climb_eng
Oct 16, 2007, 4:03 PM
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MY girlfriend seems to think that vanity sizing is mostly an American thing, and not a Canadian thing. She refers to things as either a Canadian or an American size based on how it fit her.
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kimmyt
Oct 16, 2007, 4:05 PM
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acacongua wrote: KimmyT - Size 2 is usually the only size left on the clearance rack. I envy you. !
:( not around me! I'm hard-pressed to find anything thats on sale in a smaller size. Most things are in the double digits when I go sale rack shopping...
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wonderwoman
Oct 16, 2007, 4:58 PM
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climb_eng wrote: MY girlfriend seems to think that vanity sizing is mostly an American thing, and not a Canadian thing. She refers to things as either a Canadian or an American size based on how it fit her.
That's because all us Americans have become super-sized! Want some fries with that 46" waist line?
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macherry
Oct 16, 2007, 6:48 PM
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granite_grrl wrote: Clothes sizes are weird. I do think that main stream clothing has a lot of vanity sizing. Ex - I know that my feet are a solid 9.5 woman's. Other my steel toed shoes I wear at work, I'm not sure the last time I actually bought something that was a 9.5. Seems that size 9 almost always fits me for most shoes. I find it much easier when I have to ask for stuff in men's sizes or euro sizes. I will also admit that I am wearing size larges far more than I used to in high school (same thing, in the past 9 years I haven't gotten much bigger, used to always wear a medium). But I'm not sure if I just now enjoy clothes that are fit more comfortably or if clothes sizes are actually changing.
i fit for comfort, and prefer men's jeans and khakis rather than the women's fit for pants.
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acacongua
Oct 16, 2007, 7:07 PM
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That's a great source for this topic.
What frustrates me is that I think Prana followed this new sizing fad and I thought their main audience were healthy individuals. However, my only reference is their sports bras and my sudden downsizing. I have to refrain from buying anything until I can get to a store and try on tops.
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thomasribiere
Oct 16, 2007, 7:29 PM
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In Europe sizes have redefined last year I think, as the population is getting taller and larger : the former M are now S, or so.
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tigerlilly
Oct 16, 2007, 8:21 PM
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acacongua wrote: I've always worn size Med, and my weight is close to what it has been since high school (I'm 31). Now I wear size Small. I thought the girls grew some!
I've been having this exact same problem, and will cease to buy clothing mail order for this reason (take note manufacturers and e-tailers!). To make matters worse, sizing charts on the manufacturers' websites have not kept pace with the change. I bought a pair of OR capris in a local store, and was surprised to find I was a size small, after being a medium for my entire adult life. I found a different color of the same pant on line, but had to go back to a medium to get the same fit (last year's model?) And, according to Isis sizing charts, I wear a size 10. In reality, I turned out to be a 4 (after 2 returns), and that's a little loose. Once upon a time, I was a reliable size 8. Then sometimes I was a 6. Now, I have no idea what I am, and my dimensions are virtually unchanged for the last 25 years. No wonder I hate shopping!
Kathy 
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matterunomama
Oct 16, 2007, 11:55 PM
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Banana Republic is particularly absurd. Last time I went I was a size ZERO, which is a ridiculous concept, despite previously being a size 4, then size two-and being 7-8 pounds heavier and mommy-tummy'd over those same years! And then the pants are too long (I'm 5'3"). I stopped shopping there, for that and other reasons.
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iamthewallress
Oct 17, 2007, 1:37 AM
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I'm 5'6" and normal, not exceptionally skinny, weight. When I buy a S or XS, I have to wonder what you do if you're 5'0 and skinny.
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microbarn
Oct 17, 2007, 2:17 AM
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iamthewallress wrote: I'm 5'6" and normal, not exceptionally skinny, weight. When I buy a S or XS, I have to wonder what you do if you're 5'0 and skinny.
My 5' wife spends more time then she likes in the kids section. I probably can't tell you her weight, but she is thin even compared to skinny folk.
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carabiner96
Oct 17, 2007, 5:35 AM
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i'm scrawny, and i've had to start buying kids stuff. sux.
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lena_chita
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Oct 17, 2007, 3:46 PM
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I hear you! I'm wearing right now GAP kids jeans... On the positive side though, they were only $10, while the identical-style women's jeans were $29.99 on sale.
I noticed the size change over time, definitely. When I came to the US in 1994, I was buying size 3-5 in youth or size 4-6 in women's. I am at the same weight now, but depending on the store, I might be lucky to get size 2, and mostly it is size 0.
And in some cases size 0 is way too big... I am less then sero... Nothing... a ghost, apparently.
WHY can't women's clothing come in inch-sizes, like men's? OH, wait, I know why... Most women don't want to admit to their waist size.
Still, some stores do it-- Lucky jeans, for example. But then I run into another problem-- they don't stock up my size b/c there is little demand for it.
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mindaa
Oct 17, 2007, 4:17 PM
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In reply to: What a great thread - I've been wondering the same thing! I too am lean but definitely not skinny. I can't find anything to fit at stores like Kohl's. This came up with a gal at work, and apparently if you're scrawny, you just have to be able to afford to shop at Nordstrom's etc. where you can buy designer clothes. I actually read a magazine criticizing clothing manufacturers for developing size 00 and 0, hypothesizing that it was promoting "unobtainable beauty standards" that the average size 10 woman can't meet. Made me want to scream - it's almost just the opposite...this current trend is of manufacturers promoting American women's acceptance of their unhealthy lifestyles. (disclaimer: of course I don't think it's any more healthy for women to strive towards being a boney & size 00 when that's not their natural shape.)
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tavs
Oct 17, 2007, 7:32 PM
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Another voice here--same problem. Despite no real weight changes, I've mysteriously gone from a 6/7 all the way down to a 0 or 2 (depending on the store, style, and phase of the moon) in the last 5 years or so. And I agree--it sucks to not be able to reliably shop online or in catalogs. I find even within one store/brand, the size differs dramatically depending on the style. At a Levi's outlet, I tried on juniors jeans in a size 3--while they fit (absurdly), I didn't find anything I really liked. So I tried on a couple pair in misses size 2 and 4--both sizes were HUGE. I could literally pull them off without unbuttoning them. WTF?
Yes, inch sizes would rock. I think women's pants should come with three measurements: waist, hip, and inseam.
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acacongua
Oct 18, 2007, 2:15 AM
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Lena -
I think you might have to order your clothes from an Asian country! Where are you from?
I think we're going to need negative sizes!
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wiki
Oct 18, 2007, 3:04 AM
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And on a more rock climbing note... Its happened to harnesses too!
I've gone from a size 8 Primrose to a size 4 and they don't make them any smaller...
If this keeps going my next harness will be a Whizz-Kid with 'not for lead climbing' written all over it! OUCH!
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overlord
Oct 19, 2007, 8:37 AM
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i have also noticed this. and in mens sizes too. i fit into a S sport underwear (you know, it has to be tight and M is just too loose), but i remember that i used to wear M or L (ok, these were a bit baggy) chlotes when i was in high school; i couldnt fit into a S.
and a female friend of mine also suddenly fits S. and while she is by no means fat, she is not small, id say shes just right (climber, runner etc).
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gumbelina
Oct 19, 2007, 6:14 PM
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I have noticed that I am somewhere between a M and a L now when I used to be able to just blindly order a L. Happily though, it seems like Patagonia started cutting their baselayer tops differently last year and are now longer at the waist and larger at the bust. It doesn't make sense considering that many fit women tend to not be large-chested, but for me it's great because I finally have a couple of wool tops that fit.
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olive
Oct 31, 2007, 1:29 AM
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Yeah, everytime I have to buy a small top, I have to wonder, if I am a small, what do the women who are actually small buying (well, I learned from this thread, apparently kids' clothing)? I really think this is the only country in the world where I am a small. It becomes apparent to me everytime I go back to Turkey, there I am almost always a bigger size than I am here.
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