Size 14 is the new size 10?

[tmarquez]

I swear they are doing this with children's clothng too. We went school shopping for DD yesterday and depending on the store she wears anything from a 7 slim to a 10-12!

I noticed that the more expensive the store, the smaller size she wears.

 

[MushyMushy]

You know what, come to think of this conversation I haven't noticed this trend in plus size clothes. Aside from small fitting differences, I've always been able to stick with one size pretty consistently.

 

[NotUrsula]

Higher-end manufacturers have always used vanity sizing, ever since there has been standardized "numbered" sizing, which was instituted in the early 1960's.

I remember being in college (when I normally wore a 12), and snagging a designer blouse on sale that normally would have been about $300 -- it fit me and it was a 6. That was 25 years ago.

The interesting trend I've noticed is that as styles have recently shifted to a more form-fitting cut, mfrs. seem to have almost entirely lost the ability to recognize that at different sizes, the bustline is in a different place! Right now I'm a size 16, and right now I'm wearing a blouse that used to have a drawstring that was supposed to be under the bustline. I got it for a song because like me, anyone my size who tried it on found that drawstring was sitting on TOP of the bustline. For fun, I looked around and found another of the same blouse that was a size 2 on the sale rack, and I measured how far down from the shoulder that the casing had been set -- it was the same distance on the 2 and the 16, which tells me that whoever made the pattern had no clue that bustlines are almost always proportionally larger in a larger-sized woman, and that that proportion means that the front measurement from the shoulder to the waist is longer because it is not straight down. (FTR, the blouse now has no drawstring at all, which was how I wanted it -- I liked the fabric, but I never wanted something with an empire waist.) I'm finding more and more often when I try on a blouse that it fits everywhere else, but will be too tight across the bustline. (I'm a size 16 for the most part, and my bustline is a 40DD -- pretty normal for that size, according to most mfr. size charts.)

 

[stahshee]

This makes me crazy. I have so much trouble finding clothes that fit anyway, since I'm petite (and not all that short, but my proportions are definitely petite).

When I was in high school, I was 5' 4" and weighed 100 pounds and was a size 3/4.

35 years later, I'm still 5' 4" (probably--haven't measured my height in 20 years and people do shrink as they get older ) and I weigh 125 pounds and guess what size I am?? Yup, size 4 (or 6P).

When I get down to 115-118 pounds (what I consider my ideal weight) I also go down a size and can't find a darn thing locally in a regular size 2 or a 4P.

It's just crazy, 'cause I know I'm not that small--where do all the really tiny people shop?? I end up buying most of my clothes online.

Im 5"4 and Im 135 and I thought I was at my ideal weight....hmmm I better guess again

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I was back in the mall yesterday to return the three size LARGE shirts that are way too SMALL for me.

There were some shorts and capris on sale. The shorts I have been wearing are ones I have had for several years - the 8's fit, the 10's are loose. So I grabbed a size 8 capris in the same brand and tried them on - too loose. I also came home with a Medium shirt. Hmm. 3 different Large shirts are too small, yet the one that fits is Medium?

I have lost about 8 pounds recently, but losing 8 pounds did NOT make me a size 6. This thread has been very interesting.

 

[MushyMushy]

Im 5"4 and Im 135 and I thought I was at my ideal weight....hmmm I better guess again

Of course everybody has different body structure to work with, so that 115 that looks good on one person would make someone else look emaciated. My medical weight range is from 111-146 and I looked BAD below 130, so I'd say I'm like you and have a higher ideal weight than someone else who's 5'4" tall.

 

[redlight]

Im 5"4 and Im 135 and I thought I was at my ideal weight....hmmm I better guess again

5'4", 135 is within the range of "healthy weights" based on BMI.