Today's Sizes...WTH?!?! A ZERO?!?!

lederr

Cathlete
Okay, I know this has been discussed before, but I just can't understand why clothing manufacturers have seemingly changed their sizing. For example, I put on a pair of capris this morning that I bought from Old Navy a couple of years ago (maybe two or three?). Anyway, they are a size 2. I also have some older Gap and Old Navy shorts and skirts that are a size 2. All this stuff fits me pretty well...not too baggy, couldn't/woudn't want to go down a size even if they did have size 0 then. Anyway, this weekend DF and I were at Old Navy and I was trying on shorts (same style as ones I've bought from them before) and I was swimming in the size 2. I'm sorry, but a size 0?!?! That's absolutely ridiculous. Zero is nothing! It's a non-number...it means none! Are they trying to convince people that they aren't a size?!?! Funny thing also is I was probably a tad smaller/thinner a couple of years ago when I "fit" into a size 2. So, I am no longer a 2?! Is that what this ridiculous sizing is telling me? Don't even get me started on the 00 sizes!!! I have also noticed this "trend" at Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, etc. The only place I have not noticed it is in my Seven jeans. I wear the same size in Sevens that I wore in Edwins (yeah, totally dating myself) in high school.

This is probably part of the reason we have such an obesity epidemic in our country. An overweight person can go into a store and fit into a regular size and then can rationalize that they are not that fat.

Ugh!!! It's positively ridiculous and infuriating!!!

Sorry, had to vent.

Lorie

P.S. I am in no way saying "oh, poor little me...a size 2...feel badly for me." The truth is, I (as we all do) work out and am conscious about my shape and put in the time it takes to stay a certain size (although, my eating habits border on awful many ties). I am also lucky because my mom is thin (I am actually built more muscularly than her) and my grandmother was small.
 
Lorie, I sooooo know what you are saying. Uggggghhhh!! I can only find decent clothes to fit me well at ATL, AT, BR etc. But yeah I am a 2 sometimes a 4 and now am finding I need a 0 :eek: WTF!!! My friends who are larger (I mean no disrespect to these people or anyone on here) roll their eyes when I complain about this. I tell them BUT I AM NOT A SIZE 0!!! Truly if I had clothes from years ago I'd be a size 6. So I guess my friends don't like to hear me say that the sizing isn't true cause that would make them bigger than they are with the current size :( I have learned to keep quiet.

Catherine http://www.smileyhut.com/silly/arrowhead.gif

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I know!!! It's not the actual size I am talking about, it's the fact that the sizes are unrealistic and inaccurate...for anybody. I am just not sure what the rationale behind this way of sizing is.

Lorie
 
Honestly, I understand your friends. If you are complaining about being a zero and they work hard to be a today's size 10, how do you think they feel. Just buy the clothes you like and ignore the sizes. That is what I do, because there is no rhyme or reason, and my very skinny DD can fit in a 0, much less I. Yes sizing is different than long ago, but I remember in the 70's, the sizing depended on the store and the prices. So it is still the same. Shop at Dots if you want to be back in a 2.
 
Well, I guess the clothes manufacturers have to adjust to the ever expanding waisteline of Americans! What was a size 6 ten years ago, is now a size 2. What was large is now medium or even small.

Just like when you do blood tests, what is considered normal today in respect to blood sugar, would have meant serious concern 20 or 30 years ago. I.e. 20 years ago blood sugar was supposed to be 100 mg/dl, then it went to 105, then to 116. Now the WHO says 125 is on the high end but still normal. Hmmmh!

Americans get bigger and bigger, and unhealthier and unhealthier and changing the dress sizes and blood level allowances helps to keep people oblivious to the problems.

Carola
 
That's what I read the WHO (World Health Organization) has listed as their maximum.

I have never been even close to that, however, I also heard it is different from practicioner to practicioner. What one considers normal, the other one considers to high. Is that true?



Carola
 
Oh I am not saying you are wrong. That's what the ADA says too. Those are guidelines and I tend to react and treat differntly. It's crazy to wait till someones blood sugar is that high and damage is being done to start treatment. Of course first line treatment is lifestyle and diet modification.

Catherine http://www.smileyhut.com/silly/arrowhead.gif

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Yeah, I was kinda thinking this same thing this morning. I have a couple pairs of slacks from Banana Republic that I love. They looked fantastic on me when I was 8 lbs. heavier a couple months ago. Now they're a bit baggy and I'm not happy about it. BR is not an inexpensive store! They still look good enough, but I could probably go down to the 0. I'm afraid to, thouh, because that's just too small for me! Theoretically, anyway.
 
Jeez, I guess I'm the only one who sees it the other way around, especially with shirts. I had to buy extra large the last time I was at BR and the Gap. I went home and checked my old t-shirts and their a medium and still fit fine, not too baggy, not showing all my back fat over my bra band. Maybe it's the material that's different. They say their 100% cotton, but they feel different than my shirts of a few years ago. And what is with the vee necks being cut down to the belly button. Fine if you look like Paris Hilton, not when you've been round the breast feeding zone a few times. I'm so not an extra large, what do the poor women do that are actually an extra large in real life sizes, what do they have to turn to?
 
Hi Lorie,

I totally understand. I had to buy some Cache' jeans in a Size 0!

I am not used to wearing a size 0 -- I thought I was a solid size 4.

I think it also depends upon the clothing manufacturer.

When I tried on the size 0 jeans at Cache' the sales lady told me that none of their clothing ran the same because they use different manufacturers.

Now there are even 00s!

It's all about vanity sizing, I suppose.

In the 1960s' a size 10 was like today's size 0 or 2.

Fortunately, my mother and grandmother were never overweight either.

My grandmother, if anything, went down several sizes as she got older.

I am having a hard time keeping weight on right now.

I think since I began to lift heavier, I've lost some inches and my metabolism is higher than ever.
 
Please don't feel that way, Shelly. Nobody is calling you a sow.

Lorie was just venting her frustrations about clothing manufacturers.
 
I daresay it is a change in manufacturer for the Gap or BR.

I wear a lot of Lilly Pulitzer dresses. I have some in a size 4 and others in a size 10!

Lilly's sizing is all over the place.

Sometimes the size 4s in Lilly are larger than the size 10 petites.

I wish there were some consistency on clothing sizing instead of all these clothing lines having different sizes.

A size 4 in Coldwater Creek hangs on me as does the Size 0 in Chicos.

Then again, I've had to buy a size large in some of Target's GO line.

I now just try to ignore size tags and try on what looks like it will fit.
 
Fembot, I hear you sister. I normally wear a size 6 and a medium t-shirt. When I was shopping for t-shirts at the Gap recently, I had to go up to a size large. I'm only a B-cup in a bra; if I had bigger boobs, there is no way the shirt would fit. I know what you mean about the bra band issue; I call it "bra dough." If the shirt is made well and fits properly, I find the dough doesn't show as much.
I hate trying on clothes, but with the HUGE sizing disparity, it is a necessary evil.
 
I know what you mean. I walk around in my size 4 suits and I see plenty of women who are much smaller than me. I would love to walk up to them and ask them what size they buy. The way I see it, if I'm a 4, there must be women walking around who need a -2 or -4. But I've never seen those sizes, so what the heck do they wear???? I can't figure it out.
 
I agree with Carola - that this is occurring to accommodate the expanding American waistline. The rationale is that the manufacturers/retailers want to sell, sell, sell - that's it. And some people are so hung up on sizes that they won't buy something if the number is too large. (Or if they are usually a 4 but fit into a 2, they might be more inclined to buy the item.) I worked with a woman who was very fit and still had this problem. She thought she was always a small in tops, and that's all she would buy, even if the small didn't actually fit. She refused to go to a medium because that was not "her size."

Cathy :)


>I am just not sure what the rationale behind this
>way of sizing is.
>
 
>Jeez, I guess I'm the only one who sees it the other way
>around, especially with shirts. I had to buy extra large the
>last time I was at BR and the Gap. I went home and checked my
>old t-shirts and their a medium and still fit fine, not too
>baggy, not showing all my back fat over my bra band. Maybe
>it's the material that's different. They say their 100%
>cotton, but they feel different than my shirts of a few years
>ago. And what is with the vee necks being cut down to the
>belly button. Fine if you look like Paris Hilton, not when
>you've been round the breast feeding zone a few times. I'm so
>not an extra large, what do the poor women do that are
>actually an extra large in real life sizes, what do they have
>to turn to?

I am so with you on this v-neck thing. We can dress down at work, but I cannot have the girls hanging out for everyone to see. And trying to buy my DD who is a size 5, but a C cup a dress for 8th grade promotion was a nightmare. We did have a lot of chuckles about causing 8th grade boys to have heartattacks.

I think the lycra that is in everything does cause things to fit closer. Certain apparel I size up because at 45 I just don't need to be wearing skin tight cloths(did not wear it at age 18 either!).<going to go do Cathe in my baggy knee length sweat shorts, got them at Target, they are uber comfy!>
 

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