Vanity Sizing. Size Inflation. The Reason Why Your Old College Roommate Still Wears her “Same” Size. Another Advertising Ploy to Make us Buy More Stuff. Whatever you want to call it, it has been in the news a lot lately.
When haters called Jennifer Love Hewitt fat and she zinged back with, “A size two is not fat,” the Internet buzzed with derision. Bloggers and commenters, whether they were pro- or anti-curves, called her size declaration into question. Later it was explained that she wasn’t necessarily saying she was a size two – just that in general size twos are not fat. Um, thanks for clearing that up? I’m betting though, that cutie-pie J. Lo-Hew probably does have a pair of jeans in her closet labeled “size 2.”
In addition to current stars, people have long speculated about what size Marilyn Monroe would be in today’s sizes (the general consensus, I believe, is despite wearing size 12 or 14 in her day, today she would be a size 6).
What the Research Says
The fact that sizes have changed over the years is a fact. Researchers examined 1,011 pairs of women’s pants and discovered that yes, pants size numbers have decreased given the same linear measurements. They also discovered, surprising me, that the more expensive the brand the worse the size inflation.
The common reaction to this is that women’s clothing should be measured like men’s – in inches per waist circumference and length. They would have a point except that men’s clothing has also fallen victim to this trend. As evidence I would show you my husband’s closet – he has a pair of Levi cargo pants bought in the men’s section, size 32/34, and a pair of Levi cargo pants bought in the young men’s section, size 34/34. Guess which one is bigger around his waist? Yep – the men’s 32/34. So apparently even men have size egos (Ahem. Not that way, you sickos.)
What’s the Big Deal?
So who cares? If it makes you feel better why not just embrace it? Well, for one, it makes shopping for clothing a total crapshoot. Especially if you shop almost solely at thrift stores like I do. I don’t even bother looking at the sizing tags anymore and instead resort to just holding it up and guessing.
It makes shopping at regular stores a lot trickier too. While I looooove Banana Republic with their “skinny mirrors”, my size there is several sizes smaller than what I wear if I shopped someplace like Wet Seal or Forever 21. I’ve also noticed Ann Taylor, Calvin Klein and the Gap similarly flatter me:) Is it because a pair of jeans in said smaller size cost 120$ at Banana while at Forever 21 you’d be hard pressed to find anything of 40$? The exception to this rule is Wal-Mart, the low cost leader, whose sizes are so outrageously huge they put all other companies to shame.
And forget about either buying or receiving clothes as gifts. The only size I can confidently tell my husband is my shoe size. Him: Would like a new hoodie for your birthday? (despite the fact that I own about 30 already – he’s very kind) Me: Wheee! A girl can never have too may hoodies! (Right??) Him: What size? Me: Um, if you shop at Pac-Sun I’m an X, Hollister I’m a Y, Gap I’m Z… Him: Snore. Hence the wonder of gift cards:)
As for the feel-good factor, that only lasts as long as you stay true to that store or brand. It’s a sad slap in the face to go into a new store and have to keep trading up sizes. This is especially true with European brands like H&M or pricier jeans that measure in “inches” like Seven or Hudson.
You Are Not A Number
Besides, the bottom line (hee!), is that you are what you are – not what your pants tell you you are. Self magazine (possibly the one magazine in the universe I don’t get) has a great article this month on how normal women found their “happy weight.” Read these essays and get inspired. Really – I promise it will help you stop caring about the number on that little tag.
Besides, I hate feeling like I’m just another cog in the marketing machine – even if that machine tells me nice things about the size of my butt.
Photo credit: True Jeans
I have to say, it doesn’t surprise me that vanity sizing is worse in the higher-priced stores. They want to appeal to a certain demographic (rich), and that demographic tends to be obsessed with clothing size.
I HATE buying jeans!!! I finally broke down and bought a pair last week at Banana Republic, on sale. And guess what? They’re a little too big! They fit fine in the dressing room, but I forgot that they sometimes stretch a bit as the day goes on.
Yuuurrghh!
Oh well. Just have to invest in a belt.
Great post, Charlotte! I also HATE buying jeans w/ a vengeance!! A few months after baby #3 I broke down and spent more $$ than I wanted on some nice denim from Eddie Bauer. I rationalized it by telling myself I could then go and get a few more pairs from the thrift store. When I got to said thrift store I took my time, carefully picking out several pairs in the same size as the ones from EB, praying that my 2 yr old would stay happy and that my newborn would stay asleep. When I was done browsing I tried everything on and found that NOTHING FIT! GRRRR!! ALL of them were at least one size too small! I was still in that awful transition period with my post-baby body and desperately wanted some nice-looking, nice-FITTING clothes to wear. All I left the store with that day was a cranky two year old and a ravenously hungry newborn. 🙁
Okay, Charlotte, I took the happy weight and it did not give me much ecouragement. I weigh 133 and my happy weight is 125.6. I guess I still have to work at it!
Also, I went to the dr today and I am only 5’4″. I shrunk just like you did. Is that a side affect to the MBW? I hope not!
Candice
I have one of those bodies that has to depend on more than a size number. I need a hip number, a flare number, a length number, and a but number. Jeans are so hard to find and when I do find a good pair I wear them until they are shredded.
Right now I’m loving the life of maternity clothing, where I can show of my skinny legs without worrying about my waist being cut in half. I’m seriously thinking that someone needs to design maternity type clothing for people who aren’t pregnant.
Vanity sizing is definitely a problem. That’s one of the reasons I find shopping to be so frustrating; having to take multiple sizes into the dressing room because I don’t know what size to get from store to store. It’s crazy!
And about Marilyn Monroe — I always find it annoying when I read stuff that says, “She was a sex-symbol and wore a size 14! Celebrate your size!” Like you said, her size 14 back then was way smaller than it is now.
Does anyone remember the store 5, 7, 9? We had that in our local mall and I always would walk in, hoping/praying someone saw me and thus, associated me with being slim. Of course nothing fit – I was 5’10” by the time I was practically seven years old. But I SO wanted to be a cute little thing that shopped there.
As an aside, I JUST learned that girls’ sizes are measured in odd numbers; women’s in evens. Which is why we never saw a store called 6, 8, 10.