Another Sizes Poll

Hey all - 

We all know that sizes are different depending on the stores you shop at. I don't know about you guys, but I always feel tricked! 

Could we do a poll for some common stores and sizes?

For example, what is your size at Gap, American Eagle, Old Navy, Esprit... and any others that you shop at? Dress size and S/M/L, etc. ?

I am interested in the difference in sizes in different stores because there doesn't seem to be any consistency. 

 

5/6 @ Maurices, 6 @ Old Navy, 7/8 @ Aeropostle

Sorry to gatecrash -blush-.

I have the issues with shoe sizes.

Can be anything from an 8 (Ben Sherman) to 11 (Kickers).

uh???

Do you think the consistancy is accidental?

Is it not clever marketing. Subconciously you will buy a size 8 over a size 10 in a different store even if they are the same actual size.

I've never shopped at any of those stores, so I couldn't speak to their sizes. However, at the stores in which I do shop—Banana Republic, Ann Taylor, etc.—I find the sizes very consistent. I think those kinds of stores generally are more consistent with their sizing across the board. They are also, however, obviously expensive.

What I find ridiculous is that I have to buy 0s and 00s there (and XSs in tops). (Actually, I have to shop for 00 online, because you can't even get it in their brick-and-mortar stores where I live. I had to go to Vegas to try on 00 before purchasing it. Bah!) I mean, come on: I'm not invisible. What about the REALLY small people? Is there a 000 now? How much more vanity sizing do we need? I don't care what the label says, I don't need anyone to stroke my ego: I just want it to fit. (And I'd prefer if I could try it on in the store and not have to cross my fingers and hope it fits when I buy it online.)

And I can't find a pair of jeans made for grownups that fits me. I have to shop in the Juniors department at Dillard's to get pants that fit. I'm 35: that's just all shades of wrong.... And I'm still looking for dress pants that don't hang off my bottom. Somehow I thought dropping a couple of clothes sizes would make shopping easier. That was the whole idea, really. But it didn't: it's so much harder to find things that fit now.

Shopping is hard for everyone, though. I don't think it changes whatever size you are. It's bad enough a lot of stores have sizing issues. But then we all have to deal with having high waists or low waists, long arms or short arms, long legs, short legs, waists very small compared to our hips, etc. Sometimes it takes me all day to find a couple of items that really fit well.

i'm an size 2/XS at gap which i find ridiculous. at american eagle, i have a size 0 and a size 2 in pants and then small for the tops. in kenzie clothing, i seem to be a small/4. 

the thing is, i don't know if i'm just crazy, but i really think i am a size 4. these sizes seem way too small for me. i'm no stick. i have a canadian made designer jumper(daise) which i'm a snug 4 in which seems accurate. is there a difference in canadian stores and american stores? i know there's a difference with europe. 

 

petite_powerhouse: i was thinking that when i was shopping the other day! at gap, i was like, well if i'm an XS, then what about the really tiny people?? 

roj47: i do think the consistency is accidental. but why aren't there just standards?? i find the same thing when i'm shopping for shoes, btw. 

Every shoe I own is a 7 1/2. Every one. And I have more than 60 pairs. I even try on 8s and 7s sometimes when the sales clerk says the sizes run large or small. Nope: I'm a 7 1/2, it would seem—always.

I definitely question the Xss and 0/00s. I have never believed I'm that small. Part of that is just me: I always look big in my eyes. But I also know that vanity sizing is huge in the industry. And again, I wonder, if I have to shop online because stores don't even carry my (supposed) size sometimes, where do the really tiny people shop?

I hate shopping for one reason...the difference in sizing.  It is irritating. Sometimes I fit into an 8 and then at the next store cannot fit one leg into a size 12.  I personally think it is bs.  I think all junior sizes should be universal within thier category of junior, misses, petite ect...

I'm a total Jeans-shopaholic.  I'm more of a brand person than a specific store kinda gal, but I regularly shop at a few stores....

Stores:

5/6 Aeropostale

6 Old Navy

4 NY and Company

Brands: (jeans)

28 Hot Kiss

28 Buffalo

28 Seven

7 Heaven and Terra

7 Industrial Cotton

7 ZCo

I found that the higher end jeans are more uniformed in size, compared to the other stores that are completely all over the place.

Guess I'm pretty much a 28/7 across the board. 

How about being a two different sizes in the same store?!?!  At Banana Republic (my fave) I wear a size 6 dress pant and size 4 jeans.  When I was thinner, I wore a 4 and a 2 respectively.  I also have the general problem that my quads are too big for pants that fit my waist, so I usually have to get a size up so that it doesn't look like I'm wearing tights!  And yes, it's my quads - okay maybe thighs too, but not my hips that are the limiting factor.  I don't think my quads are proportionally huge, but apparently the clothing designers do! LOL!  I hate it when I sit down and I can feel space between my pants and my back - I'm always afraid my panties are peeking out! 

I HATE buying women's clothes in America! I hate it. The size numbers are meaningless. At my heaviest weight I was wearing a 28 - but several years previous to that, at the same weight and health, I was wearing 26s. 24 in one brand is not the same as 24 in another.

I really wish they'd start sizing women's clothing in the US the way they size men's clothing - with actual measurements in *inches*. (centimeters would work too). Really, to change from the sizing of men's clothing to women's they'd just need to add one number for the hip size.

According to my Brazillian friend, they *do* sell clothes in other countries this way - in Europe and in Brazil, for example. What makes US clothing sales stick to the stupid system they have??

Ok rant over. :)

Oh, and I shop for shoes in the men's department.  I wear a 12 guy's shoe, and the women's equivalent (13 1/2) is just not available around here.

Size 14 Walmart pants
Size 14 Blue Blass pants
Size 12 "Uniform Outlet"
Size 16 NY & Company pants
Size "L" shirts anywhere.

Omg, I was JUST thinking about this today! I have to go shopping for all new summer clothes, and I'm dreading it, because I haven't the faintest idea what size I am. I was a 5 or a 7 pretty much across the board from freshman year in high school until right before my eating issues started, when I was more of a 7. Then I dropped down to a 2 or a 0 in some stores, and in others, not even the 0's fit properly, then in OTHERS, I was more of a 4. Wtf? In my drawer right now there are 0s, 2s, 1s, 4s, 6s, 28s, 26s, and 7s and get this: they ALL fit!

 

 

Sizes make no sense. End of story. 

I honestly don't have this problem. When I was a 4, everything in my closet was a 4. Now that I'm a 0/00, everything in my closet is that size. Granted, I only shop at 4 or 5 stores total, and they are all high-end stores, which I know makes a difference that way.

The one exception is my jeans: because I can't find any that are slim enough at the waist and rear for me anywhere but the Juniors department, those are a 1. But that's only because Juniors uses odd numbers.

jeans: 16 at walmart, 14 at old navy, 12 at gap. Seems like the more you pay the more willing they are to lie to flatter  you :)

Original Post by nuevaburro:

jeans: 16 at walmart, 14 at old navy, 12 at gap. Seems like the more you pay the more willing they are to lie to flatter you :)

That absolutely be true. The other thing at work, however, is that in general the more you pay the better made are your clothes. Better materials are used, better designs and patterns are employed, better stitching is at work.... This actually enables a better fit overall—and thus the size is often smaller in the end.

I don't necessarily always find this to be true in expensive stores that cater to trends. But in stores like Banana Republic and Ann Taylor where the clothes are more classic and designed to be worn over the long term? I absolutely note the difference in quality. And that translates to size.

This is a crazy subject. I do vary in size a lot. I wear a Lg top and a 13/14 pants from Maurice but if I go to old navy I need a Xlg top and 16 pants.

And on the subject of shoes- that varies for me too I can wear a 9-10 in the same brand.

I agree that they should just size women's clothes like men's, but I can tell you there sizes vary too. My husband wears a 36-40 depending on the store. Tell me how that works, isn't that supposed to be a measurement?

4/6 at the Gap, 29 in designer jeans, 8 at H&M.  It really just depends on how the waist is cut though.

I'm an XS or TS (tall small) top at Gap/Banana republic, and a M/L in designer clothes.

The Gap/Banana Republic size run realllllly big.  I'm not fat, but there's no way I'm extra small.

I'm 5'4" and 130 lbs.  I can wear a 2 or a 4 at Banana Republic or Ann Taylor.  I tend to shop at Macy's, Nordstroms, BCBG, JCrew and Max Studio which I'm a consistent 4.  My jeans size is 27/28 in Sevens, Paige, J Brand, and True Religion.  In BR, Gap, and Target, I'm usually a 4.

For people having a hard time finding clothes that fit because they're too skinny, try the juniors.  The Junior department is always alot smaller.  I think I might be an 8 in junior size.  I rarely try anything on because the style and material isn't my taste.

I think also, people should consider how it fits.  Some people like to wear their clothes loose.  Others wear it too tight. 

I'm a size 4 or 5, depending if I'm buying petites or juniors, at JCPenny, a 4 at Old Navy. I have a pair of Union Bay that are 7s. My waist is about 28" so I'm guessing I'm probably a true size 6/7, and a vanity 4/5. I bought two sundresses this summer--one on the boardwalk at the beach, and one from Delia's, and they're both size small.

I'm 5'2 and 123 pounds, and I had to buy a shirt for work at Target (black button down)...and it was an XS. Like others have said, this left me bewildered because um, WHAT? I'm very normal sized for my height...so what do tiny people wear? Because seriously, I am no XS. I find it true that juniors sizes run smaller--I'm usually a 5 in juniors, sometimes a 7, and a medium, and sometimes a small top.

What the companies are doing to the size of clothes is rediculious.  I am fat, and I know I am fat, it doesn't make me any smaller to have a piece of clothing say size 10 when it really should say size 14 or 16.  You don't wear labels on the outside of your clothes, and if you did no one would believe a fat person was a size 10 anyway.  What about the truly small people out there, I used to be one myself.  If the clothing manufacturers keep resizing clothes to make fat people fell better (and in my case it doesn't make me feel a bit better) how is the truly small person going to find anything at all.  The new size 2 will now be the old size 6 and the 000 which my mother is will not even exist.  Now she has a terrible time finding anything to wear and she is actually larger than she was when I was a child and she wore a size 5-6.  And NO she can't shop in the childern's department! She is 4'10" 90 lbs (she weighed 82 lbs when she married my dad) She is small and still curvy, built like a woman should be. If sizes small enough for people like her are going to be made with vanity sizing what will they be, 00000? Probably not, they will just have to go without or wear things that are literally falling off.  What is next? are they going to resize my husband's size 36 inch waist pants and relabel them as 32 inch so that he feels better about his bread basket?

 

 

I'm always between sizes, which is annoying to say the least.

I'm 5'3" and 170 pounds. My measurements are:

42-36-42

Tops:

L at JCPenney's

Dresses:

XL at Kohl's -- it's actually a little big and I'm having to safety pin the straps to keep them in place, but I couldn't zip up the L because of my bust (38DD.) I'll have to do a little sewing to get it to fit.

14 at JCPenney's -- again, the bust.

Jeans:

10 at Walmart

10 at Lee's Outlet

Pants other than jeans:

12 at JCPenney's -- this is a guestimate; my 14's are a bit too large on me now. I'll need to replace them soon.

10 at the Gap

Skirts:

10/12 at JCPenney's depending on cut

I have to be really careful about finding blouses with darts in the bodice. I've noticed that fewer and fewer designers are putting them in and it's becoming difficult for those of us with larger bust sizes to find clothing that fits properly. I end up with things that are way too large and shoulder seams hanging down my arms.