Jeans/Pants Frustrations

Hi everyone! :)

The other day I tried on some clothes at Old Navy at which I am usually a size 12, but it was so frustrating in one pair of pants I was a 12 and another a 14! It's the same with jeans, I can be a 12 or a 14 - Jeans are the worse for me. My mother tells me it's the material and making of the jeans which I understands... But it makes me wonder if I have gained weight. Anyone else ever go through this?

I think the pants vary. Last November I got a pair of Old Navy jeans in size 12 and they still fit now (although they're getting worn out). A few months after that I got another pair of jeans and the 12s wouldn't fit! I had to get a 14 and they were even tight. At that point my weight hadn't changed from when I originally got the size 12 pair. So I guess it could be I've stretched out my 12s some... but I also think the size varies with each pair of pants.

Women's pants definitely vary.  The pants I have that currently fit range from a 16 to 20, and I have "average" length that is too long and "tall" that is just right.  I have a pair of size 12 pants that will fit me again when I'm back down to a 16 in most pants.

Don't worry about what the size says, just get the ones that fit.  You'll wear a different size at different stores or with different brands or with different material/cut.  Changes in your weight and body measurements are going to be a better indicator of whether you're gaining or losing than what the size # on your pants is at the store.

Thanks for the replies. It's good to know it's not just me. =)

Part of the reason at places like old navy is that the material is cut out around the pattern in mass quantities.  If you take a pile of things, and cut through them all at once, no two pieces will be the same size.  Chances are ones at the bottom (or the middle if what is cutting them has a blade at the top and the bottom) are larger.  Going to old navy I have found that I can be two different sizes in the same EXACT pant on the same day, in the same dressing room session.  Hell, I once found a 14 in boot cut, low rise jeans there that fit just right, while the 16s I grabbed were too small in the waist!  These were the same exact pant brand/name/style and during regular season (not on sale or clearance).  You can ignore sizes on major mass produced clothing for the most part.

I now only get frustrated when I try on a pair of pants in my own closet that used to fit, and now do not.  Last week I had to buy a few pairs of pants.  I look for the right size (men's) and have found that even then, I better try them on in the store.  A size 36 may be just right or too loose, while a size 34 is usually too small, but may fit like the 36 does.  It seems to me that 2cm should be considerable, but mass production has too many variables.  If a seamstress leaves too much material, or cuts too much, those 2cm can make a huge difference.  The type of material involved adds to the mass production problems too.

I was at Old Navy the other evening...

Within 15 minutes, I had on sweatpants (XS), shorts (size 6), pants (size 4), and pants (size 10).

I am 5'6" and a very muscular 165 lbs... but I know that I am not a size 4!  Vanity sizing is one thing, but as much as I like some of the clothes at Old Navy, their sizing is terrible when it comes to consistency.  I'd rather walk in knowing I can grab an 8, like I do at most stores, than be able to wear smaller sizes on random occasion!

tiggerrick - I get frustrated when pants already in my closet no longer fit. I lost a couple good outfits. :(

belleadele16 -  Wow that is such a difference in sizes. My mother said the same thing about Old Navy, she is usually an 8 sometimes a 6 but at Old Navy a 4 fit her and a 2 was a bit snug but still fit. It's annoying because I like to go into a store and pick out the size I think I am all the time instead of finding the right size for each pair of pants. But I guess I will have to deal with it because I like most of the styles Old Navy has.

My mom used to make lingerie and night gowns when I was a kid.  She told me to ALWAYS try on the clothes.  If a company wants 100 smalls and they only had 75 they would mark mediums and larges ith small tags.

I recently bought some very cute capris at walmart.  I did not try them on.  I bought larges.  Needless to say one of them has to be a small because the back only comes up to the middle of my butt and it is not as big as it was 2 months ago.

So now I have a goal to fit in those damn capris.  LOL

missechelle - That actually makes a lot of sense. Good luck getting into those capris! =D

I've always wished that women's pants would be sized the way men's pants are - by waist and inseam measurement.  I'm so sick of finding my size pants, only to have them shortened because some silly designer assumes that large size women must be 5'10" or taller.  I've cut as much as 6" off pantlegs.  Even the petite sizes are longer now. 

I don't think we complain enough.  Imagine the noise level if men had to go through this just to buy a pair of pants that fit?

clairelaine - I wouldn't mind keeping the sizing the same way if it was universal, likea size 10 is a size 10 no matter where. But that's true, men would probably riot, lol. My world history teach last year commented on it when we were having a random discussion and he said "What the heck is a size 00 or size 10?!!?" He was so confused. LOL.

Original Post by missechelle:

My mom used to make lingerie and night gowns when I was a kid. She told me to ALWAYS try on the clothes. If a company wants 100 smalls and they only had 75 they would mark mediums and larges ith small tags.

Eek!  That explains a lot.

The last time I went to Old Navy, I got skirts in a size 0 or 2 and jeans in a size 2.  It was a completely bizarre experience seeing as how anywhere else I have to get a size 7 for jeans.

Old Navy is the worst with consistency.  I have a medium in some khaki shorts that fits fine, and I have a skirt in a 10, and the rest of my Old Navy bottoms are 14 and 16.  I even have one pair of pants in an 18, and they are snugger than my 14s.  Their tops are bad, too.  I can wear a medium in one and need an XXL in another.  I pretty much don't shop there anymore.  It doesn't get much better with more expensive brands either.  My closet goes from a 10-18, and I can wear almost all of it right now.  It sucks, but I pretty much just try everything on before I buy it!