Clothing Size Conundrum
http://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2012-04-10/clothing-size-conundrum
Guest Host:
Marc Fisher
Have you ever wondered why you're a size 6 in one store and a 10 in another? Or why the size 34 pants you've long bought have expanded even though you haven't shrunk? Variations in clothing sizes from one store to another or one season to the next have long confounded shoppers of all ages and both genders. We explore the history, psychology and technology that goes into setting sizes.
Guests
Jennifer Baumgartner
clinical psychologist; author, 'You Are What You Wear: What Your Clothes Reveal About You'; founder, InsideOut
Lynn Boorady
Associate Professor of Fashion Technology, Buffalo State College
David Bruner
Vice President, [TC]2
Comments
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As a woman, I would LOVE to see sizes on the clothing. I think this whole "vanity sizing" business is fueled by the industry with the way that they size women's fashions. No one wants to buy a 10 in one store and a 14 in another. It's built-in to create "vanity" feelings. The woman feels great because she's a 10 in one clothing line or store and feels terrible because she's a 14 in another clothing line or store. Ridiculous! I would love to be able to go to a store and pick up slacks or blouses that have my sizing on the clothing so that I have some chance of the garment fitting me when I go to the dressing room to try it on. As one woman, I hate the way that garments are sized for me. Sometimes I also don't end up buying something that might actually fit me because it doesn't "appear" to be my size and I don't try it on because I don't think it will fit and they don't appear to have "my size."
This discussion is silly. People are in three dimensions, not one. If standard sizes were based on height, then there would still be variation in width and "depth" (or circumference). Standards are not possible. Men's pants are sized by height (length, that is) and circumference, which works pretty well on men, who are more or less straight up and down. Women's clothes would have to have more measurements than that to account for variations in circumference of hips, waist, and bust, though height-and-circumference sizing could work for things like t-shirts or other non-fitted shirts.
If people (especially women) want to buy their clothes on line, they MUST expect to have fit problems. The complaints and whining and distress and frustration make no sense.
Besides, even if something fits, that doesn't mean it's going to look good!
LOL, you have to be willing to try anything. I have a beautiful party dress bought years ago for a friend's wedding, that I randomly tried on even though it was a size 6. Believe me, I am NOT a size 6!!!! After a while you get to be able to simply look at something and have a pretty good idea of whether it is likely to fit.
This article is not the best I've heard on NPR. Clearly, the lesson we should take from this is that if you're in a new store and not sure of your size take three size variations into the changing room. If it says 10 on the label but you're usually an 8, big deal, who cares? If you find a store that works well for you then stick with it. There is no such thing as a right or wrong size. This label-fear just fuels a commercially-manufactured idea that we have to be thin to look great. We should not be measuring our self-esteem and health from clothing label sizes.