Vanity sizing rant

  • Thread starter lechevrefeuille
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lechevrefeuille

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To hell with vanity sizing!! I order an expensive designer dress online, in the smallest size available (x small), even checked the measurements given on the website, pay a ridiculous shipping fee and what do I get?

Something that's OBVIOUSLY not an x small, despite the label. It's at least 2 full sizes bigger than what I can fit into.

I'm so sick of the whole vanity sizing and size zero debacle. Being a size 0 means jack squat nowadays. Fatties are all "Oh I'm a size 4!" "I fit into a (stretchy as heck) size 2!"

If vanity sizing is going the way it's going, soon EVERYONE will be wearing size 0 clothes meant for people with measurements 42-36-50. And us skinnies? We either be humiliated into wearing children's clothes or shamed into gaining weight and inches.

For the last damn time, when I order a size that's meant for measurements 32-23-32, whatever size it may be (0 or 8, whatever), it's TRULY meant for those measurements.
 
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That sucks :( I though department stores would be more likely to do that.
 
yeah its SO annoying. I have this pair of Gap jeans, they are a size 00, and they are officially my 'fat' jeans. i.e. I fit in them easily when I was at my high weight of about 120 at 5'6. these days when I'm closer to 100 they are baggy etc. but seriously, this is no 00 its a joke!
 
yeah its SO annoying. I have this pair of Gap jeans, they are a size 00, and they are officially my 'fat' jeans. i.e. I fit in them easily when I was at my high weight of about 120 at 5'6. these days when I'm closer to 100 they are baggy etc. but seriously, this is no 00 its a joke!

Ages ago, when I was at my hw (around 138) and 5'5 and generally considered chubby I bought this nice GAP skirt in second hand store. It was size 2 and it was quite ok at my HW and became too big pretty soon (probably still in 130s if I recall correctly)
 
I live outside of the UK so to return it back there I have to pay the return shipping, so it's not exactly a full refund. :(
 
That sucks about the dress! I hate vanity sizing too. I dont get why it makes people feel better. Yeah, you fit into a small size, but you obviously know the sizing is big! I guess they need to cling to the hope/wish/dream :lol:

The whole vanity size thing makes me feel insecure and shitty, because when I get small sizes now I always think it is due to vanity sizing, even if it's not (according to others). It just messes with my head! A size should be a set size, it would make it all so much easier!
 
Ages ago, when I was at my hw (around 138) and 5'5 and generally considered chubby I bought this nice GAP skirt in second hand store. It was size 2 and it was quite ok at my HW and became too big pretty soon (probably still in 130s if I recall correctly)

I think Gap's sizes went up when they stopped catering to teens/young adults and went for the more mature crowd also getting more expensive in the process.
 
Get to know which stores and brands cater for your size. For me Topshop, Gap, Levi, tommy Hilfiger are a no no. But I can go into Gap kids and have found a few lovely stuff there for less than adult prices. I also like Zara kids, they have more nicer pieces.
 
I have a few blouses from J Crew which are supposed to be XS but fit like Medium. I have a pant suit from J Crew which is a size 00 but it fits about the same as my size 0 and 2 from other brands. I have Victoria's Secret pants that are supposed to be size 0 but the waistline is 28". I find BCBG MaxAzria really fit well. I have two BCBG MaxAzria dresses that are size XS that are tight! Motivates me to lose more weight!
 
I have fallen off the scale at many stores. I am in my thirties and prefer to dress in feminine suits for work. At 5'7" 110ish I am not the smallest girl here, by far, but I have only found a few stores that fit me and my need for a professional look. I wear mostly Antonio Melani from Dillards and White House Black Market or Banana Republic. Over the weekend I went to BR and I may be falling off the map there too :(. I refuse to pay designer prices and I don't want to get my clothes tailored. What really galls me is that I have not change in 20 years but somehow I have clothes that range from 00 to 8 in my closet that all fit. I can name the decade by the size.
 
I loathe vanity sizing! And this is why I don't shop at certain stores and I only stick to brands I know are going to have my size. It's like some brands are horribly biased against skinnies, like the person encharged of sizing wants to make herself feel better by fitting into her own version of XS or something. :nopity:
 
That's a horrid thing to experience, especially with online shopping. I hope you could either return or tailor it to suit you. <3

I was shopping on vacation one day and saw this chic B&W dress on a mannequin and wanted to buy it immediately. To my frustration, the size 0 was slightly big on me, though not hideously so. I know the truth about my size and I should be a size 4 at best, which was incidentally the initial size I took to try on. My BF did not understand why I was so frustrated about being too small for a size 0.

Sizes should cater to measurements not to egos. I was getting into fashion just as this whole "vanity sizing" things started rolling out. The prospect of not finding clothes my size at the end of my weight loss initially made me sad and frustrated. Now its just another thing I look forward to.
 
Sizes should cater to measurements not to egos. I was getting into fashion just as this whole "vanity sizing" things started rolling out. The prospect of not finding clothes my size at the end of my weight loss initially made me sad and frustrated. Now its just another thing I look forward to.

THIS.

I am at my highest weight ever and I am a "size two"
When I was at my low weight, I'd have to buy in the children department. Which is all good, except for I hate having rhinestone sponge bob on my jeans' butt pocket.

BUT from a purely profitable perspective, I've seen it in action when I worked in retail (this was extreme vanity sizing; a true size 6 was a size 0) the ladies would get SOO excited like: "OMG ya'll! I guess these are too big I have to go at least two sizes down! I am SO TINY!" :rolleyes:

And they would buy EVERYTHING. The mind is a powerful thing.
 
What really galls me is that I have not change in 20 years but somehow I have clothes that range from 00 to 8 in my closet that all fit. I can name the decade by the size.

I recently pulled some "antiques" out of storage including a size 4 skirt from Ann Taylor circa 1994 that was too tight! Now when I shop there I am a 00. I also have some older Brooks Brothers sweaters that are medium that fit me like the XS do now.
 
BUT from a purely profitable perspective, I've seen it in action when I worked in retail (this was extreme vanity sizing; a true size 6 was a size 0) the ladies would get SOO excited like: "OMG ya'll! I guess these are too big I have to go at least two sizes down! I am SO TINY!" :rolleyes:

And they would buy EVERYTHING. The mind is a powerful thing.


YES. This is so true. People just get so excited and splurge when they are buying sizes smaller than what they are. It makes me wonder what the true size of a size 14 or 16 is. If we scale it, they would be a size 20 to 22. D=

Sadly, I think if we didn't have vanity sizing, we'd have more health in our population.
 
The whole vanity sizing fiasco is very frustrating, because different stores size differently, and is almost impossible to be the same size in two places. This makes shopping very inconvenient, as I always have to bring 2-3 different sizes to try on. :mad:
 
I hate it too! I really dislike trying clothes on in stores, but it's impossible to just grab my size and go. I have started shopping in juniors just because the sizing tends to be more accurate to my body. 26 in juniors? Fits like a glove! 26 in premium denim? HUGE :hmm: