Sizing issues in online shopping
Nov. 23rd, 2020 11:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anna_wingI don't shop online for clothes, because I like to try things on, but some companies that I used to buy from only seem to sell on-line now. So I took a look out of idle curiosity, and noticed a shift in sizing since the last time that I bought from them.
I can now wear clothes that are twenty years old, when I was a UK 10-12 and French/Italian/Chinese 42-46 (at a BMI of around 19/20, so it was purely an issue of frame size). But looking at the size guides of companies that I used to buy from, based on exactly the same measurements, I've mostly gone down a size in most of them, except the ones at the very top end, which I only ever bought in a massive sale or from the factory outlets anyway (those being the only times that the value-for-money and snob-value sets intersect for me - I like fancy consignment stores and thrift shops too...) so they don't count.
It's not 'vanity sizing'. Fashion companies size their ranges so that the size of the majority of their customers marks their 'M'. If their market is generally fatter, their 'M' will be bigger than the 'M' for a company whose market is primarily social X-rays (does anyone remember those?). This is the best set of articles on the subject that I know of:
https://fashion-incubator.com/the_myth_of_vanity_sizing/
This makes me extra nervous about buying online, because even with sizing guides, I'm not sure if they reflect the actual size of the clothes, even for companies I've bought from in person before. And fit is a completely different and additional issue.
Fortunately I don't actually need more clothes right now...
Especially since the media are touting the return of the 1980s. Brightly-coloured trouser suits and collar-length necklaces are fine, shoulder-pads of modest size are endurable, but bubble skirts and pussy-cat bows? Vade retro, Satanas!
I can now wear clothes that are twenty years old, when I was a UK 10-12 and French/Italian/Chinese 42-46 (at a BMI of around 19/20, so it was purely an issue of frame size). But looking at the size guides of companies that I used to buy from, based on exactly the same measurements, I've mostly gone down a size in most of them, except the ones at the very top end, which I only ever bought in a massive sale or from the factory outlets anyway (those being the only times that the value-for-money and snob-value sets intersect for me - I like fancy consignment stores and thrift shops too...) so they don't count.
It's not 'vanity sizing'. Fashion companies size their ranges so that the size of the majority of their customers marks their 'M'. If their market is generally fatter, their 'M' will be bigger than the 'M' for a company whose market is primarily social X-rays (does anyone remember those?). This is the best set of articles on the subject that I know of:
https://fashion-incubator.com/the_myth_of_vanity_sizing/
This makes me extra nervous about buying online, because even with sizing guides, I'm not sure if they reflect the actual size of the clothes, even for companies I've bought from in person before. And fit is a completely different and additional issue.
Fortunately I don't actually need more clothes right now...
Especially since the media are touting the return of the 1980s. Brightly-coloured trouser suits and collar-length necklaces are fine, shoulder-pads of modest size are endurable, but bubble skirts and pussy-cat bows? Vade retro, Satanas!
no subject
Date: 2020-11-23 01:22 pm (UTC)