memes

This isn't just a problem with women's jeans which have arbitrary size numbers. Even men's jeans which are size by the actual waist and inseam measurement can be wrong. In addition to vanity sizing, cheaper jeans are also made from larger material cuts out of the patterns at the same time to save manufacturing cost sometimes twice as many as shown here:

Those at the top or bottom of the stack may end up a bit smaller or a bit larger than the pattern, but they all get marked with the same size.

Whether it was this manufacturing problem or vanity sizing, this is why I stopped buying Old Navy jeans. I could pick out 3 jeans all labeled with the same size and one would fit okay, one would be too small, and one too large. I have never had this problem with Eddie Bauer jeans.

Edit: I found picture showing the larger stacks (which can introduce the mismatched sizing) I was referring to:

Even for men’s clothes the sizing seems to only really be consistent within the same item, maybe brand. Even though they’re supposed to be measurements you still have to try everything on.

I know this is a problem, as I see my wife deal with it frequently.

But understand that men's sizes aren't consistent either. I have a 32" waist...maybe. Some jeans and shorts fit me perfectly, some are way too tight, and some are way too loose. Even within the same brand and product. The jeans I have on today are pretty good for fit. A different pair of jeans I was wearing a few days ago required regular adjustments to keep from falling down. My weight hasn't varied THAT much.

The situation for men isn't as bad as women's sizes, though. I'd love to know how they think they can compress all of the different measurements a woman's body can have into a single number. At least they haven't tried that with men - for example, pants are waist and inseam length, so you can usually get what you need, or at least pretty close (notwithstanding the above issue). If they condensed that into one number, I have no idea how that would work.

Men's pants too. And at the same store, by the EXACT SAME maker.

I have 34's, 36's and 38's in different colours and materials. They all fit comfortably, and if i get different sizes in those particular styles, they're either too big or too small.

Make it make sense, please.

i know the author is only familiar with their own experiences and i don't expect them to know the other side but this is definitely not exclusive to women's clothes. every brand just uses their own sizes for everything from hats to pants to shoes.

I really want a law that requires clothes sizes to use actual, verifiable measurements.

I just want to see more women's clothes with pockets.

This is one of many reasons I don't buy textbook economics of capitalism.

For example, if they'd just put lots of pockets in women's clothing decades ago as standard, they'd have sold SOOOO much.

This idea that capitalism and the free hand of the market will gravitate towards bulk of demand is bullshit.

It's less extreme but men's clothing is like this too. I found a cut of jeans I liked in a store then ordered 4 mor pairs in different colors. None fit the same and 2 were unwearable.

Not just a women problem, my own jeans are 32. My workout pants are M, my work pants are size 50.

Shoes should be standardized, i have pair of converse size 39 and a pair of nike jordan's (possibly fake, not sure got them as a gift from a friend) size 44. I'm usually a 42 or 42,5.

No one's mentioned bras and how they are significantly worse? Lets make arbitrary cup and band sizes, but then add in how each bra has a different shape and projection even in the same brand. Are you full on top, full on bottom, average, shallow? What about root width and height? Well you won't know if any bra will fit until you try, even changing cup and band sizes won't make a bra not made for your shape fit properly. Each brand does their own different sizing even in each bra, each global country has their own sizing system, and it is madness.

I got two work shirts at the same time. Both size 44, same manufacturer, theoretically identical shirts.

Almost a full letter grade size difference, one is basically a L and the other was almost an XL.

How do they fuck up 2 supposedly identical shirts? Fucked if I know.

At this point I'm wondering if the designers just roll dice and put the result on the label.

If anyone is down for a fascinating video essay about this by a textile historian: Standardized Sizes Ruined our Clothing Quality

Have you ever wondered how we let clothing quality get so bad? It wasn't just desperation for cheaper options- the 18th century consumer would never have been willing to pay so much for such poor quality cloth. And yet, they stayed clothed. Even their cheaper options lasting years of hard wear. But they knew what quality looked like and for the most part, we don't.

When did we forget how to shop for good clothing rather than just trendy? What makes clothing "high quality" is so complex and nearly impossible to track with online shopping. Even in person, it's not a simple answer. But it used to be that more money meant more quality, plain and simple. Where did we mess up this system? Turns out, standardized sizing allowed (and even encouraged) far more than just issues with poor fit and body image.

Shoes. Bought a pair of Bass shoes from the Bass online store. The shoes that arrived were completely different from the ones I ordered. The picture on the shoebox were what I wanted, but not what was in the box. Explained the issue and returned the shoes. The replacement shoes were exactly the same. I returned and gave up.

"outside straight sizes" wat? they have gay sizes too?

Shopping for trousers as a fat kid before elastic waistbands became mainstream on "regular" clothes was an extended humiliation. "The waist is too tight! the legs are too long!" No, I'm just fucking deformed because I'm fat.

For a mechanized process with no customization; the fucking lack of standards is really maddening.

There are sizes just for straight people?

Not limited to gender. I'm stronger built than the average man and have to live with too long XXL jeans with too less ass.

It's not a women's problem it's just a clothing problem in general.

I was extremely upset the other day to find out that I need an extra large in shirts at this one store. Apparently in Next if you are tall you must also be fat other body types are impossible.

And yes I have also seen the same cut in the same store but two different colours be different sizes for the same declared size.

I knew it! I'm not crazy!

I don't wear women's clothes, but I do feel like shirt sizes are some sort of scam. I want a long shirt, yet the L and the XL are the same length. Wtf. Or when an L is longer than an XL. Granted, maybe the size is horizontal rather than vertical. But c'mon.

That's why I propose a 2d size system. Size for height and for width. Also, sizes got to mean something. Not just feels, but concrete values within a range. Or make them numbers, idk.

I didn't even know they had gay sizes.

Just buy in Temu, they put these BS sizes but there's always a chart in cm so if you know your numbers you get it right.

Same thing when I wanted Business shirts. Where I live it's all s m l bulshit. I went to Macy's online and they sell most brands by 3 measures I think, can't remember, it's collar size, arm length in inches. Well worth the international shipping fees for a week's worth of shirts. Now I mostly work from home, I think they'll last until I retire lol

We all know that the rich wear personally tailored suits and so-on. But, what I think would be amazing is to be rich enough to wear a personally tailored t-shirt, or personally tailored socks. For women, I can't imagine the joy of having a personally tailored bra that was built precisely to fit their exact body. That must exist at some level of wealth, but I just wonder how rich you have to be to justify that kind of spending.

For most people, even when you find something that fits well, there are going to be compromises, like the shoulders might fit perfectly, but it's just a bit too long, or a bit too tight. But, just imagine something simple like a T-shirt where instead of "medium" you get something that takes into account your torso's length, your ribcage's size, your shoulder's width, your arm's circumference, the size of your neck, and so-on.

Forces women to go to store to try on, stay there longer to find a good fit. Ensure makeup, perfumes, bags/accessories, and jewelry are always in eyeshot of the women's clothing racks and along the entry/exit paths.

As a 160cm guy, s sized shirt for guy is so baggy for me but s sized shirt for woman is just right. And buying s sized made in country A is different size than s sized made in country B.
What is this inconsistent shite

As a guy I feel this for shirts specifically, sometimes I have to wear an XL sometimes it's a L and once in a blue moon I can wear a M. Why you may ask? Because for some fucking reason damned near every shirt assumes medium means 5'7 twink with a shoulder width smaller than my chest width, I'm 5'5 barrel chested and with wide shoulders where sometimes I can't wear a shirt cause I am forced to A pose by the shoulders. Also I can sometimes rip medium sized shirts assunder if I flex my back right.

Aaaah. Nice jeans do you have it in 36?

No we don't stock big or small sizes.

Okay then, buys on the internet, gets jeans that :

• Wrong size in height or width

• Fits so bad you can't sit down

• They mistook your order for a Circus Tent