Lemme just get this outta the way -
If you are short and fat, a size 12 or 14 is not petite despite what the label says.

Gordian Cipher: pudding7: Not just women's clothes. As far as I can tell, Banana Republic has a drunken schizophrenic monkey slapping size labels on their men's jeans.

It might also be because they have drunken schizophrenic monkeys sewing the jeans, too. Pairs labeled with the same style and size won't fit the same.

/if you buy more than one pair, TRY THEM ALL ON

It's because they use stamping machines to cut out the denim from a giant stack of jeans. The machines camber outwards ever so slightly. Jeans at the bottom of the stack will be bigger than the ones at the top, but will all be labelled the same size.

sgnilward: Well, if we took the average American woman back to 1982 and tossed them into clothes of the day I bet the average size of the modern woman would be in the 1982 mid 20's

I sell vintage and got several patterns recently. Size 12 in the 40's is a 6 or 8 now.

Maybe if American women would drop a hundred pounds or so they'd actually fit in a size 6 instead of having Omar the Tentmaker call it a 6 so they don't get their feelings hurt from being able to eat an entire ham in a single sitting.

We can see size inflation happening over shorter time spans as well; a size 2 in the 2011 ASTM standard falls between a 1995 standard size 4 and 6. (This may also explain why smaller sizes are constantly invented. The 1958 standard listed 8 as its smallest size. The 1995 ASTM standard listed a size 2. In 2011, ASTM lists a standard for size 00.)

I've noticed this as well trend as well. My mother (who isn't a large woman) showed me a dress that she wore to a wedding 25 years ago that she found when cleaning out the garage. The dress was a size 4 and was only slightly too big whereas a size 4 today would make me look like I'm wearing a sail. I figure the trend will continue and I'll be wearing a 000 before long.

eddyatwork: Maybe if American women would drop a hundred pounds or so they'd actually fit in a size 6 instead of having Omar the Tentmaker call it a 6 so they don't get their feelings hurt from being able to eat an entire ham in a single sitting.

Oh, so all women, regardless of height should wear a 6?
Dumbass.

Petite =fat
more to love =fat
Zafitg =fat
chubby = fat
curvy =fat
BBW = fat
big boned = fat
voluptuous = fat
head shot in dating profile = fat
christian = fat
honest = fat
normal = fat
average = fat
just ran the boston marathon and ate a tic tac = sharp knees.
loves to travel = fat.
loves to cook = fat
searching for a soul mate = fat

did I miss anyone?

/if so,
//you sound fat.
///slash off a few pounds, and we'll talk.
....not really
/you used to be fat and will be as soon as i show interest.

eddyatwork: Maybe if American women would drop a hundred pounds or so they'd actually fit in a size 6 instead of having Omar the Tentmaker call it a 6 so they don't get their feelings hurt from being able to eat an entire ham in a single sitting.

I love ham!

AbbeySomeone: eddyatwork: Maybe if American women would drop a hundred pounds or so they'd actually fit in a size 6 instead of having Omar the Tentmaker call it a 6 so they don't get their feelings hurt from being able to eat an entire ham in a single sitting.

Oh, so all women, regardless of height should wear a 6?
Dumbass.

No, they should wear metric sizes!

Because women will just lie about it anyways ?


In reality those 7 year old Vietnamese sweatshop slave children are doing you a huge favor. You can claim "I am a size ____" and somewhere out there that is true.

Depression-era Works Progress Administration commissioned a study of the American female body

I offer my services for an update of this study.

Oh look. It's this thread again.

It's not just women's clothes. Men's dress shirts have gotten a little nuts with 'athletic cut', and the other labels they put on them. Then they are sold in a plastic bag with pins and clips holding them together so you can't possibly try them on.

My wife is convinced that different colors are sized differently.

miss diminutive: We can see size inflation happening over shorter time spans as well; a size 2 in the 2011 ASTM standard falls between a 1995 standard size 4 and 6. (This may also explain why smaller sizes are constantly invented. The 1958 standard listed 8 as its smallest size. The 1995 ASTM standard listed a size 2. In 2011, ASTM lists a standard for size 00.)

I've noticed this as well trend as well. My mother (who isn't a large woman) showed me a dress that she wore to a wedding 25 years ago that she found when cleaning out the garage. The dress was a size 4 and was only slightly too big whereas a size 4 today would make me look like I'm wearing a sail. I figure the trend will continue and I'll be wearing a 000 before long.

Sounds like you need a sandwich . . . or five
/just kidding

Why the sizes of women clothing are meaningless and have gone insane.

FTFY

and why yes I am married why do you ask?

Or you know, We could just eliminate the whole size notion and measure them in inches like guys do for pants.

/hello, hello?

Standardized sizing was an innovation of the civil war, and since women didn't fight, well, there you are.

Guy cloths are measured in inches. Girls cloths are measured in yard sticks.

'cuz biatchez be crazy.

This really needs an tag, doesn't it?

pudding7: Not just women's clothes. As far as I can tell, Banana Republic has a drunken schizophrenic monkey slapping size labels on their men's jeans.

Agreed. The makers of men's clothes apparently have no idea how to use a measuring tape. How three pairs of pants, all supposedly with 34 inch wastes, can be drastically different in size, completely escapes me.

Because chicks are getting fatter every day, and not just in America.

As a man, I don't care if Marilyn Monroe was a size 12. I do care that she had a 23 inch waist.

/waist-to-hip ratio ladies
//that's what we look at.

pudding7: Not just women's clothes. As far as I can tell, Banana Republic has a drunken schizophrenic monkey slapping size labels on their men's jeans.

I think they're labeling larger clothes with smaller sizes these days to make people feel better. I've tried on my usual size of pants and found I'm swimming in them recently.

Yay, I'm still a 32! No, you're a 34 but they're labeling the 34s as 32.

FTA As we all know, some small women have very large breasts

Spinners are winners!

Spinners with big foobies are AWESOME!

/I'll hand stitch the clothes
//they'll fit too

And shoe sizes are worse but who worries about shoe sizes?

vudukungfu: Petite =fat
more to love =fat
Zafitg =fat
chubby = fat
curvy =fat
BBW = fat
big boned = fat
voluptuous = fat
head shot in dating profile = fat
christian = fat
honest = fat
normal = fat
average = fat
just ran the boston marathon and ate a tic tac = sharp knees.
loves to travel = fat.
loves to cook = fat
searching for a soul mate = fat

did I miss anyone?

/if so,
//you sound fat.
///slash off a few pounds, and we'll talk.
....not really
/you used to be fat and will be as soon as i show interest.

Yeah but fat chicks need love too. But they got to pay. Usually by going ATM. Yeah that's the ticket.

Whole article could be summed up as "vanity"

Which is why they're called vanity sizes.

Whodathunkit.

whatshisname: pudding7: Not just women's clothes. As far as I can tell, Banana Republic has a drunken schizophrenic monkey slapping size labels on their men's jeans.

I think they're labeling larger clothes with smaller sizes these days to make people feel better. I've tried on my usual size of pants and found I'm swimming in them recently.

Yay, I'm still a 32! No, you're a 34 but they're labeling the 34s as 32.

No, they just don't care. And people still buy them by the ton, so caring is obviously an unnecessary expense.

thisispete: Depression-era Works Progress Administration commissioned a study of the American female body

I offer my services for an update of this study.

OK, but you better hurry before your subjects are all gone.

TheGreatGazoo: It's not just women's clothes. Men's dress shirts have gotten a little nuts with 'athletic cut', and the other labels they put on them. Then they are sold in a plastic bag with pins and clips holding them together so you can't possibly try them on.

My wife is convinced that different colors are sized differently.

They do it even with the parts that should be standard. If I measure my neck before buying a few shirts, at least half of them will be cutting off my airway when completely buttoned to wear a tie. I'm not above taking all the pins and cardboard out of a shirt to try it on, but the hell if I'm going to do that for a bunch of the same brand in a different color.

John Buck 41: Never understood why (at least in the case of pants) it is not measured the same way as men, i.e., waist and inseam in inches.

It's amazing how even that system gets farked up. I recently bought some jeans, and despite all of the pairs I wanted being from the same brand, the same cut, and saying 31x30, I couldn't fasten the button on two pairs, and needed a belt to keep a third pair up.

Smurfme: Guy cloths are measured in inches. Girls cloths are measured in yard sticks.

Guys clothes aren't anymore accurate. Don't believe me go into Old Navy and find the tightest jeans that will fit you, then go shopping for that same size at H&M.


/I'm at 32 at Old Navy and a 36 at H&M.

Am I really the first person to say it?

First world problems.

It's funny because mens jeans sizes (in inches) have been consistent my entire life. Although in fairness I guess I've always worn Levis, except for that unfortunate Jordache phase in high school.

/was 32/32 in high school, i.e. square
//now 30/32

starzman2003: Or you know, We could just eliminate the whole size notion and measure them in inches like guys do for pants.

/hello, hello?

This is what I've always wondered. I feel like buying this off the internet would be so much easier.

John Buck 41: Never understood why (at least in the case of pants) it is not measured the same way as men, i.e., waist and inseam in inches.

Too many size variations. Manufacturers already hate mens sizes (which is why so many shirt makers have moved from collar+sleeve to collar alone; I see a few "trendy" mens pants makers using womens' sizing on skinny jeans too), they would rather shoehorn everyone into as few variations as possible.

Buy it large and get it tailored, that's the only way to guarantee a flattering fit these days. (Unless the only thing that flatters you is a mumu.)

miss diminutive: I've noticed this as well trend as well. My mother (who isn't a large woman) showed me a dress that she wore to a wedding 25 years ago that she found when cleaning out the garage. The dress was a size 4 and was only slightly too big whereas a size 4 today would make me look like I'm wearing a sail. I figure the trend will continue and I'll be wearing a 000 before long.

Size matters not. Look at me -- judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the 4s, and a powerful ally it is.

eddyatwork: Maybe if American women would drop a hundred pounds or so they'd actually fit in a size 6 instead of having Omar the Tentmaker call it a 6 so they don't get their feelings hurt from being able to eat an entire ham in a single sitting.

meee-yow there catty..

I hate going into places like Target where I try on a pair of shorts and I need a size humongous just to get over my thighs. Those cheap child laborers are trying to make us feel fat.

starzman2003
Or you know, We could just eliminate the whole size notion and measure them in inches like guys do for pants.

Even that doesn't seem certain. I purchased two sets of pants (3-4 each), of identical make, model, and size, about five years apart. The newer set was noticeably larger (enough to require a belt). It might be a fluke, but it was consistent among the pants bought at the same time.

And yes, I only buy pants about once every five years, and only if my old sets have become too worn to wear in public. The average age of stuff in my closet is ~9 years.

Emposter: pudding7: Not just women's clothes. As far as I can tell, Banana Republic has a drunken schizophrenic monkey slapping size labels on their men's jeans.

Agreed. The makers of men's clothes apparently have no idea how to use a measuring tape. How three pairs of pants, all supposedly with 34 inch wastes, can be drastically different in size, completely escapes me.


This.

I bought Hubby four pairs of chinos (casual slacks) for Chanukkahmas last month. All had a 34" waist, but no two fit the same. I ended up exchanging three of the four pairs for other sizes. The funny thing is, two of those pairs were the EXACT same brand, style, cut, size, etc., just different colors. Yet, the didn't fit the same way. How is that possible?

pedobearapproved: Guys clothes aren't anymore accurate. Don't believe me go into Old Navy and find the tightest jeans that will fit you, then go shopping for that same size at H&M.

Does with work for adults too?

Has sizing ever been completely standardized? I have always had to try on lots of clothes at new stores to be able to figure out what each brand's sizing scheme is before I can reliably buy clothes in a particular size there. Some stores obviously make their clothes a bit "looser" than usual (Old Navy!) and some manufacture their clothes to be worn by bags of antlers only (i.e. I can barely fit into pants at Forever 21 in spite of my size being in the single digits).

vudukungfu: Petite =fat
more to love =fat
Zafitg =fat
chubby = fat
curvy =fat
BBW = fat
big boned = fat
voluptuous = fat
head shot in dating profile = fat
christian = fat
honest = fat
normal = fat
average = fat
just ran the boston marathon and ate a tic tac = sharp knees.
loves to travel = fat.
loves to cook = fat
searching for a soul mate = fat

did I miss anyone?

athletic = fat and mannish