(no subject)

[puddingcat]

Sometimes (just sometimes), The Community That Shall not Be Named contains a gem. Todays was a link to this rant about clothing sizes.

I used to have problems finding things that went in enough at the waist; big boobs and narrow shoulders meant things that would fit at the front could be used as a rucksack in the back. Now (thank you, surgery & Mirena) I have a normal-sized chest, btu no waist. And shirts are all cut to fit women. *facepalms* Now, if I want a shirt to fit my ribcage, the shoulders hang half way to my elbows. (This is why I like corsets; reduced lung capacity - easily offset by heavng chest-style breathing - in return for having a waist again.)

I think the best example of the vanity sizing comes if you watch "Pretty Woman". I remember us all being horrified when Julia Roberts said she was a size 8, then relieved when we realised US sizes were one (ONE) below the UK equivalent. We could believe she was a UK10; she looked slim, but healthy.

Now, without having changed her actual dimensions at all, I'd be surprised if Ms. Roberts' clothes are sized above a 4.

This is why designbyclaire should be getting all your custom; she makes clothes that fit, and are better made than pretty much all High Street stuff, too!


(Am at home today; woke up with raspy throat, blocked nose & thumping headache. A dinnerplate sized pizza has helped somewhat.)

Comments

[little-smaug.livejournal.com]

Aren't US sizes two below UK sizes? So a US size 0 is a UK size 4?

[puddingcat.livejournal.com]

They are now. In the late 80s, there was only one size difference.

Mind you, in the late 80s a UK size 10 meant a 24" waist. We got one in the RSPCA shop just before it closed, and it was *tiny*.

[little-smaug.livejournal.com]

Ah, ok. Why must these things be so confusing? Men's clothes get measured in inches, it would be so much simpler if ours did too.

[pmoodie.livejournal.com]

It's not just you ladies that are affected you know.

My trouble is I have quite wide shouders but a thin torso, so things that fit my shoulders can be like sails in the wind on the rest of me and if I get things that fit my torso they're often too tight across the shoulders.

So for that reason, shopping for clothes is pretty frustrating at the best of times, but what makes it especially infuriating is the lack of consistency in the sizing! I can get two Medium size T-shirts in the same shop that are totally different sizes and shapes, ranging from what I would call Small to Large!

Some of that may be down to differences in style but I suspect some dimwit is sewing the wrong size label on in the factory! There's no other logical explanation.

And don't get me started on shoes and boots!

[puddingcat.livejournal.com]

At least small-medium-large sizes don't imply they'll be the same across all shops.

Boots & shoes? Really? Unless a style is particularly high-heeled or pointy-toed (and hardly any of mine are), I can pretty much rely on a size 5/38 fitting me comfortably.

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

You have quite narrow feet, though. I'm a five and a half, but F width. Standard women's shoes are C width. SOMETIMES I can get away with a 6; as you saw in MAnchester, even in MEN'S Converse, I had to get a seven.

And don't get me started on "if you're a size ten you CAN'T have shoulder muscles!" The number of women's tops that dig into my armpits...

[professoryaffle.livejournal.com]

they do that on larger sizes too, the number of tops I buy which fit fine everywhere else but would cut of circulation to my arms is untrue

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

You are my evil twin.

[pmoodie.livejournal.com]

My feet are size 8 and a half, and no-one seems to do half sizes any more, even though they did for about the first 30 years of my life. So now I have a choice between slightly too big or slightly too small. But again, there's no consistency. I can get size 9s that are too small, and size 8s that are too big!

They should just do away with the sizing system altogether and just let you try every damn boot in the shop until you find one that fits.

Mind you, at the weekend I managed to get myself a nice comfy pair of squashy Vans trainer thingies (size 10!) that fit and are huuuuuge and look like oversized kiddies booteees on me! :D

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

bloody hell, you have the same size shoes as I and are what, a head taller? Don't you fall over?

[(Anonymous)]

LOL

No, I don't fall over! I must have a low centre of gravity! ;)

[pmoodie.livejournal.com]

Whoops, forgot to sign in! That's what I get for going online so early in the morning!

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Not logged in, again?

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

I can't just pick up size 41/42 (about 8 1/2) shoes, either because they vary in width and height and I have *very* wide and high feet. They are also almost square at the front with all the toes almost equally long.

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

That's why I have given up buying tops. None of them fit. None of them come down far enough and none of them are made for people with actual muscles in their arms. If I had breasts it would be even worse.

Trousers are the right bitch of my world. This ridiculous trend for low-rise and skinny trousers is the bane of my life. I am - how shall I put it - if I was a man, it would be called well endowed, and any women's trousers that are not baggy are actually quite painful to wear. Worse, my thighs are a "size" bigger than the rest of my body, which either makes that problem worse or means I buy size-bigger trousers that try to fall down unless I wear a belt. And then none of them have a waist in anywhere near a sensible place, which means you freeze your kidneys in the winter and all my colleagues would get to see my pubes in the summer, which I am guessing they DO NOT WANT in the spirit of the lolcat.

Trousers and tops are right at the top of my to-sew list, as well as things other people have been waiting years for.