Why Women’s Clothing Sizes Make Us Bananas
January 6, 2012 at 11:39 pm 1 comment
I was directed to this blog via an online community where I participate. The author notes that “off the rack” sizing for women’s clothing is a relatively new phenomenon. When I shop, I try to critique the the items I try on, like, this is the wrong shape for me, rather than, Ugh I look like hell in this which has been helpful, but I have not ventured into tailoring/altering.
The random nature of women’s sizing is what drives us round the bend
http://inkdot.tumblr.com/post/7243925631/no-shit
Do you have items altered or by only off the rack?
Entry filed under: Uncategorized. Tags: diet, exercise, fashion, fitness.
1.
dapperdolly | January 7, 2012 at 12:36 am
Custom size clothing will always be the best unless the person is given to losing and gaining weight a lot, but unless they can alter clothes themselves it is expensive. Depending on the figure of the person, off the rack clothing can be the most expedient and offer the most variety but again, that depends on the person’s body. I tend to buy according to generic size but only things I can easily alter myself, whereas for special occasions it’s nice to be able to choose fabrics, fittings and sizes – I’ve never done that but I imagine it’s nice.
It’s also interesting to note that it also depends on the culture, in parts of Asia for example, custom clothing is the norm. Everything is made from scratch or bought to alter, which means that generic size clothing usually fit a range of sizes with the expectation that they will be changed to the individual’s size. In that case, off the rack clothing tends to be better for larger and taller sizes, the opposite of Western clothing.
The one thing I really dislike about women’s clothing sizes though is that they constantly change i.e. a women can stay roughly the same size for her adult life and yet probably go through 3 different sizes. It’s like when people constantly say Ms. Monroe was a size 12/14 and was a bigger women etc when in truth, that’s a US 12/14 and 5-6 decades ago which is a modern US 4/6, not a modern UK 12/14. The measurements for sizes gets smaller and smaller which is nice for the ego making bigger sizes seem smaller e.g. a UK 12 in the 80′s is a modern UK 8, but annoying for those who fit their size nicely or are in between sizes. The same goes for height, with average sized women being made to think they’re petite.