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.