I forgot to write my post last night and as usual, the Mr jinxed me when he said "at least we get to sleep in tomorrow." He's got a routine blood panel this morning so he gets to sleep in for an extra hour whereas that would've been my normal wake up time. But just like always when he said that, my brain registered "5am wake up call? You got it!" I went to the bathroom came back in and laid there for an hour. Then I realized I forgot to write my post and despite being tired, I wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep. So here I am.
I got up and flipped on the tube and some new uber workout that looks like fun but my feet will never be able to handle in this lifetime anymore was on. A woman who lost 22 lbs was all "I lost 22 pounds and went from a size 9 to a size 0." Um...I'm NOT trying to be mean but if she's a size zero did they start going into negative numbers in clothing? She's a solid size 4-6 especially with her curvy booty. Now I'm not saying I wouldn't love to have a body like hers but wow, our vanity sizing is out of control!! (But if you're a long time reader, you've already heard me rant about this.) I think mentally all I need is to get out of what society considers "plus sizes" that's what a size 14 or is it a 12 now? and anything below that will be nice but not really hold much merit in my mind anymore. I mean I remember back in the day when I was a tween and a family member had bulimia. Before we knew she had it, she was down to a size 0 and I mean a REAL size 0 and it was horrifying...not something you aspired to! It's like some of society won't be happy until they have the ability to say "I'm a negative 4...the smallest size they make and when I turn to the side, I disappear. Beat that! Damn I'm hungry."
Sorry, this is what you get when my brain is hazed from lack of sleep and incessant infomercials as my background noise. I blame the Mr and his declaration of extra sleep before extra sleep was had. It makes me want to fry up some bacon and say "oh I'm sorry, I forgot you have to fast this morning!" But I won't. I don't think. Hmm...
What's the most ridiculous sizing issue you've ever encountered?
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Couldn't agree with you more! The concept of a size 0 is just so crazy, seems a bit mad that people would aspire to be it! Keep up the great posts girl, x
ReplyDeletemyrealfooddiary.blogspot.com
Zero is just insane! Glad I'm not the only one who thinks that!
DeleteOh, there is definitely vanity sizing going on. And it's geared toward the less expensive brands (Old Navy, Target, etc) which appeal to the masses. It's institutionalized denial. Then, as our asses get fatter but our pants size stays the same, we can blissfully say, "Well, I still wear a 12!".
ReplyDeleteI love watching exercise/diet infomercials just so I can make note of all the trickery they use to hype the product. Be it models that are clearly sucking it in for their after pictures (or a host of other photography tricks in play) to itty bitty fine print at the bottom of the screen under the after pictures (warning "results not typical"). My spouse doesn't understand the appeal, but it's kind of like being in on a practical joke. I can smuggly watch the commercial with a "I see what you did there" smirk on my face.
Indeed! Then we roam around these stores never knowing what to take in the dressing rooms because what we are at one isn't what we are at the other.
DeleteI HATE the afters where you can tell they're sucking it in! I'd have a flattish gut if I sucked mine in...doesn't make me an "after!"
Even men's clothing is getting the vanity treatment. I swear that some of the clothes I used to get in a certain size are now considered smaller sizes. It makes no sense to me. A size should be a size, not something arbitrary because it honestly screws you up more when you try to shop somewhere that still has real sizes and it really messes up your head even more.
ReplyDeleteThanks for not making bacon. Man I am soooo hungry! Just have to hold out for another hour or so. Ugh!
Yeah, I noticed when we shop your jeans vary on sizes and it affected you too because you were like "I'm not going back up to a 40!" when we were at ON. It's insanity. I made bacon when you left. Yum!
DeleteIt's pretty insane. I have a pair of size 20 Venezia jeans from Lane Bryant that I wore when I weighed around 220 pounds (in 2001). I can't even get them over my knees right now.
ReplyDeleteCurrently, I weigh 297 pounds, 77 freaking pounds heavier, but I wear a size 20 in their Right Fit jeans. I actually have to use a belt now and could probably get into an 18 pretty soon. I'm a size 24 in pretty much every other store/brand. :-/ I keep saying I want to get back to a 12/14, but I mean a 12/14 from the late 90s, when that was 150-160 pounds. :)
I have the same with a pair of shorts from back in the day and it's like 2 sizes bigger than stores claim I am now.
DeleteI can't even fit into LB's jeans, if it's not the waist being seriously off, it's the legs and apparently being fat and tall is like being a unicorn.
Yeah, they pretty much suck. I buy their "curvy" fit, which is designed for women with a tiny waist and a boo-tay. They fit fine in the waist and butt, but then the thighs and calves are like cling wrap. Um, hourglass and pear-shaped girls tend to have heavy legs. WTF, Lane Bryant?
DeleteSo then I went over to Catherine's, the "mature" version of Lane Bryant, and their jeans are really comfy in the legs, but the waist comes up to just under my bust, like pantyhose. I mean, there's mom jeans, and then there's "you have got to be kidding me". I couldn't even bend over because the waist was so far above my natural waist. I put on a pair of petites, and they were better, but the legs were too short. Le sigh.
I give up. I need to hit the Lotto so I can hire a seamstress to make clothes for me.
ha, I just was saying something along the lines of this to my husband. While I have been trying to lose weight, and have noticed a loss in my face and body shape, the number on the scale has been the same forever. But, every year when I go to buy a new pair of jeans at old navy, they're mysteriously a size smaller. I've gone from a tight 16 to a now loose 12.. but I literally just said to him yesterday..."not sure if i'm getting smaller, or old navy's vanity sizing has kicked in full force"
ReplyDeleteWe just took a pic at the same spot we go to every year and while my weight is only 18 lbs less, my face and upper body look much smaller and the new 18/20 top I bought looks almost too big but I'm definitely not a 14/16 yet. Grrr!
DeleteBiggest pet peeve ever!!
ReplyDeleteAnd I've also heard, that for some diet & fitness commercials, their "befores" are actually "afters". Like they hire them skinny & fit, and pay them to gain weight to use as an "before"
I hate the vanity sizing but I hate the inconsistency more. If I was a 6 across the board, I'd be less annoyed. But Old Navy - I'd got skinny jeans in a 2 that I need a belt with, 6's that my butt doesn't fit into, 6's that fit perfect. Then at Gap, I'm a 6 or an 8. NY &Co, I'm a 2 in pants but a 0 in skirts... I'm 5'7", 140#, with 36" hips... So I'm not exactly tiny... You'd think that because I can wear a 2, I'd fit into my favorite jeans from high school (size 5 from Pacsun) - NOPE! Make it most of the way up my butt... Another rant about NY&Co, when I was 170#, I could wear a 6 or an 8, just seems off to me...
A third rant - everyone making "slim through the hip & thigh" - Um EXCUSE ME! I have curves, I'd like to find pants. Grrr.
Bingo. I get especially annoyed when I follow a size chart online and I'm STILL off by 2-3 sizes. Why even post a size chart? I've wasted so much money shipping things back and forth. Now that I'm into "normal" plus sizes again and don't have to order online, I only shop in stores.
DeleteThat is seriously screwed up if they do that with "befores!" I would love to be able to walk into any store and be like I'm an 18, pick one up and know it fits. Instead we have to have 5 different cuts, all of which are unflattering like we're all pumped out of a factory with the same proportions or something.
DeleteThe inconsistency is my biggest issue too. That and the fact that I seem to be between sizes sizes that actually exist right now. I want to be able to pick up a pair of size whatever in any store anywhere and know that they will fit, not do the try on 5 sizes and hope for the best tango.
ReplyDeleteI'm too big for a regular size 18 (most places, maybe I'll have to try Old Navy) but a women's size 20 is not apparently the next step in the logical progression because those are usually too big, or have a tiny waist and a huge butt or a tiny butt and huge waist. GRRRRR! I usually buy men's pants, but for some reason they don't do skirts for men.
I'm between sizes right now too!! It's SOOOO frustrating! There's nothing that'll deflate your ego more than a dressing room when you're in between already screwed up sizes!
DeleteVanity sizing is ridiculous. Since men buy pants based on waist size, they can't really be vanity sized. But we just have arbitrary numbers!
ReplyDeleteAt Old Navy, I often have to buy XS clothes-- and I am NOT extra small. I might sometimes be small, but never extra. I always find that weird.
Other stores, that cater to super thin girls and hipsters with no curves, I am often buying medium to larges.
You're right, totally ridiculous. How nice would it be if you could just get one size anywhere and it would fit!
DeleteHahahaha..I remember shopping in loft and fitting a size smaller than usual and laughed over it coz I had gained weight..but the new trend is making a size usual in size but labeling it in the lower spectrum...does that supposed to make me feel better...anyays thats not even the fun part...some jerk who tagged with us to the mall (hate when couples ant to hang out at the mall and the idea of dinner is the food court when all I want to do is shop in peace and then spend a nice night out with hubby at a fancy restaurant)...demands to be shown the top I bought and says "OMG..u fit into a * (insert top size) now..or are u trying to stuff urself into it..seriously....who says that....
ReplyDeleteOh man, yeah that's how you know for sure they're screwing with the sizes. LOL! Wow, I think I would've smacked the person. You showed great restraint since you're not texting from jail. I would be! HA!
DeleteI don't really care what the number on the tag says (although I was thrilled when I moved into single digit sizes in some brands), but I do wish there was consistency. I value my time, and it's irritating to have to carry 2-3 sizes of an item into the dressing room. Especially, because I always presume I wear the largest one and waste time trying it on.
ReplyDeleteConsistency would be awesome but I fear it's never gonna happen. Sigh.
DeleteThis is why I am keeping a pair of size 10 jeans from 1994. I've given up the rat of my old clothes but am holding onto this pair so I have a true mark of how well I do.
ReplyDeleteI laugh whenever people use the line about Marilyn Monroe being a size 14. Yeah, back in her day, but by today's sizes she'd be size 8/10. It's ridiculous and makes it really hard to pick the right size between stores.
That's a great idea! I was going to try on my prom dress but I can't find it anywhere I KNOW I wouldn't have given it away and my mom claims she doesn't have it. I would love to have that mark of where I was back in those days. You're totally right, Marilyn would be that or lower. I think an article I saw said there's a 10" MORE to a size 14 these days! INSANE in the membrane!
DeleteThe whole sizing thing is crazy. I have found that I am either a 12 or 14. I wear a 12 in Old Navy's jeans, and Levis, and a couple pairs of jeans I tried on at Kohl's. It's weird how people who are even the same weight will be totally different sizes, and people who are taller seem to be able to fit into smaller sizes. I have a friend who is around 330 pounds and says she wears a 22/24 and can wear some XL tops. When I was 325 pounds I wore a 26/28 and a 3 or 4x. I am about 177 pounds now and in a 12/14 or a large. I remember when there was no way in hell I could wear my husband's XL t shirts, and now they are huge on me. I had a friend once who was about 115 and wore extra small clothes. I think she was a size 4 in her jeans. She was one of those people who is just naturally tiny and never worked out and she ate total crap too. So unfair! I know that I like to try everything on, because everything fits so differently depending on the brand and even things within the same brand. My friend gave me a set of panty hose she bought at Avenue that were supposed to fit someone over 300 pounds and she couldn't get them on. I could barely get them on and I was just under 200 at that time. So, sizing is definitely off. I am tempted to go in a store in the mall and see how other things fit, but I normally get my clothes at ON because they are cheap and having to buy new clothes all the time gets expensive. I did try on a dress at New York and Company in a size 12 and it fit. I have a dress my mom gave me from Ross that is a 12, so I just say I am in a 12/14 and consistently that is what I seem to wear at any place I have tried on clothes. I have a pair of 14 levis that I wear, but they are baggy and sagging a bit, but they will do in a pinch. I was in 2 weddings last year and had to go up a size for my dress, which the lady said was common, so apparently wedding dress places have stayed consistent. Also, I can't stand when already thin people who wear a size 6 or something bitch that they are SO fat. I want to kick them, seriously. LOL I know that now that I'm under 200, if I have even a small gain from week to week that my pants are definitely tighter, whereas when I was a lot heavier a few pounds were not noticeable. I think as you get to be like a size 10 an under even a few pounds makes the difference between sizes, so I guess that is why a 130 pound woman who gains 6 or 7 pounds starts to freak out a little bit because all their pants get tight. I have a friend now who is up a size in her pants and she gained 8 pounds over the course of a year. I think she wears a size 8 or something like that.
ReplyDeleteThat's good to know because I was going to get some pantyhose from there and I would've been ticked if I couldn't even get them up! LOL Yes, when single digit people gripe about how fat they are it takes everything in me to not smack them. I get it's Earth shattering to them but walk a mile in my wide width shoes then kiss the ground it's not your reality sister!
DeleteI'm sorry... "0" isn't even a number... it's empty, void, negative of anything. I have NO desire to be a zero. I single digit might be nice, but definitely NOT a zero!
ReplyDeleteWord to yer mutha!
DeleteUnlike a previous commenter, it makes complete sense to me that two people of the same weight but one taller will wear different sizes. You have to remember that your bones, internal organs, etc. weigh something, and that on a taller person the bone weight difference alone is going to mean there is less volume of muscle and fat to fit into the clothing. Same goes for difference in muscle weight/fat weight vs. volume. Everyone always says muscle weighs more than fat, but what that really means is the same volume of muscle weighs less than a given volume of fat. So a lean, tall person might even weigh MORE than a short person with higher fat percentage.
ReplyDeleteNow that I've got that off my chest, which is really a rant about how taller women than me in a size 12 look a lot skinner than I do in the same size, I too am dumbfounded by the sizes and inconsistency these days. They should all go to measurements instead of arbitrary sizes. I currently have wearable clothing from size 12 to size 16 and have given up shopping by small, medium and large, since everything from medium to X-LG fits me. Gah!
Yep, it was the same with my best friend and I. Even though we were the same weight our sizes were different because she was short and a pear and I was tall and I don't know, a rectangle?? LOL
DeleteI agree, it should all go by measurements!
My experience is almost totally opposite!!! When I was in high school I was 125 pounds and I could only SQUEEZE into a size 11, now I am 140 and I wear a size 4-6...... I think sizes and scale numbers all lie. Go get a REAL body fat test.... That's the tell tale, also how do you feel about your body? Some women are size zero and hate their body's, other women are p,us size and gees can they own it!!!! I think it's all about your own perspective. Make peace with yourself and you will be happier
ReplyDeleteI've gotten the bod pod, it still says I'm fat so... LOL
DeleteAs far as women's body image? Pssht, girl that's a whole OTHER topic! :)
I hear you on the size thing. I don't get it either. What I really don't like is how Maurices (I don't think I spelled it right) has their own sizes too. Yeah, I'm a size 24 but really I'm a size 4...what? I'm not fooling anyone and neither are you. I hate asking for a size 4. How crazy do I look doing that?! Let's call a spade a spade.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, I think Chico's does that too where it's like European sizing or something. Weird...well, for here in the US.
DeleteMaurices only does that for their plus size line, once you're past a 16 (or maybe an 18) it goes 0, 1,2, etc.
DeleteI'm glad Maurices now carries a plus size line since they have fashionable business attire for young women thats not trash. More stores need to do that as well.
I like that there's now a size 00. What the heck is that about?!
ReplyDeleteUnicorns are freakin awesome. You own that!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteCan I decide I'm a giraffe? Also tall and so hard to find women's clothing that fits. I joke that I am halfway to being a transvestite, what with men's shoes and shirts/jackets.
I've taken many fashion/sewing classes. In our industry class we had many speakers and we visited several manufacturers. What we learned about sizing is two fold. Number one a garment must have "hanger appeal" for a customer to take a garment to the dressing room. Once there if a customer has a choice between two garments and one is sized smaller but fits the same a woman is more likely to choose the one that says it is a smaller size. So the number on a line may get smaller as time goes on as the manufacturers compete for sales.
ReplyDeleteNumber two, find a line of clothing that uses a fit model that is similar to your body shape. We had a plus sized fit model speak. She had worked for several manufactureres. The brands she worked for had never fit my plus sized body. Now I know why. She was very broad around the neck yet more slender and straight (tubular?) through the torso. Me? I have small shoulders and neck in relationship to her body and am curvy with a large bust. Other manufactures don't even have plus sized fit models. The generally grade up to plus size from a size 8 fit model. Then they grade up to plus sized clothing. In my experience a better fit is achieved if you grade from a fit model in your basic body shape. If you are plus sized, a plus sized fit model will generally work out better.
How you would ever find a manufacturer that uses a fit model similar to you isn't a direct process. The manufacturer doesn't have it on their website but a description of their target market may help. Such as "young, trendy" generally means a lean, straighter body. For curvy lady's you look for those words or something similar. Also look for your age bracket or there abouts. If you are looking at independent designers try to get a picture of the designer as the designers generally design clothes they like that would fit them or someone significant in their life.
Once you find a line it should stay pretty stable until they use a different fit model. In that case the manufacturer tries to get someone close in size but there may differences with a more tailored garment.
I always crack up reading some sizes in magazines where the "plus size" is a 14/16 or 18/20. I try and think of what size I'd like to fit into at my goal weight...and funny enough, I have no idea what that "true" size would be! They are all over the place so I don't focus on "Oh, I wish I was a size 10" or whatever...Nah, whatever size I fit into when I'm at my goal weight will work good enough for me.
ReplyDelete