Whats up with women's sizes?

[Pisces228]

I have gained a little weight since starting hrt.  My shirts still fit the same but my pants were getting snug  (let's hope it means the few pounds went to my butt to start to give me a lovely lady rump) in the waist but especially in the rear of the pants.  Before hormones I always wore a small in mens.  I am 5'9" and am currently 132 pounds.  I have worn women's pants before and my favorite brand was dickies boot cut for women.  The fit perfectly in a size zero before my weight gain but like I said before,  are too tight now.  I went to target with my sister and tried on some jeggings for the first time and I was surprised that in targets brand I was a zero.  There is no way I am still a zero, but the size 2 and 4 were huge.  I went to kohl's today to buy some more pants.  This time they were canvas boot cut pants from two different brands.  One brand I was a 3 and the other brand I couldn't even try to squeeze into at a 3 or 4 and had to try on a 6.  Ladies, help!  What give with sizes not being congruent amongst brands?  The sales clerk at kohl's asked me what size I was and I said I had no clue anymore haha.  She's the one that eyed me up and said I looked like a 3/4.

[Dena]

Size variation is all over the place and you only learn it through experience. I find the lower cost clothing is cut smaller than the expensive stuff that I often need to wear. Tops for me are normally a 16 but might sometimes require an 18 to be comfortable. Bottoms are 16 or 14. That's the reason I limit my self to a few stores where I have learned their measurement system.

[Pisces228]

All this time I thought there was a standard set of measurements for sizes.  Shows how much I know haha

[EyesOpen]

Women's sizes are just crazy, plain and simple. Men pants? waist + length in inches. Womens? Some random number that corresponds to nothing and isn't even consistent across brand xD

I hate it.

What I've found helpful is to know your measurements in inches, and then google size charts for the brand you're looking at. The charts are always available online and take the mystery out of the guessing game.

I've found this invaluable for shopping online. I've used both swap.com and thredup.com to build my wardrobe on a budget, and never bought anything from them that didn't fit perfectly when I checked the brand size charts. Not bad for not being able to try anything on

[Amy Rachel]

Of course I now feel compelled to share this clip:

http://www.videodetective.com/movies/the-devil-wears-prada-scene-inner-beauty/81319

[JLT1]

Hi,

I've seen pant sizes from the same brand vary by color.  I've also tried a top and had it not fit, then gotten the exact same top (size, color, brand) and had it fit.  Just keep trying them on until you find one that fits or there are none left to check...

Hugs

Jen

[TonyaW]

Sizes definitely seem to vary more between brands than men's clothes do. Try it on,  that's most of the fun of shopping anyway.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[zirconia]

Hi Pisces

There recently was a similar question on another thread to which I posted a reply here. https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,214386.msg1904171.html#msg1904171
In a word, women's sizes are commonly manufacturer specific—so you will probably have to find the size that fits you for each brand you want to buy.

[barbie]

For long pants, the size can causes problems. But, the size can be more flexible for short pants, banding skirts and leggings. For this reason, I seldom purchase long pants from the internet. I try wearing them before purchasing in the fitting room. This is the same for most of skirts. Yes. There should be a fitting room in every store.

barbie~~

[Fresas con Nata]

Womens? Some random number that corresponds to nothing and isn't even consistent across brand xD

This.

I went shopping last weekend. Got a couple of shirts in an H&M shop, size 8 (UK). Then I visited a different H&M shop and got a lovely floral dress that wouldn't fit... so I went up to size 10 and problem solved.

We better think of sizes as an starting indication that saves us from brute-forcing the whole spectrum, and better forget about the specific number.

[Lyric]

I absolutely have to try on a pair of pants before I buy them. I've given up trying to buy things like jeans online. The fit is just too critical in that type of clothing. Manufacturers admittedly size women's fashions in absurdly different ways from each other, so forget your size number.

[JenSCDC]

Here are two interesting articles:
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/design/2012/01/clothing_sizes_getting_bigger_why_our_sizing_system_makes_no_sense_.2.html

http://time.com/3532014/women-clothing-sizes-history/?iid=sr-link1

[EyesOpen]

I just noticed that the Denizen brand jeans from Target also have waist x length in inches on the inside tag. Yay! I can use my guy sizes with those at least....