Women's sizing

[Ghost on the Highway]

Hey everyone,
I know clothes sizing varies A LOT among brands/styles/cuts etc (my Gap 30 jeans are loose on me while I can't button my Levi's 511s) but is there some sort of general consensus for women's sizing? I checked wikipedia and refuse to believe that a size 10 is 28.5in at the waist -- I just bought a size 11 swimsuit, which was two inches too big and my waist is 32in where I wear my pants. Thanks!

[April Dawne]

I hate to say it, but women's sizing can be even more confusing than men's sizing. Depending on your body, you might find you can fit into both misses and juniors clothing in certain sizes because they seem to overlap. Also, I find that I need to buy one size smaller if the jeans are stretch and therefore supposed to fit closely. Depending on how and from what the bottoms are made, I can fit into sizes 5, 6, and 7. For tops it's usually medium in misses, or large in juniors.
I even wear different sizes in shoes depending on how they are made when it comes to tennis shoes, heels, or boots. Trying things on is really the only way to figure things out, otherwise it's a whole lot of trial and error and returns.

~April

[Silver]

Man, I remember trying to figure out women's sizing. I don't know what the problem is with inch measurements. And the possibility (nay, guarantee) or vanity sizing just makes it that much more confusing.

Even men's sizing is a victim to this, I wear pants with a 30 inch waist and yet I've found 28s that were too big for me and would fall off. Good luck, lol.

[Lachlann]

Depending on your body, you might find you can fit into both misses and juniors clothing in certain sizes because they seem to overlap.

That ends up happening a lot with FTMs when we go to buy men's stuff. I straddle the line between men's small and boy's large. Men's small is sometimes too big for me and boy's large can be too small.

I think women's can be more fickle because of the fitting the shirts and pants have, but it also might have to do with the frame you're born with.

[Janet_Girl]

A friend and I were discussing this very thing this morning.  Because of the variances with waist, hips and thighs, women's clothing can vary so must.  Men are easy, waist and inseam and they are set.

That is why you see women trying on everything and men just buy.  Transmen probably have the same problem with the waist, hips, thighs thing.

[V M]

It seems you have to learn the sizing of each co.

What's a large at one co. may be a med. or xL with another co. It could go either way depending on that makers sizing

I've learned a few of them so now I can order stuff online and it fits

I'm kinda lucky in that there is a "Free" table at the apt.s where I live and there is almost always something on it so I've been able to learn some about sizes by trying various things on

Granted, most of it ends up back on the free table but I've been able to find a few things I like that fit rather well

Between the free table and a couple of online shops I've been able to put together a fairly good collection of outfits 

But I am sooooo lagging on shoes 

[Ghost on the Highway]

I ended up with size 7 shorts -- I guess I'm flattered, but this is ridiculous! 

[April Dawne]

lol welcome to womanhood =]

[Sinnyo]

My solution has simply been to lean on OpenOffice Calc (though Excel will do!) and always check a site's individual sizing guide. Most will tell you how to convert inches or cm into their [S M L XL] array, and I long since learned to ignore their suggestions of what size 14, 16 or 18 are. This is partly down to being a British shopper too - I'm often window shopping in American or European sizes, and at that point you need a spreadsheet.

• Chest, waist, hips, inner leg and foot measurements down the first column;
• Bra, dress, trouser and shoe sizes alongside;
• Then international equivalents;
• and finally a few columns for my most-visited shops.

It's telling that I range from an 'L' on Matalan and Retroscope, to an 'XXL' on some Amazon sellers and Drac-in-a-Box. Mainstream or gothic (& lolita), it's all quite up in the air!

[pamshaw]

Sizes vary between labels and within labels. Most clothes are made in China so I don't trust label sizes. I try on everything I buy. If you have not tried it most stores and women clerks actually enjoy helping transgender people. Of course I like nothing better than shopping for and trying on sexy clothes. Bras and panties seem to be sized better; I am always a 6 and 36B.

Pam

[kyril]

There is literally no standard. None. The numbers on the clothing correspond to nothing real or measurable. The only thing you can be (reasonably) sure of is that a smaller number is probably smaller than a larger number in the exact same clothing item (although it may not be consistently smaller across all dimensions).

Just grab the one that most looks like it will fit, plus the two sizes above it and the two sizes below it, and go try them on until you find the one you like the best. When you get more confident at eyeballing your size, you'll only need to grab 2-3 items instead of 5.
Post Merge: July 19, 2010, 06:36:29 PM

I hate to say it, but women's sizing can be even more confusing than men's sizing. Depending on your body, you might find you can fit into both misses and juniors clothing in certain sizes because they seem to overlap.

That's because "juniors" sizes aren't equivalent to "boys" or "children." They're made for full-grown but still skinny teenagers and young women; the main differences between juniors and misses are that juniors have the very youthful/trendy styles, often fit slim, and rarely go above size large/14ish.

[April Dawne]

Ahhh ok, well that does make sense then Kyril =]

And it's true too that Juniors clothes have a more "trendy/youthful" look and style. Luckily I'm pretty slim and lots of it fits so I have a pretty good range of looks to choose from!

[insanitylives]

That ends up happening a lot with FTMs when we go to buy men's stuff. I straddle the line between men's small and boy's large. Men's small is sometimes too big for me and boy's large can be too small.

Yeah, i have that problem sorta.
Mens medium/large, neither fits and it's VERY hard to find shirts.
Oddly pants are easier even with my butt (most 34x34 i've noticed tend to be the same, tho they're clearly bigger than the size says)

eyeball, pick the next size above and below. It's really impossiable to NOT try clothes on.

[April Dawne]

It's really impossiable to NOT try clothes on.

lol I actually buy a lot online, so I don't try things on till they get here to my home! LOL I'm pretty good at picking my size, so very few things have not fit well enough to be able to wear, and the few that didn't fit, I got so cheap I didn't care and just gave it to someone it did fit, haha.

[V M]

I've become pretty good at buying stuff online also

I've only had a few total fails with buying stuff online...

One was a dress that I gave to a friend for her B-Day so it wasn't a total fail... The other are panties that I will save for after srs

As for eying up my size... I've become pretty good at that also... Put the grab on a nice skirted one-piece swimsuit off the free table the other day... Fits great 

[April Dawne]

Awwwww where is this FREE table?!?!?!?! LOL so jealous!

[Ghost on the Highway]

Yeah, i have that problem sorta.
Mens medium/large, neither fits and it's VERY hard to find shirts.
Oddly pants are easier even with my butt (most 34x34 i've noticed tend to be the same, tho they're clearly bigger than the size says)

eyeball, pick the next size above and below. It's really impossiable to NOT try clothes on.

Men's pants are always fairly easy -- they're vanity sized anywhere from 2-4 from tagged waist to actual, often I find that pants at my actual size (30 at the navel) will fit right where I want my pants to sit (at the hip, 32-33in)

Men's shirts suck. I always have to compromise b/c I have a 40in chest and a 30in waist. They either look like tents, dresses, or bodybuilder muscle shirts. Ugh.

[V M]

Awwwww where is this FREE table?!?!?!?! LOL so jealous!

At my apt.s... It's been a great help for figuring out my sizes... There are mostly women living here so that's (Women's clothes) mostly what's on the table 

[Epigania]

So ...  I used to love this show called "What Not To Wear"...  one of the quickest ways to pies off the hosts was to not go to a dressing room to try on clothes.

This is a scary thing for us sometimes but vital for women's clothing.   I wear a large and it fits the tummy fine but the boobs bust out all over so I have to go with XL.  Without the fitting room I have bought really poor choices on clothing.   

[MrsTorrance]

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