In one store, you’re a Size 4, in another a Size 8, and in another a Size 10 — all without gaining an ounce.
So starts a New York Times article, forwarded along by Kristin, Valerie, and Dolores. It features this handy graphic illustrating just how much both sizes and proportions vary from store to store:
It’s interesting that this article is specific to women, as if the sizes and proportions in men’s clothes don’t vary. Hint: they do.
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Comments 39
Arielle — April 28, 2011
I absolutely can't believe that a size 8 hip at Banana Republic is the same as a size 2 at the Gap. I've bought pants at both stores. I'm an 8/10 at BR and while I could maybe squeeze into a 6 at the Gap on a good day, a 2 wouldn't come up over my calves, never mind my hips.
Ang — April 28, 2011
I love that the graphic is centered around an 8, with the caption "whose size 8 are you wearing?" when data shows that "you" are more likely to wear a 14. Says a lot about NYT perceived (or actual) readership, as well as the same old spiel on cultural ideals of etc blah blah.
Paul — April 28, 2011
About the last sentence, this article is probably focused on women because women tend to look at sizes more than men, at least in my experience. I've heard women say "I'm not going to buy those pants (although they fit me well), they're size X and I'm size Y". But I've never heard anything like that from men.
Sarah — April 28, 2011
I'm shocked that they found any pants that go up to the waist. are they projecting based on the curve at the top of the pants and the hip? What "size" I wear depends on the cut of the pants more than anything else. As someone who is not very curvy, pants that do not button in the waist are still huge in my hips, so i wear a much smaller size pant when it is low rise. pants that sit on my waist need to be tailored or they will never fit. fortunately for me, those pants have been out of style.
maria — April 28, 2011
as a short chick, I've noticed a very recent trend in the disparity in lengths as well as "width" in clothing. i used to be able to buy regular pants and put a small hem in them, then a few years ago i had to go with "short lengths". in the past 12-18 months i've lept straight past "petite" sizing, right into "petite short" lengths. i'm completely baffled by this phenomenon. i understand why companies do vanity sizing- i don't AGREE with it in the tiniest, slightest, bit, but i get the psychology behind it. but vanity length? what the hell?! the average height hasn't changed more than an inch at most in the 25 years since i've stopped growing, so why have pant and sleeve length??
*sigh*
anyway... i've resorted to carrying around a list of extremely detailed measurements of my best-fitting pieces of clothing and a tape measure when i go shopping, and measure everything: a piece has to match at least three measurements before i even think about trying it on. sure i look like a wackadoo, but it saves me a lot of time and massive amounts of frustration.
Marianne — April 28, 2011
I think this is a good thing. Peoples bodies are different, and if all retail clothes had the same cut, then I'd be f*d with my tiny boobs and huge hips (for my size). And my extremely thin calves compared to my feet. And short back compared to my legs. So yay for different cuts - because people are different! :D
bbonnn — April 28, 2011
From the article: "A Size 8 hip at Banana Republic equals a Size 2 hip at the Gap"
What? No.
Banana Republic:
http://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse/sizeChart.do?cid=37630
Size 8 hip = 38 inches
Gap:
http://www.gap.com/browse/sizeChart.do?cid=2081
Size 2 hip = 36.5 inches
(Size 6 hip is 38.5 inches; Size 4 hip is 37.5 inches)
So a Banana Republic Size 8 hip (38 inches) would be somewhere between a Gap size 4 or 6. Not a 2.
macgirlver — April 28, 2011
clever by the fashion industry - conscious about your clothes size? Come wear our brand and you can tell everyone you're a 2, but go buy their clothes and gosh someone might see the label and know you're an 8...
Lullabee — April 28, 2011
That graph is a lot curvier than I'd expect. Is it not really to scale, or is it just an illusion created by the portion of the body it shows and the fact the bust and the hips don't usually stick out along the same line?
debe White — April 28, 2011
I hate shopping, especially for clothes.
Lilac — April 29, 2011
I really wish more companies would put women's pants in inches. Yeah, it might be hard for some women to face the reality of their pant size, but in time it would make buying clothing SO MUCH EASIER.
Which is a pipe dream, since clothing designers sell us these fake sizes to make us feel so great about ourselves. I find it slightly defeatest, since there's nothing that makes me feel more frustrated while shopping than having to take 3 pairs of the same pant in to figure out which size I am.
Treefinger — April 30, 2011
It's good to see some stats backing up what I've known for years.
About a year ago I could get into a Miss Selfridge's size 4 (this is size 0 in American terms, yeah I was too thin) but a H&M size 6 dress was physically too small to fit around my ribcage (which if nothing else suggests that their smaller sizes might be designed for women who actually have the small bone structure that legitimates wearing size 0 clothes. I don't know if in practice people who aren't of this bone structure try to lose weight to fit into the smaller clothes, but at the time I took the incident as conveying "your ribcage is too big for this size and always will be, so trying to lose weight to fit in it would do nothing as well as being hazardous to your health").
It's good that there are different cuts for different bodies, as someone said above. But it does make it a royal pain to consistently find clothes that fit well. Even though it wouldn't really be viable for the kind of mass-produced clothes on the market today, I almost wish there would be a revival in tailoring for the items (like dresses) that won't always reliably fit. Or maybe people could take the stats in studies like this, and obtain more, and make some sort of online database so people could see which brands have a better chance of fitting.
Heute 38, morgen 40, übermorgen 42. » By Marleen » Größen, Größe, Artikel, Times, Problem, Post » Clutchmagazin — May 1, 2011
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