Clothing-Size Deflation Is Real
Monday, November 2, 2009
Hey, clothes-wearing people.
I assume I’m not the only one who’s noticed that clothing sizes have totally changed in the past 2-3 years or so — what used to be an XL is now only a large, what used to be a large is now a medium, and what used to be XXXL is now somehow listed in the normal-sized range at XL. G confirms that this is the case for women’s clothing too — a size 4 now fits what used to be size 6, size 8 fits a former size 10, etc.
This is pretty clever on the part of marketers, but I have to burst your bubble, you-who-think-you’ve-dropped-a-size: You may fit in a size 6, but unfortunately, you don’t actually fit in a size 6.
Sorry, yo.
Well, I will where my smalls to work today and feel good about it.
I actually think it is a good thing as people who didn’t really “fit” into a size 6 before now do. Hopefully this leads to less over spillage.
Peace
They do this every so often (like 5-7 years). Marilyn Monroe was considered around a size 14 back in her day. These days she’d be considered a 6-8 – how crazy is that?
At the same time they’re playing with sizes, there are now XXL and even XXXL in “regular” clothing stores, and commercials that try to tell us Fruit Loops are healthy because they contain fiber. Maybe we should go back to the days when extra huge clothing was in a fat section – maybe a bit of humiliation would inspire people to take better care of their bodies.
I won’t even touch the whole “it’s cheaper to buy McDonalds for dinner than a healthy meal” thing.
This re-sizing is a band-aid on a bullet wound, IMO.
At Whatsmysize.com we have noticed that the changes you are describing haven’t filtered through all the stores evenly.
So I for example am still a size 12 in Marks and Spencer but have dropped a few sizes in other stores. Oh and I have gained a size in Top Shop in the last couple of years.
I think there’s also an East Coast/West Coast thing going on; an XL in NYC or Miami is smaller than one in Boise.