Women's clothing sizes - what the fuck?! What's a size 6 versus 12 versus 18?

Is there any linear correlation? Logarithmic?

Does a woman size 6 have a waist half the size of a size 12? 20% of the size?

What's the formula?

And how big is a size 18? I just saw a classified ad for someone selling a size 18 dress, and that's what's made me think of this.

And I saw an ad for weight loss yesterday with a woman who said she lost 20 pounds and went down something like 4 or 5 sizes. She looked like she was maybe 140-150 pounds at the new weight, so I'm thinking, "Ok, 20 pounds as a percentage of previous body weight isn't so much, only about 12%, but she went from a size 12 to a size 8, a 33% reduction?"

Makes me glad I'm a man sometimes. Though I do realize it's all your beautiful wonderful amazing and sexy curves that makes the women sizing thing such a nightmare. :-)

will not look the same on another..

sizes will vary depending on who the manufacturer is. Yep, that's right so in order to find the correct fitting clothing women have to try a couple of different sizes to find the right one.....:grr:

It's fucked up when men get to shop by their waistline or their necks measurement.

"Hey! I need a dark blue pair of pants, I'll bet they have some here!" I told the salesman what I was looking for, he asked my waist size, I told him, we went to a rack, found a pair that was part cashmere and lined, tried 'em on, they fit great, I got measured for hemming and paid for them all in about seven minutes.

Pluses compared to shopping in the women's department:
1) Indirect lighting
2) Sizes measured in real numbers - inches.
3) They hem them for you!
4) Natural fibres in the clothes. How neat is that?!

and the god damn zipper is made for right handed people

:wtf: is it with left handed womens clothes???

Yes, they ARE better made - AND made to be tailored, if necessary.

right-handed to the servant dressing them, ala Scarlett and her maid in "Gone with the Wind". No idea if there's any truth to that, but obviously something that needs to go out the window nowadays. (And obviously all the women of that time who didn't own slaves or pay servants still had to dress themselves with backwards buttons and zippers, so it's not like it was ever a "good" idea.)

So THAT'S why women's clothes are like that!


:think:


Thanks for the info!

According to what I have read. The fashion started that way. But it took off because women had to have the "look". And as they say the rest is history (or herstory ;^) )

which is why the buttons on women's shirts/blouses are always opposite of how they are put on a man's shirt.

dg

Haha that's funny. Seriously, WTF is with the fact that I wear one size in one brand and a two sizes larger in a different brand? And the shitty materials? Ohohohoh and SIZE RANGES that are never consistent, so if I wear a size 18, some brands have 16/18, others have 18/20, and neither ever fit right. And gawd forbid you don't have "classic" proportions, so if I'm "pear-shaped" and I buy a top to fit my hips, it looks like a fucking tent on top.

:mad:

I found this out when Dear Hubby got fatter and I started wearing his castoffs. We have the same inseam but he's taller than I am by 5 inches. We're both pretty short. (I'm five three, he's five eight).

I would never had found out that I could wear men's slacks if I hadn't hooked up with him.

I have a flat white girl's butt, no hips, and a big waist. The only problem with men's pants is that the rise is too long, because there is room for male equipment that I don't have.

The biggest part of me is my ribs and shoulders.

I have a big waist, no hips and a flat white girl's ass. I wear DH's old slacks since we have the same inseam but he is a bit taller than me.

Except the rise is too big since I don't have that equipment that it has room for.

... so that every ten years or so, they can change them to make women think they've lost weight or something, and thus buy more clothes.

I wish I knew what the sizes are related to exactly.

I have a friend who wears a size "0" (wtf?) but I can still see the clothes, so hmmm.

you aren't gonna win...

He told us his wife wears a size 14 slacks, so he got her some sexy panties in a size 14! She was not happy about that. :rofl: (you may have to be a woman to really get this joke)

go figure

I keed, I keed.

:)

-app

my problem has always been that bathing suits for women pre-suppose that their ass is 2-3 inches bigger than their chest - but with me it's the oppopsite :D

out with your questions.

a very petite small bone can get to the lower numbers. when they get fat, it can be a mere 8. there are women that are bigger bone that look skeleton at 10. there fat can be 18.

It is all designed to market the clothes. That's why size inflation is so rampant these days. Women can be persuaded to buy clothes just because the size tag has a small number, even though the numbers are meaningless.

Men's sizes are consistent and reliable, because they don't care so much about being "flattered". They just want to grab the size that will fit them, and have it be done with.

And what you said here is exactly why I've started to buy men's polo shirts!

which should tell you everything you need to know about how logical the whole system is.

Dresses are the worst. I don't even look at the sizes- it's different for every brand- just grab 10-15 that might fit and usually none of them do. :-(

the smaller the size. For example, a size 14 in a typical retail store might be a size 10 in a very expensive, high-end boutique.

None of it makes sense, except from a marketing point of view, because we all know there are no size 14 women who can afford very high-end apparel, and it would be insulting to any woman who can afford very high-end clothing to suggest that she's actually a *gasp* size 14. :sarcasm:

And it's worse for plus-size women. Depending on the maker, cut, style and type of clothing (whether it is a skirt, pants, top or dress) I go from a size 14 to a 22.

In addition, the size and construction of most women's clothing presumes a breast cup size of C or below. So if a woman has anything above that, something that should, in terms of size and inch measurements, fit her, will not. For instance, my bra size is 42-44 H (yes, that's not a typo) with 37 waist and 50 backside. To suit my overflowing cups, I have to order a size that looks ridiculously large on the rest of my body, then alter it to fit my waist and shoulders. This is true even with brands that specialize in plus sizes. Making my own clothes doesn't make things any easier--most commercial patterns (even the plus size ones) also are sized for C cups, meaning I must alter the pattern before I even begin.

I've got an hour glass shape but if you check the size charts for most stores most women's clothes are made for pear shapes.

A huge survey was conducted by retailers a few years ago.

Average woman's waist size: 34 inches.

100% of women's clothes were made for hour glass shapes my life would be easier.

I am crap at sewing and can't afford to have stuff altered, so I tend to stick to very stretchy fabrics or layers (like, I'll wear a button-up shirt open over a tank top). And forget about swimsuits that offer any kind of support. I've been wearing board shorts, a sports bra, and a tank top to swim for years now.

It's hilarious to me that most people think of Victoria's Secret as a "specialty" bra store, but if you're not a 32-38 A-DD, they won't have a damn thing for you.

I see their commercials and just think to myself, "I'm too much woman for Victoria's Secret to handle. Enjoy your fake DD's models--I've got the real thing!"

and told her she was a "D". LOL - she noramlly wear a "B" but at VS she's a "D". :crazy:

even though MY size kept growing a bit.

The sizes are always changing. Those shorts probably would be considered a size 6 today.

It's to soothe the fragile female ego when it comes to her body image--even if she's carrying a little excess baggage or is naturally big (but not fat). Women and teen girls are very self-conscious when it comes to their waistline and weight, BTW, WTH is the formula for coming up with "misses" sizes like 8, 12, 16, 18?

Plus sizes are 20W, 22W, 26W (they used to go by the waist sizes such as 40, 42, 46, but that scared heavyset women from . Fat ladies like me have to prove we're women by having the "W" for "woman" after the size on the garment (they do pick an unfortunate letter to determine plus sizes--why not use a plus sign?) :silly:

Junior, or teen girls', sizes are odd numbered: 5, 7, 11, etc.

I'd like to see minus sizes for ultra-skinny, anorexic girls and women: -2, -4, -6, etc., when even a size 0 is too small for those bags of bones.

as being the idea of beauty that makes us want to scream.

Men are judged by their success where we as women are still judged by our beauty.

99% of all diet ads are directed at women and also anti aging skin care products along with hair color, etc.

Men are not targets of such campaigns to be skinny or beautiful and it's time for we as women to say ENOUGH!

and it has gone beyond beauty. it is womens sole worth is in their sexuality. and not their personal sexuality that is innately their own.... but the worth is... are they fuckable, or not.

bottomline.

end of story

and females are readily buying into it and enbracing.

how embarrassing for our gender.

to be of value or attractive.

A Tommy Hilfiger 6 is not an Aeropostale 6, nor is it a Croft and Barrow 6, nor is it a Walmart Faded Glory 6. And within all these brands, a juniors 6 is not a misses 6.

At one point in my life, I owned pants in sizes from 4 to 14, and they all FIT.

Fashion makes me crazy.

(Plus, as someone else says, people wear their weight differently. For me, losing 20 pounds only makes me go down one pants size, because weight will come off everywhere else but refuses to leave my ass!) :)

large is .... go figure... small.

the extra extra large? no shape, a box.

wtf

On quite a few online sites, thinkgeek.com being the one that springs to mind right at the moment, they have a "men's" and "women's" sizing chart. The SMALL in the men's shirts is BIGGER than the women's XXL!!! Seriously, it's the same width, and 2 inches longer. :grr: It's f-ing ridiculous.

from a size 8 to a size 4 without losing any weight. Back in the 60's I wore a size 12 at the same weight.

I believe the size actually refers to a template or model form. So a size 12 skirt would have the waist, hips and relative curvature of that template. Which is not necessarily identical to another manufacturers template. Add in vanity factors and you have a situation ripe for abuse.

Technically men probably need three measurements to define a shirt if we are to wear them as form fitting as the ladies do. Neck, shoulders and belly/gut. Shopping for dress shirts you learn that each manufacturer has regular, trim/athletic and some form of a big and tall. And no they are not standardized. A 15-1/2 / 34 will fit differently on different people. Similarly if we wore pants as form fitting, besides not being allowed in the choir, we would probably find similar difficulties.

On the other hand (plus or minus is in the eyes and touch of the wearer) Men swear can simply be described as "Sturdy". It lacks the softness found in some feminine garments, along with the vibrancy of color. It is much more about being utilitarian.

of natural materials. I was scouting women's suits and 'nylon' was still the major ingredient. Ugh! I sweat like crazy in that stuff.

But, if you go to Joseph Banks - which is a midline men's clothier - there are nice tropical weight wools, the pants I got were part cashmere and feel GREAT. The shirts are more likely to be cotton, again, instead of nylon. Linen is also used more in men's clothes than women's.

And, men aren't expected to wear their clothes 'form-fitting' as women are. Men aren't expected to dress to show of the goods as women are. Robin Givan of the Washington Post always rants about women wearing suits and thinks we should all go to work in the Vanderbilt wrap dress. Honest to God, she does. She just doesn't understand that a woman wears a jacket for the same reason a man does: easy to take on and off, it's got pockets, covers up your gut, etc.

Personally I find menswear holds in the heat and is generally baggy and shapeless.

Which I guess means that we should each be allowed to wear what we find comfortable/appropriate/personally pleasing. Without regards to being forced into conformity with our perceived place.

I fit in a size large for a shirt and a 31 waist for jeans. I rarely have to stray from that with different brands.

Why not assume women are adult enough to know their clothing sizes.

Why not assume that women are smart enough to figure out how to navigate in the world of clothing sizing without the manly man forcing his need for linear forumulas to help her on what she knows perfectly well without that.

This is totally about you and your needs.

Did you ever stop to think that, gee, maybe it would make finding the right clothing size more difficult if they changed the whole system to cater to your newly found whim?

By your logic, no clothing size system should run counter to your deeming it logical by your standards.

:eyes:

*I don't think I should swear here.*

*taking diety's name in vain*


I could go on, but really... :rofl:

:sarcasm:

:applause:

:rofl:

RL

although i can only come up with two reasons where having them the same would have any utility. :dilemma:

But I am not sure a size 44 man's oxford and size 44 woman's oxford are made on the same form. In general women's feet are narrower for a given length. Don't know if there are other subtle differences.

:sarcasm:

and I buy those almost exclusively.

bigger than the size before it. Sometimes it is half that depending on where you are cutting out the patterns.