Way back in July 2007 I posted a little rant, Size Does Not Make a Difference about women's clothing.
Now I'm seeing with my 11-year-old daughter's clothes.
At the beginning of the summer, I bought SportyGirl a couple of pairs of blue jeans at the Big Red Concentric Circles store. They were the store brand, size 10.
Fast forward to last week. The same size 10 jeans still fit SportyGirl, but they were getting worn out. Not wanting to send my child to school in hole-covered jeans (no matter how much she begs me to let her) we ran to the same store for the same size of the same store brand. Easy-peasy purchase, right?
I took them home, took off the tags, washed them and put them away for the school week. Yesterday she tried to put them on. Couldn't even get them buttoned. They were skin tight. Wuh?
SportyGirl, although she has a great attitude about weight, healthy eating and exercise, still falls prey to the media-hyped fat/skinny thing occasionally. Her eyes started to tear-up. "Am I getting fat?" she said.
I checked the label between the pair she'd been wearing and the pair we'd just purchased just a few months apart. Identical. I held them up together to match the seams. The new "size 10" pants... same brand... same size... same style... were now 2 inches smaller in the waist and legs. TWO INCHES! Her "old" size 10 pants still fit her to perfection. SportyGirl had to move up to a size 12, even though her body had not changed.
Our size-conscious society, keeps telling us to be healthy on one hand, while telling us to be size 2 on the other. There are girls SportyGirl's age (11), who are starving themselves and hurting their bodies to fit into these impossible and unhealthy sterotypes. Most of them aren't going to do a physical comparison of the clothing and think, "The clothing manufacturer changed the sizing." They'll think, "I'm fat. I've got to lose weight."
Yes, I know that one size isn't what matters. I know that the number doesn't matter, but it's a mind game. I've had some clothes for 15 years that fit me nearly the same now as they did then. Yes, I've put on a few pounds over the years, but when a Large from 10 years ago is a roomier fit than an XXL today? There's something wrong.
3 comments:
If I buy a large men's tee shirt, I get a comfortably loose fit for schlepping around in.
If I buy a women's shirt, I have to get a 2X or possibly even a 3X to get a relaxed fit.
although the women's shirts are usually slightly fitted, so they are more flattering, at least until they have been washed a few times.
It's just silly.
SportyGirl is so lovely--it breaks my heart she's worried about being fat.
I have no idea what my true size is. I'm an 8 at Anne Taylor, a 10-12 at Target. Kohl's...man, it could go any which way. I just try on everything and if it fits, I take it. I'm done worrying about fitting into a certain size.
And yeah...the shirts are cut *longer* now (thank God the midriff look went away) but they are much more *narrow*. And made with that stretchy fabric that clings to every bump and bulge.
I'm reading a great book right now called, "Thin Is The New Happy" an autobiography of a woman who began dieting at 11, and her struggle with it over the years. It is, by turns, hilarious and sad, and every woman who has ever felt rotten about her appearance can relate to it.
Robin
I often have to go the 1X route now. It's hard to find shirts that fit busty women well... even in the plus size sections.
If they could only size women's clothing like men's -- put the measurement (inches or centimeters) on the label and leave it at that -- life would be so much simpler. Years ago I went dress shopping and bought three dresses in one day at three different locations: a size 10, a size 12, and a size 14. There's no rhyme or reason to it.
Over the years I stopped worrying about the size number and just concentrated on whether or not I was happy and healthy. It took many years and a lot of unhappiness to get to that point, though.
Thanks for the kind words about SportyGirl, Robin. I'm going to have to look up that book you're reading. Sounds good!
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