I wish they made half-sizes in women's clothing.

[SeattleGirl]

Right now, I'm between sizes. The smaller one is a bit too snug, and the next size up is a tad too big.

x(

[Kali]

1. wearing too big is MUCH better

for your self esteem! (at least to me)

[SeattleGirl]

2. Sometimes, but droopy pants aren't too flattering on me.

:)

[jeff30997]

5. Droopy pants ? You mean like these ?

:P

[SeattleGirl]

7. Hahaha!

Good one!

:rofl:

[jeff30997]

11. Goodnight SeattleGirl.

:hi:

[MilesColtrane]

3. I endorse this.

I also endorse more sales.

What a wonderful world it would be if ALL women's clothing were half-off.

:hide:

[SeattleGirl]

4. !

:spank:



:rofl:

[EndersDame]

6. There are many places that do clothing alterations

or find a friend who knows how to sew to help you out

[SeattleGirl]

8. I know.

I can't always afford alterations on top of buying new clothing, though.

[EndersDame]

9. I am finding out that sewing is a very practical skill

I wish I didnt get bored and go watch cartoons when my grandma was trying to teach me

[SeattleGirl]

10. I tried for years to learn to sew, but the sewing machine always went

into rebellion the moment I sat down at it! x(

[HopeHoops]

12. The sizes hardly seem to mean anything anymore.

My wife is petite and my three daughters are only slightly taller. Her nominal size is about a 5, but she's found things from 0 to 7 that all fit equally well. Things marked "XS" or "Petite" are like something from Goldilocks - way too small, way too big, or just right. The kids have the same problem. And even items that SHOULD be identical (same exact garment and size) can vary widely from article to article. I find that particularly true with jeans. A pair will ALMOST fit and I know the next one up will be too big, so I grab three different ones of the same size and one of them usually fits perfectly.

And don't even get me started on shoe sizes.

[Captain Hilts]

16. What does '5' mean? It's crazy. nt

[SeattleGirl]

18. You are absolutely right about sizes; they are very inconsistent!

I've seen many articles of clothing labeled "large" that would probably be tight on a very small person!

As far as shoes are concerned, that's the one item I find most consistent in sizing.

[Captain Hilts]

29. They want to make shopping as long and drawn out a process as possible to increase opportunity

for impulse buying.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

13. The one thing I find with plus sizes

is that the fit model (the model - human or mannequin) used to make the apparel must have a weird shape. If someone is a size 18, for instance, chances are that she will (probably) have wider hips, right? Not so according to the fit model. So you get a pair of pants that fits well around the waist but has the hips fit for a 9-year old boy, or you get a blouse that fits well in the chest but has sleeves so tiny an ant couldn't go through.

[Captain Hilts]

17. I buy pants in men's stores. They fit great and they hem them for you. nt

[SeattleGirl]

19. Same with Misses sizes to, I find.

I hate shopping for clothes. By the time I get done trying things on, I'm nearly in tears because almost none of them fit the way you'd think they would!

[Captain Hilts]

30. WTF is 'misses' mean anyway? It makes NO sense. nt

[SeattleGirl]

32. It means women with curves, as opposed to juniors, which means

women without many curves. :)

[Captain Hilts]

33. But why the coded language? nt

[SeattleGirl]

35. I'll have to refer you to the fashion industry for the answer, because

I have no idea why.

[marzipanni]

46. I like Goodwill shopping for Hits 'n Misses

On Memorial Day they had a 1/2 off all clothing sale. I got some perfectly good white sailcloth below-the-knee pants (I'm old enough to know them as capris or clamdiggers- not sure what they're called now!) made by Liz Claiborne for $4.00. It takes a while to look through the many pants there...at this store they sort clothing by type, gender, color but not much by size. I look at it as good arm exercise pushing the clothes packed on the racks to see them!
If you try different brand of jeans at Goodwill, for instance I found some Eddie Bauer women's jeans fit me two different years, you can get an idea of a brand that might be good for your shape.

[dana_b]

25. funny, I find the opposite

if the pants fit my waist, the hips are huge (I do have narrow hips). If it fits my bust, I have tents around my arms.

Argh - and I can't sew. It's dangerous for anyone around me.

[MorningGlow]

14. Same here

Sometimes drastically so--can't button the smaller size pants or shorts, but end up swimming in the next size up. I bought a pair of shorts in Old Navy (never a prize-winner for size accuracy, I realize) and since I chose not to look like an overstuffed sausage, I bought the next size up. Now I'm constantly hitching them up so they don't fall off. x( They work all right during my "bloated week" though...

[SeattleGirl]

20. I'd like to know what the deal is with waistlines.

Good grief! I find a pair of pants that is long enough, made for a woman like me who has hips, but I can hardly button the button at the waist! They must make these pants based on Barbie Doll figures or something!

[MorningGlow]

22. That's my problem exactly!

I will admit that these days I have a gut that I'm not proud of (I blame MG Jr. }( ) but even when I was skinny, I didn't have a cinched waist (couldn't wear Lees no way nohow). Jeans with a waistband "just below the waist" work better than "at the waist", but if I buy a size that doesn't cut off my air supply or leave a button-rivet imprint in my flesh, I end up with saddlebags full of air at my hips--and I DON'T need any help looking bigger anywhere near my midsection!

Stoopid fashion industry. x(

[SeattleGirl]

23. Amen, sistah!

I like jeans that come to just below the waist too, as they don't make me feel like I'm being cut in half. But still, they don't fit as well as I wish they did. :-(

[MorningGlow]

27. I hear the "Not Your Daughter's Jeans" brand works well on (ahem) mature figures

But no stores carry them around here. And as someone who usually pays no more than $30 for a pair of jeans, I consider breaking the $100 barrier just too much for a bit of denim. For that price, they'd have to fit like the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants jeans!
:rofl:

[SeattleGirl]

31. I'm wearing a pair right now.

I do love them; I can sit down and not cut off my circulation!

They are spendy, I admit, but for me, who has such a difficult time buying clothes, they're worth it!

[MorningGlow]

37. Really?

Aw, you're gonna make me consider breaking the bank for a pair--but ONLY if I can find a store around here that carries them. I wouldn't trust buying them online--I'd want to try them on.

[SeattleGirl]

39. I got mine at Nordstroms

I don't know if they're carried at other stores.

Hopefully you can find some!

[MorningGlow]

41. I hope so too

No Nordstroms here...but maybe I can pick some up when I visit my brother and his family in California in a couple of months. They're lousy with Norstroms there!
:hi:

[tigereye]

53. I don't mind the Old Navy pants - I really like those low-rise boot cut ones

they seem to be made for women with actual hips!



I agree with the OP about the in-between size problem though.

[Captain Hilts]

28. A HUGE national survey conducted by retailers showed that only 15% of women have the 'hourglass'

shape, yet ALL clothes are made for that shape.

Ugh!

[SeattleGirl]

34. Do you recall what the most common shape was?

[MorningGlow]

36. Pear?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

On edit: That includes me!

[Captain Hilts]

38. Here's an article about the survey and how women's clothes are not made for women....

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/01/us/sizing-up-america-signs-of-expansion-from-head-to-toe.html

Among the findings: older men have trimmer thighs than younger men. Black women are larger than other women, but they are also most likely to have the classic hourglass figure. Sixty-four percent of women are pear-shaped, and 30 percent are ''straight,'' meaning they had little perceptible waist.

Over all, the new measurements shake up what have long been considered the average outlines of the American body. For years, an average woman was thought to be a size 8, although some circles had bumped that up to size 12 in recent years. But even the women who came in on the small side in the SizeUSA survey look more like what the longtime clothing industry standards would consider a size 14 -- the size at which ''plus size'' clothing begins.

Industry standards set a size 8 at a 35-inch bust, a 27-inch waist, and 37.5-inch hip. In the survey, white women ages 18 to 25 came in, on average, 38-32-41, with white women ages 36 to 45 coming in at 41-34-43. (Barbie, long the plastic bane of body image, is said to have measurements that project to about 39-18-33.) In that same age group, black women measure, on average, 43-37-46, Hispanic women 42.5-36-44, and ''other'' women, which researchers said meant mostly Asian, 41-35-43.

[SeattleGirl]

40. Thanks for the link!

[Captain Hilts]

15. I wish they used inches to indicate size and that they included alterations as they do

with men's clothes.

I also wish you could get women's clothes in natural fabrics, as you do in the men's dept.

The average US woman has a 34 inch waist. But, in clothes, 31 inches is considered 'large'.

In other words, they don't make clothes to fit anyone.

[SeattleGirl]

21. I think they use size to mess with women's heads.

One of my sisters is very tall and very slender. To look at her, you'd think that a size small would automatically be a winner for her. Nope. Sometimes she ends up having to get a "large" to get something that doesn't end up being a second skin on her.

[mwooldri]

58. Don't get me started on different countries...

My sister in the UK I remember was into a size 12 UK. Come over here, and she's buying size 7 jeans.

[Artie Bucco]

24. I myself

can fit into Kid's large shirts; I don't mind fat kids keep me in cheap clothes.

[surrealAmerican]

26. Welcome to DU.

I've been doing that too with shirts. A kids' large is roughly equivalent to a women's small. It doesn't work with pants, though, I'm too tall.

[fizzgig]

42. i wish they did, too

i have almost always been between sizes, not that the sizing is at all consistent. one brand, i wear a 10, another brand 14 is a bit too tight.

i hate shopping for pants. juniors don't fit me well because the waist sits at my hips and give me the most horrible muffin top and crack action, but misses don't fit me well either because they pooch out over my lower belly.

it's so stupidly stressful for me to shop for pants that i usually wind up in tears and eating ice cream.

[SeattleGirl]

44. I'm with ya on the tears!

I can leave the house and feel like I look somewhat okay.

But 10 minutes in front of a department store mirror, and UGH!!! I've morphed into some horrid looking creature that nothing will fit.

[fizzgig]

51. i've given up on department stores

the only luck i've had in years has been at thrift stores

[mnhtnbb]

43. Depending upon your age and style, Chico's has half sizes.

[SeattleGirl]

45. Their clothes are targeted more toward younger women, aren't they?

[tigereye]

54. not as much as you would think...

They have small sizes and larger sizes. It's funny, when I first went there, I thought of the clothing as being for older women (I think I was in my 30s at the time) :D

[SeattleGirl]

55. Cool! I'll have to check them out.

I may have been thinking of another store, because I know there are a few around here that specifically do cater to younger women.

[tigereye]

56. their clothes used to be a bit "funkier" - more Southwest-ish, which i miss

but they have some really pretty Asian patterns and lots of color.


It's best when they have a sale, though, it can be a bit pricey.

[SeattleGirl]

57. Thanks, tigereye

I'll keep my eye out for sales.

[mnhtnbb]

60. I shop there and I'm in my late 50's. I think their target market is 40+

A lot of women my age don't want to dress like old ladies; we're more in favor of the Jane Fonda (now in her 60's) or Vanessa Redgrave (early 70's) style.

[tigereye]

62. exactly - I don't really understand why women of all ages can't have sophis-

ticated or funky clothes...

I often find myself looking in the junior section just to see what's hot - not that most of it would fit, but what the hell.

[SeattleGirl]

64. Oh, I certainly don't want to dress like a frump.

I also don't want to look like one of those misguided women who dress inapproprately young. And I suppose, now that I write that, that that is a matter of personal taste, too.

What might not look good on me could certainly look fabulous on another woman around my age.

[MissMillie]

47. I wish they made "fat ass" sizes

everything else kind of normal, but for women w/ a big butt

[SeattleGirl]

49. Sometimes I think that there aren't any pieces of clothing that are

made for "real" women. We come in all shapes and sizes, yet the "fashion industry" keeps trying to fit us all into their preconceived notions of what women look like!

[MissMillie]

50. there's a good reason for you to think that way

it's true

:hi:

[SeattleGirl]

52. I knew it!

:hi:

[Pacifist Patriot]

48. AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Shell Beau]

59. Yeah, that would be nice!

They make it for shoes; why not clothes?

[SeattleGirl]

61. That's what I wonder too.

Would make a lot of sense to me!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

63. The term "half sizes" used to mean not in-between sizes but

sizes for heavy people with short waists. My grandmother wore 18 and a half for much of her life.

[SeattleGirl]

65. Interesting I didn't know that.