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Why Your Size Label Means Sh*t!
By admins | November 3, 2008
We were all enthralled by the image above and it really made us think. First we questioned is the size 12 really a man’s ideal size? Most guys we know would say size 2 Jessica Alba, or the ever shrinking Angelina Jolie is their ideal. Regardless of your man’s preference it’s no surprise that we are our own toughest critics. We always want to be thinner, younger, prettier, and well, mostly thinner. But what really caught our eye was the average woman’s size 16. What does that mean exactly? Because as all women know your “size” is completely arbitrary.
We are constantly hearing the complaint, “why am I one size at the Gap and another in say Tahari”. While the answer depends on whom you ask, but we’ll give you our opinion based on the companies, brands and lines we’ve worked on. Sizing is developed by the designer or company based on internal research of their target demographic. They then develop their patterns and specs and hire their own fit model to fit their product on. Therefore there is no universal standard from brand to brand.
When developing a fit many factors are taken into consideration such as; age, location, economic status, etc… of your customer. For example, one of our contributors worked on a Missy brand sold to mid-tier department stores throughout the Midwest, but upon receiving orders from 2 high-end boutique department stores on either coast, she had her technical department grade down each size to accommodate the smaller LA and NYC customers. The result being a size 4 of the same dress in the same brand can have two completely different fits. Yet another contributor worked for a manufacturer who sold to Walmart and in this case the retailer dictates the sizing regardless of the designers desires. About 2 years ago she received a new body form from Walmart, as they had re-evaluated their customer and found her to have grown larger in the last 3 years. The new size 8 form now had a larger chest and love handles and the designer and her team had to rush to re-size all patterns accordingly! Another example is when a fellow designer worked for a popular men’s urban-wear company, and had to appeal to their customer preference for over-sized clothing and desire to be a larger size. So in return, he graded most measurements up 2 sizes and increased the labeling by 1 size (sort of the reverse to women’s vanity sizing). All of these are examples of the industry trying to accommodate the consumer.
So when somebody asks us why can’t a size 6 always fit me, our answer is, unless you are the fit model it can’t and it shouldn’t. With a women’s size scale of 2 – 18 that is really only 10 patterns to fit tens of millions of women, we do not all have the same shape, height and width and neither should our clothes. The variety of fits can be frustrating but also necessary. So don’t be a slave to your “size” it’s just a number and you may actually be a 4 after all!
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Topics: designers, fashion industry, production, trend, wal-mart | 4 Comments » 
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November 3rd, 2008 at 3:24 pm
wow that’s crazy! Thanks for the insider info, I always wondered about that. FYI love your articles, so refreshing!
November 7th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Size 14 and proud. Like the move says “Real Women have Curves”.I have been size 8,12 and 16. Size 14 is comfortable lol. Thanks for the article.
November 14th, 2008 at 1:44 am
[...] Why Your Size Label Means Sh*t! [...]
December 26th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
I weigh about the same as I did back in the early 70s. Yet now I’m a size 8-10 but back then I could just barely squeeze into a 14. Strange.