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Top British Retailers Accused of 'Vanity Sizing' to Make Customers Feel Slimmer

by Erin Donnelly (Subscribe to Erin Donnelly's posts)
Posted Apr 19th 2010 at 12:30PM  
53 Comments
Share
marks and spencer hangers

Marks & Spencer's sizing may be a little generous. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

Is your ego sitting down? Good.

British high-street retailers are being accused of "vanity sizing" by increasing the size of their garments to convince shoppers that they wear a smaller clothing size, UK's The Times reports.

Damn. We knew that Krispy Kreme diet was too good to be true.

Marks & Spencer, Gap and John Lewis are just a few of the shops who have reportedly expanded the ideal measurements described for each clothing size, according to the paper.

While vanity sizing is no doubt designed to coddle us and encourage us to buy a new wardrobe for our sexy and slim supermodel figures (cough), it can cause much confusion.

For instance, a woman could slip easily into a size 10 dress (the equivalent of a US 8) in one shop, then find herself barely getting the zipper up on a size 10 in another store.

Though Marks & Spencer claims it has not altered its measurements for suppliers since 2003, following a 3-D body scanning survey of women's bodies, it has reportedly increased its ideal measurement guidelines.

According to the Times, a size 16 at the department store has gone from being aimed at women with the measurements of 97-80-104 to 101-84-109, the equivalent of an extra dress size.

"We are not sweetening the sizes or softening the blow for anyone but in 2007 we introduced a size 6 and a size 30 to our range and we tweaked the sizes on our website so they are based on an average body," a store spokeswoman told the paper.

"We were trying to more accurately reflect what customers' body shapes would be showing them. We did not change the size of the garments."

Meanwhile, Gap told the source that its size "depend on the fit and style" of the garment, while the John Lewis department store explained that "emerging fashion trends and seasonal influences dictate sizing adjustments."

"Seasonal influences"? We can only imagine what that means. In the meantime, we'll be playing it safe with a trip to the dressing room.

Does it bother you that sizes may not be realistic, or does it make you feel better about your body? Leave a comment.

Meanwhile, see what plus-size supermodel Crystal Renn has to say about clothing sizes.

Read All Comments
Filed under: Fashion, News, Shopping
Tags: clothing size, gap, john lewis, marks spencer, plus size, vanity sizing
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READER COMMENTS

(53)Add A Comment

jykathy, 4-20-2010, 8:10AM

Half a star vote downvote upReport
jykathy

Idiots!! Wal mart does it here i know, Lose some weight you lard asses. I cant get anything to fit me . A medium is now a small, so i would need a extra small and most places dont sell those, i cant even get new jeans without going to a thrift shop. I got some sweat pants for x mas and they are huge yet it says medium, what a lot of bull.

Reply »

chris, 4-20-2010, 8:18AM

3 stars vote downvote upReport
chris

how true it is. i can't tell you how poorly sized the clothes are. i get 'junior' size for my daughter who is small. she needs to wear a large in junior size in order for the shirt to fit her nicely. she is not a big person. i myself, also small on top need to wear an extra large in junior tops. what are the sizing?? no wonder the young girls and young adult females look ridiculous. they are wear "their size" and it's too tight showing all their unsightly bulges. duh. the miley/max collection, although very nice, is poorly sized. you must take 2 sizes larger than your normal size for the pants to fit. only really good expensive clothes are more true to the size guidelines. but people squeezing into clothing that is to small is just plain gross looking just the same as those people wearing clothes way too big and they are hanging off their butts. oh the humanities.

»

haha, 4-20-2010, 8:21AM

1 star vote downvote upReport
haha

Stop smoking crack and maybe you'll be able to fit into a small

»

Ashley, 4-20-2010, 8:33AM

3 stars vote downvote upReport
Ashley

o0o Boo Hoo for you. I wish I had your problem. BTW not everyone is overweight by choice. Some of us have medical issues and it's not as easy as you may think. I weighed 109 till I developed hoshimotos disease and was then diagnosed with PCOS. I eat a strict diet and and go to the gym for TWO HOURS three times a week and I am still in a size 16. I really hope that never happens to you. Maybe walk in someone elses shoes before you start going off about "Lose some weight you lard asses".

»

MikoRose, 4-20-2010, 6:48PM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
MikoRose

Me too! I was wondering why I went from a 2 into a double 0. And I didn't lose any weight. It is hard to find my size now.

»

Susan, 4-20-2010, 8:24AM

3 stars vote downvote upReport
Susan

I've been telling my friends for years that clothing manufacturers are trying to fool us into thinking we're thiner than we are. I now take a 6 or 8, but when I tried on one of my mother's old gowns, which was a 12, it was tight! Don't treat us like children or idiots! A am what size I am, and I can live with it!

Reply »

r, 4-20-2010, 10:33AM

3 stars vote downvote upReport
r

the problem is clothes being made in china and abroad. a size 10 nike is not always a ten, sometimes its up to a 12 but labeled 10, i have a pair that say size 10 and a half and there closer to 13s. I worked selling shoes awhile and all the chicks bought shoes that wrre way too small for them.

»

Christine, 4-20-2010, 8:39AM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
Christine

Dont any of you get it, smaller the size less material (mo money mo money) dah, times the saving by x amount, that equates to a hefty sum for our dear manufactors.

Reply »

Disgusted, 4-20-2010, 9:13AM

3 stars vote downvote upReport
Disgusted

WHEN ARE THEY GOING TO START MAKING WOMEN'S JEANS/SLACKS/SHORTS THAT FIT AT THE WAIST AGAIN?????????? MINE ARE WEARING OUT AND I WILL NOT, NOT, NOT WEAR THOSE STUPID LOW-CUT, "SLIMMING" THINGS. THEY LOOK SO STUPID UNLESS YOU'RE A SKELETON. I'M NOT FAT, BUT I'M NOT A MODEL EITHER AND I WANT PANTS THAT FIT AT MY WAIST LIKE THEY DID ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO.

Reply »

jykathy, 4-20-2010, 9:22AM

3 stars vote downvote upReport
jykathy

So right!!!!! I was heavier but lost it , im no stick either but cant wear a x small and dont claim to be that little. Its all some stupid game with women.

»

sealjoy12, 4-20-2010, 9:25AM

3 stars vote downvote upReport
sealjoy12

Agreed, and while their at it please bring back real pants that have a normal length, I am tired of these pats that have no ankles.... I am relegated to finding jeans in the mens asile, cause all the women's jeans are toooo dang short and IM PETITE!

»

CityGirl, 4-20-2010, 9:28AM

3 stars vote downvote upReport
CityGirl

I'm with you! It's next to impossible to keep a shirt tucked into the low-rise pants. My job requires me to be outside supervising landscaping and outdoor art installations - tasks that mean frequent stretching and reaching ... and tucking my shirts back into my pants. Maybe I need to find some "onesies", but I doubt they make those in adult small! Manufacturers need to realize that not everyone wants to go with their "trends" and "seasonal hits".

»

sapcox, 4-20-2010, 1:48PM

Half a star vote downvote upReport
sapcox

Quit yelling and lose weight......

»

Liz, 4-20-2010, 9:43AM

3 stars vote downvote upReport
Liz

The worst part is that Vanity Sizing makes it so the women on the smallest end of the spectrum can't buy clothes anymore. I am very petite and I cannot even go into the gap anymore - they don't make anything small enough to fit me anymore.

Reply »

Donna, 4-20-2010, 12:34PM

2 stars vote downvote upReport
Donna

I'm with you on being small, I'm the same now as I was 30 years ago, and let me tell you that I used to wear 7 and 9. Now a 4 is way to big. I don't have bags on the sides of my legs, but the slacks and jeans do, I don't have a big butt, the clothes do. We've always had Lg. and extra lg. clothes, even 30 yrs. ago, but they also had clothes that fit smaller frames. Not anymore since America seems to have nothing but to heavy, very heavy, and OMG heavy people. I know that in the late 60, or early 70's there was a sizing change, and then again in the 80's. I wear a size 5 and 5 1/2 shoe, Not much to choose from there either. Not anymore.

»

Jenna, 4-20-2010, 2:40PM

3 stars vote downvote upReport
Jenna

I have the same problem sometimes! I went to Old Navy the other day and XS shirts were too big on me. But then oddly enough, I went and tried on some shorts too, and 8's and 10's fit me perfectly, when in all other stores I'm a 4 or 6 in pants/shorts. It was the oddest thing. I bought work pants at Gap last year and they were 4's, but then I went in the next year for work pants, and 10's were too tight (and no, I haven't gained any weight, I'm still the same 34-25-38 I've always been) I bought a dress the same day in a size 0, and it fits great! Now when I go to dressing rooms, you should see the size variances I bring in because I JUST DON'T KNOW my size anymore.

»

linda, 4-20-2010, 9:54AM

2.5 stars vote downvote upReport
linda

I always wondered why I could wear a size 1 from the Gap and not one other piece of clothing I own is a size 1

Reply »

tangilct, 4-20-2010, 10:03AM

3 stars vote downvote upReport
tangilct

I don't buy based on size. I know that every designer or every store, I have to try on the clothing and see how it fits. Why do you even care what "size" you are? As long as the clothing fits and looks good on you, what does that little number inside the tag that NO ONE will see do? I'm a small girl, but have clothing of all mixed sizing in my closet because of the fit. From Husky boys 16 to peite 8 to NY & Co. Tall size 2 (I'm short, but I love the way Tall pants fit). Who cares?

Reply »

ratsohrbekt, 4-20-2010, 10:18AM

3 stars vote downvote upReport
ratsohrbekt

THIS IS STUPID! If you are large...you are large. If you are small...you are small. Changing the size of the garment does not change the size of the wearer!

Reply »

Bas, 4-20-2010, 10:39AM

3 stars vote downvote upReport
Bas

This is not new - vanity sizing has existed for at least the last 2 decades. Designer & Bridge clothing was always cut larger in the small sizes compared to lower-price labels. Back when I was in retail, I asked my boss why a 6 DKNY fit, but I needed a 10 in regular-priced clothes - his answer was that the richer women didn't want to think that they were fat and would only buy based on the size of the tag.

Reply »

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