Which shops have the most / least accurate sizing?

(46 Posts)
Divertedcalls81 Thu 21-Aug-14 15:06:05

In your opinion.

Withmyfeetinthesink Thu 21-Aug-14 15:07:26

Depends on your size.

Withmyfeetinthesink Thu 21-Aug-14 15:08:08

Shops apparently adjust size to what their target/most likely customer is, so, for example a 14 in M&S is much bigger than a 14 in River Island.

PicnicGatecrasher Thu 21-Aug-14 16:35:25

Banana Republic is pretty ridiculous. I am not a size 6 FFS. As someone else said on S&B before, where do properly skinny girls shop?!?

MrsLettuce Thu 21-Aug-14 16:40:40

Accurate compared to what though? That's the problem IMO, there's no standard sizing to deviate from. If you compare to the old sizing whilst it was still (more or less) standardised then the answer is probably 'the shops with the least generous sizing'.

Withmyfeetinthesink Thu 21-Aug-14 16:53:04

MrsLettuce is right. I remember what measurements were when I was growing up, my mum was always banging on about them. Nowadays I measure what would have been an 18 then - I wear 12/14 in most places, less in Boden, Next or M&S. Zara sometimes can get into an XL, but sleeves are usually tight so I'd say they are probably 'accurate' in terms of being what I would think are the 'right' measurements for those sizes, but most other shops are vanity sized.

Withmyfeetinthesink Thu 21-Aug-14 16:53:55

Shoes are getting bigger too I think - I've dropped a size recently which is very odd.

Floisme Thu 21-Aug-14 16:58:35

I don't mind really whether they're accurate as long as they're consistent. For example I know what size I am in Boden and they rarely get it wrong but H&M drive me nuts - I have to try on at least three sizes of anything. Uniqlo are annoying like that too.

MrsLettuce Thu 21-Aug-14 17:01:54

When you buy vintage clothing there's usually a chart which comes close to this one, taken from the 1955 Sears catalouge. It's just a guide, you still have to check the actual measurements but any deviation is usually smallish:

Size 10: 32.5 bust, 24.5 waist, 34 hips

Size 12: 34 bust, 25.5 waist, 36 hips

Size 14: 35.5 bust, 27 waist, 38 hips

Size 16: 37 bust, 28.5 waist, 40 hips

Size 18: 39 bust, 30.5 waist, 42 hips

Size 20: 41 bust, 32.5 waist, 44 hips

Of course very few people wear corsets or control underwear on a daily basis any more and we have become taller too. Still, compared to say, a modern Zara (famously complained about for their small clothing) size chart:

xxs xs s m l xl
Chest (inches) 31.5 32.3 33.9 35.4 37.8 40.15

Waist (inches) 22.8 24.4 26 27.5 30 32.3

Hips (inches) 33.8 35.4 37 38.6 41 43.3

The XL comes out as between an old 18 and an old 20 and the XS more or less in line with an old 10. IME, on here, most people say Zara's XL is to be taken to mean a 12 - 14.

MrsLettuce Thu 21-Aug-14 17:13:08

Oh, crap C&P and crap table reading, the current Zara XL is more or less in line with an old 20. TBH I'm surprised to see the hip/waist ratio not really having changed. Might just be Zara, haven't researched, as it were.

wildfig Thu 21-Aug-14 17:56:51

M&S has very inconsistent sizing within its own ranges - some things are ludicrously vanity sized, others are surprisingly small, probably on account of the huge number of suppliers they must use. Cup sizes in the lingerie range can also be unpredictable. It's another source of M&S exasperation for me.

nbee84 Thu 21-Aug-14 18:02:54

As already said sizes vary from shop to shop, but for me the prize for most inconsistent sizing within one shop goes to H&M. I have clothes from there (that all currently fit me) in size 10 right through to a size 18!

Playdoughcaterpillar Thu 21-Aug-14 18:06:58

Picnicgatecrasher I think banana republic works on American sizing so a 6 is a UK 10.

BarbaraPalmer Thu 21-Aug-14 18:17:09

TBH i'm not bothered as long as the sizes are consistent within the store - eg M&S, french connection - big, zara - teeny, uniqlo - normal

it's primark that does my nut. I bought a pair of dark grey skinnies in there in a size 14. really liked them, wore them a lot and so went back a couple of weeks later to buy another pair of size 14s. I couldn't get them on.

MrsLettuce Thu 21-Aug-14 19:29:16

Sorry Withmyfeetinthesink totally failed to see your post blush

I've been quietly ranting to myself about this all day (coincidentally) after being sent a DailyFail link about a woman with a lovely figure moaning about a 12 being an L / XL / largest available size in some shops. She has fab figure, certainly, but if she really is a modern 12 then, yeah, this dress-size-shifting-malarky really has gone far.

HotPinkWeaselWearingLederhosen Thu 21-Aug-14 19:34:16

Primark and M&S are the worst offenders for items of the same size being drastically different. Ie take 3x size 12 items the same in the changing room and each will fit differently.

Withmyfeetinthesink Thu 21-Aug-14 19:37:54

No, no MrsLettuce that's really useful - that woman in the Daily Fail needed to be told to buy better dresses rather than complain about sizing though wink . . .

Doris75 Thu 21-Aug-14 19:46:51

Gap is ridiculous, all over the place and on the massive side (bitter about recent online haul from there, half of it had to be returned due to the 'variations'). I agree with shoes having got bigger too, I too have mysteriously dropped a size there...

PiratePanda Thu 21-Aug-14 19:56:03

Doris, I'm with you on Gap -- you can't trust the size on the label at all, either waist or inseam. I have 3 pairs of their size 31 jeans (that I'm a 31 supposedly is a whole thread all to itself -- more like 36) and one pair is too big around the waist, one too small, and one in the middle, and all three are different lengths. Their quality control is shit.

NormHonal Thu 21-Aug-14 20:01:35

H&M's sizing is ridiculous. After having DC2 I lived in their "size 12" maternity jeans but post-birth couldn't even get into their size 20 non-maternity jeans. I was in floods of tears in the changing room. Ridiculous.

Walked into Wallis five minutes later and was size 12/14 there.

MsBug Fri 22-Aug-14 08:00:27

I've bought two of the same cardigan, in different colours, from primark and the sizing has been totally different.

Metalgoddess Fri 22-Aug-14 08:45:58

H&M sizing is ridiculous. I have sizes ranging from 8 to 16 and Xs to L. It really puts me off ordering online from them as it's pot luck whether something fits! Also everyone says M&S are large fitting but my size 12 jeans are smaller from there than the same size in river island and dorothy perkins?!

Pinkfrocks Fri 22-Aug-14 08:49:34

The question doesn't make sense.

Depends what you have as your baseline for sizing.

There seems to be no standard sizing any more.
As people have pointed out, in the 60s and 70s when I was a gal, a 10 was a 24 inch waist and 35-36 hips. My wedding dress was a 10 and my waist was 24.

This has gone out the window now so it's anyone's guess what's what.

grumblepuss Fri 22-Aug-14 09:06:35

That's the issue.
I don't care what size I am...as long as it's consistent.
H&M is mad, I own small, medium and large. I'm a 12 in some of their sized clothes.
I've got a dress from tesco which is a 12 and huge and a dress from M+S which is a 14.

elephanteraser Fri 22-Aug-14 09:15:15

h and m, i have to size up two sizes in jackets

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