Buying Clothes - and why it's the STORES fault that women take longer...
By vivasuzi
@vivasuzi (4127)
United States
July 24, 2007 12:04pm CST
I was talking to a friend just now about petite pants. I am about 5'4 and a half, so I am not petite, I am technically average. However sometimes I buy average pants and they go to my ankles, sometimes they go way too long, and sometimes they are just right. Sometimes I buy them b/c they just need to be hemmed an inch. Petite is way to short on me all the time, but my shorter friends can get away with petite sometimes, and other times they can't. It takes me awhile to find a pair that actually fits.
On the other hand, my husband can walk into ANY store, pick out a pair of pants, and walk out in minutes. When he gets home, those pants will almost always fit perfect.
So what's the difference? The STORES are messing with us and I'm tired of it! Women go into a store and they see size labels of "2, 4, 6, 8" and in addition "tall, average, petite". But while I am size 6 at some stores, at others I gotta get an 8. Sometimes the sizes are labeled "1, 3, 5, 7"... so am I a 5 or a 7???? Sometimes you'll even see this fun label "size 5/6" or "size 7/8". Or, lets drop the numbers altogether b/c some pants just say "large, medium, small". I have to try on 5 different pairs in order to find the right length AND the right waist. At times, I buy pants that don't fit perfect b/c I give up on trying, or decide to just hem them.
Yet my husband goes into the store and right on the pants it says the inches of the waist and the inches of the inseam. As long as his waist or height doesn't change, he never needs to try anything on. Once in awhile he may just to see if he's dropped a few inches in the waist, but otherwise he can walk in, find his measurements, and walk out.
SOOOOO.... Why don't stores do this for WOMEN's Clothing??? Hmmm??? Once I learned my waist and height measurements, it would be so much easier for me to find pants!
I have heard theories of why stores don't put measurements on women's clothing. The #1 reason I've heard is b/c women don't want to advertise how big their waist is. Well all I gotta say is HELLO! Do you think someone is really reading the label on your pants? I don't! And if you are overweight, people can probably tell you are without reading your pants.
So what's the real reason why stores are screwing with Women's clothing sizes? Why are they making it so hard for us to find a decent pair of pants? I hate to shop just as much as the next guy, yet I am forced to stay in the store longer b/c I can't find anything that fits.
What do you think mylotters???
2 people like this
5 responses
@sid556 (30953)
• United States
25 Jul 07
This is all because women tend to buy into false compliments and i do mean false...to reasure themselves. When I was younger, I was always underweight...at 1oo pounds and 5'7 I wore a size 5...always. After 4 kids and many years I had gained some weight. Although I gained considerable weight, I was comfortable in knowing that I not once reached beyond a size 9. I am sure it was false comfort. I have since lost alot of weight but am by no means underweight as I was. I recently bought a pair of size 5 jeans...they were so big that I could take them off without undoing them!! I returned them for a size 3 which is also very loose on me....I am not skinny by any stretch. In fact, I am a bit chunky still! My daughter who weighs more than I did at my tiniest wears a size 0...what is that? it was not even in existence when I was growing up! I suppose if I were someone other than who I am, I might convince myself that my little loose fitting size 3s mean that I am really thin?? I am not fat but I am a far cry from what I always considered a size 3 to be!
2 people like this
@vivasuzi (4127)
• United States
25 Jul 07
I do somewhat agree with that, but I think it's the stores that pushed this on us in the first place. If the stores had never written "Size 3" on the pants in the first place, you would never even be thinking about that. You would also know more accurately exactly how "chunky" you are b/c you would buy based on waist size. Although, at size 3, I can hardly say you'd be chunky :-D Some people would die for that. Not me, I'm happy with 6, b/c I don't think I can possibly go lower without shaving off some hip bone!
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
24 Jul 07
I think that is crime. If I go to the regular shops, like Sears, Zellers, Walmart, or Reitmans, I cannot find anything that fits. We have a petite shop in the Mall, but they think all petites are delicate small Oriental women and not short stocky part Welsh or Italian types. Last Christmas, I was looking for a nice blouse, 2X my size, the right color and style to suit me, but it was cut way to thin. There was no expansion around the waist. This Spring, my husband decided to take me shopping for clothes for the cruise. He figured I could find something in one of the department stores, but I knew that was impossible. They have different sizes and do not understand that all large sized women are not straight down. So we went to Additionelle and I had trouble. The moral is that you might be better going to as specialty shop rather than a department store even though it costs more. At least you will get the correct size.
2 people like this
@vivasuzi (4127)
• United States
25 Jul 07
You are right and I do shop only at shops such as New York and Company b/c I know what size to get and I've shopped there long enough that I *almost* don't have to try stuff on (but I still do anyway).
Although I am not petite, I share your pain! I am tired of buying average height pants and having to hem them. How much does that stink?
@vivasuzi (4127)
• United States
25 Jul 07
You are right and I do shop only at shops such as New York and Company b/c I know what size to get and I've shopped there long enough that I *almost* don't have to try stuff on (but I still do anyway).
Although I am not petite, I share your pain! I am tired of buying average height pants and having to hem them. How much does that stink?
@kelly60 (4546)
• United States
25 Jul 07
I've been thinking the exact same thing. It is a big pain in the butt to go shopping for pants, and I never can seem to find ones that fit me unless I want to spend hours shopping. I hate spending all of that time in the fitting room trying on so many clothes, and often I still don't come out with anything that really fits well.
@vivasuzi (4127)
• United States
25 Jul 07
I hate being in the fitting room too! I especially hate walking in with 10 pairs of pants, and walking out with nothing b/c none fit!
I was so happy when NY&Co went online recently b/c now I can buy those pants online - at least I've shopped there long enough that I know what to buy.
@coffeeshot (3783)
• Australia
25 Jul 07
I had this conversation with a lady a while ago. She said she was sure it was a ploy by the shops the keep the customers coming back because they loved the fact that the clothes they were trying on and actually fit them were a size 12 when in fact they were actually a size 14. So they'd be able to fill their wardrobe up with size 12 garments and make themselves believe they're skinnier than what they actually are. Honestly, when I walk into a shop to try clothes on, I grab an 8, 10 and 12 to take into the change room because you just don't know what the sizing is going to be like. I know for a fact that I have size 8 clothes in my wardrobe as well as size 12 so I really wouldn't have a clue what size i actually am!
2 people like this
@vivasuzi (4127)
• United States
25 Jul 07
Well it does keep me going back, not cause I'm fooled by sizes, but b/c I know that I can always find clothes I like that fit me at New York and Co so I basically only shop there! It's just easier b/c I know what size to get there. I guess that could be part of the reason they do this.
I am the same way as you, I have different sizes in my closet. Now that I mostly shop at NYC, most are the same size, but there's still the straglers I got from other stores.
@foxyfire33 (10005)
• United States
24 Jul 07
What do I think? I think stores believe women are impulse shoppers so the more time they can keep us stuck there the more likely we are to spend a lot. Also they figure that by the time we find a pair that fits right, is the right cut, and is the right color, we will be so desperate that we won't even care about the price. It's not just the stores that conspire against us either. The clothing factories will "fudge" sizes to fill orders. Just as an example let's say a sore needs 50 size 8's in a particular style but the factory is behind and only has 30 pairs in stock. Instead of telling the store to wait they will remove the tags on size 10's and/or 6's and replace them with 8's just to fill the order. Another thing that makes shopping for pants tricky is the various "rises" available. In a normal rise I'm a 6 but in a low rise I'm an 8. Right now I have two supposedly identical pairs of size 8 mid-rise average length jeans. One pair is about 5 inches too long but fits fine otherwise and the other pair is too big in the hips and seat but the perfect length.
One big problem I see in sizing women's jeans the same as men's is that it would be hard to decide what measurements would work. Should they use waist or hip? A combination of the two that won't work for all women? What about how much room to put in the seat? the thighs? When you think about it, it gets pretty complicated. Women are shape so differently from men (and other women) that standard sizing that worked would be next to impossible. I would love to be able to just walking and grab a pair too but I don't see how it could really work for women.
2 people like this
@vivasuzi (4127)
• United States
25 Jul 07
Good points all around, however I think it would be easy to do standard sizes. Just show the measurements of waist and hips. There will still be different cuts of the pants, just like men have, so you would still need to try them on to see which style you like the best... however you would at least know which waist size u were (After some trial and error in the beginning) and what height.
Sure there are still skinny leg jeans, flare jens, tight butt jeans, etc, that's all in the style and has nothing to do with Size really.
