I’m a Size 8 Damn It!

I know you’ve all been through this; you rush into a shop during your lunch hour. You have no time to try on anything but you desperately need an outfit for that night. You grab the items that catch your eye and are supposedly “your size,” only to get home and realize you’ve picked a dress that won’t even pass your left thigh! What’s that all about? And why is it that in H&M I’m a size 8, but in the Gap I'm a size 14?! That’s because there hasn’t been a comprehensive analysis of women's body shapes in the U.S. in decades! Couple that with the new phenomenon retailers call “Vanity Sizing” – which basically means they add a couple of inches to their clothing to create the illusion that their customers are smaller than they are! Well thanks but no thanks… There needs to be a universal sizing guide so that I can in theory buy something without trying it on. Thankfully The National Sizing Survey is working on it. Jim Lovejoy, Director of the SizeUSA project, says:

“I have shown several manufacturers the bust, waist and hip measurements of women who say they wear size 8-10, and they are surprised to see how much larger all three of the measurements are than their fit specifications.”

Great news (read the sarcasm), so does that mean I’m actually larger than I think? :( Well either way, I’m glad they’re doing something about it, even if I am relegated to a new dress size, I can take comfort in the fact that everyone else is moving up with me!