Jersey Sizing is Frustrating, Need Brand to Try

[trickycoolj]

Been away for a bit (gaming convention kept me busy). I went to Performance's sale yesterday with a friend and decided to poke around the clothes to look for a jersey while he decided on wheels. I realize that athletic clothing is going to run on the slimmer fit side but boy am I glad I haven't ordered anything online! I tried on L and XL of Pearl Izumi, Primal and Terry and nothing seemed to fit. Granted I was trying them over my shirt so I didn't have to hunt down a fitting room key but, wow. I normally wear a M/L in women's and a S in men's (those freebie giveaway shirts at work). I'm 5' 5.5" and pear shaped, very wide hips no matter if I'm sporting an 8 or a 10/12 and small chested (sports bras make me completely flat). The consistent problem is that none of those jerseys fit around the hips/tummy area until I found some XXL Pearl Izumi shoved on the back of a rack but it was so huge in the bust it was comical. Completely frustrated that women's sizing apparently only increases at the bust and assumes a M and XL have the same waistline and doesn't size up proportionally. So I'm looking for a brand that might accommodate wide hips/small chest a little better. If it needs to be an XL fine, but it's got to be cut correctly. I tried an M men's Pearl Izumi but it was way too snug in the hips. If men's might be a better fit I'm completely fine going that route too. As my mom says, if the size bothers me that much, cut the tag out.

Interestingly I haven't had any problems finding shorts/pants, I bought an L in Novara but had to return them for an L Pearl Izumi only because the stitching was unraveling on the chamois in the Novara's after two short rides, not busting out a sewing machine on two week old shorts that cost that much!

[Susan Otcenas]

Been away for a bit (gaming convention kept me busy). I went to Performance's sale yesterday with a friend and decided to poke around the clothes to look for a jersey while he decided on wheels. I realize that athletic clothing is going to run on the slimmer fit side but boy am I glad I haven't ordered anything online! I tried on L and XL of Pearl Izumi, Primal and Terry and nothing seemed to fit. Granted I was trying them over my shirt so I didn't have to hunt down a fitting room key but, wow. I normally wear a M/L in women's and a S in men's (those freebie giveaway shirts at work). I'm 5' 5.5" and pear shaped, very wide hips no matter if I'm sporting an 8 or a 10/12 and small chested (sports bras make me completely flat). The consistent problem is that none of those jerseys fit around the hips/tummy area until I found some XXL Pearl Izumi shoved on the back of a rack but it was so huge in the bust it was comical. Completely frustrated that women's sizing apparently only increases at the bust and assumes a M and XL have the same waistline and doesn't size up proportionally. So I'm looking for a brand that might accommodate wide hips/small chest a little better. If it needs to be an XL fine, but it's got to be cut correctly. I tried an M men's Pearl Izumi but it was way too snug in the hips. If men's might be a better fit I'm completely fine going that route too. As my mom says, if the size bothers me that much, cut the tag out.

Interestingly I haven't had any problems finding shorts/pants, I bought an L in Novara but had to return them for an L Pearl Izumi only because the stitching was unraveling on the chamois in the Novara's after two short rides, not busting out a sewing machine on two week old shorts that cost that much!

Look for women's jerseys without elastic. Someone with a pear shape is NEVER going to be happy with elasticized waist jerseys.

[Koronin]

You can also try looking at the men's jerseys. Most women's jerseys don't fit me right (too tight in the shoulder area), so I've just totally stopped even bothering with women's jerseys and only shop the men's dept. I agree with Susan to look for jersey's without elastic, also look for ones that don't have as much of a V-shape and more of a straight shape. The V-shape and elastic aren't issues for me. They just don't seem to think women have wider shoulders. Most of the X-large women's jerseys won't fit my shoulders let alone anything smaller, so I basically end up in the men's dept and most of my jerseys are men's mediums.

[westtexas]

I can tell you some brands NOT to try - Castelli or Luna or Louis Garneau. I'm snake hipped (read: no hips) and flat, and in these two brands I have to wear a size up from every other brand to get them to fit anywhere.

You might try Craft - I really like their jersies and they don't have elastic in the bottom. I bought it because it was very long waisted and I have a very long torso, but I think it would definitely be wide enough to fit over someone's hips.

[RubyTuesday]

Primal has been my best fit in a jersey. I normally take a medium shirt and I take an XL in the primal shirt. Weird isn't it?

[nscrbug]

Perhaps look at Shebeest and/or Terry jerseys.

[zoom-zoom]

Primal has been my best fit in a jersey. I normally take a medium shirt and I take an XL in the primal shirt. Weird isn't it?

I like Primal Wear, too (also have to size-up). And Twin Six (fit me perfect in my regular clothing size). I have a very hour-glass figure (big boobs, small ribcage and waist, average hips, big butt and thighs). I cannot do ANY jerseys with elastic at the waist, like Susan pointed-out.

[Propcookie]

I'm fairly new to road biking, I was a runner but a bum knee stopped that fun so I am now road biking.

I am 5'3 161 Lbs, curvy (read big butt and hips) and wear about a size 10/12 in regular clothes. After a lot of trying on, I have found the following stuff worked for me:

Louis Garneau - XL
Sugoi - Large
Performance Bike store brand - Large
Primal Wear - XL, but I can wear Large if I want it to be tighter
Descante - Large