Supersizing of America & a rant

[badger]

GLC, I don't know how tall you are, but Athleta offers almost all of their pants in petite sizes. They are usually a 28.5 or 29 length... as opposed to a 30 inch length in most of the "regular" clothes I see.

Most jeans I see are minimum 33". Occasionally I'll see 31", or 32", but they're getting very long. I guess it's to accommodate the willowy stick-thin teenagers who haven't filled out yet, and those who have shorter inseams will get them hemmed (assumption). That said, hemmed jeans, even with "real hem" hemming, just doesn't look right.

[Jolt]

Most jeans I see are minimum 33". Occasionally I'll see 31", or 32", but they're getting very long. I guess it's to accommodate the willowy stick-thin teenagers who haven't filled out yet, and those who have shorter inseams will get them hemmed (assumption). That said, hemmed jeans, even with "real hem" hemming, just doesn't look right.

Jeans are getting way too long! I was recently trying on jeans at Old Navy (I liked their "Weekend Fit" that they used to make and saw that they had a style by that name again) and they were dragging on the ground even if I got the short length. I used to wear the regular and it was just right (with flat shoes, of course). Do they think we're all going to wear stilettos with our jeans all the time? I don't THINK so!!

[PamNY]

Low-rise can't go away. I will be devastated. I can't have jeans up to my boobs again.

[Owlie]

While it's hard to tell because I've gained and lost weight and the spread of clothing I own reflects that...Right now, I'm fairly similar to my weight in high school, maybe a little less. 140ish at 5'6.5" I have a pair of Old Navy size 10 jeans from high school (so, 5+ years old). They fit pretty well, maybe a little loose. I have jeans that are the same brand, same numerical size that I bought two years ago. They are falling off. I have size 8 Gap jeans that are also falling off.
I'm probably somewhere between a 6 and an 8. Huh?

[zoom-zoom]

I am 5'3.5", medium build and was just telling someone a week ago that my goal was to get back down to a 2-4 (I was there a few years back, then regained 20+#s). She was appalled and said "oh, no, that is too small." I said...not so much. Today's 2-4 is like the 6s I wore when I graduated from HS in '91. When I fit into 2s and 4s I am generally still 10-15#s heavier than what is considered the low-end of healthy weight for my frame.

Think of the old thing about Marilyn Monroe wearing a size 14. Women like to kid themselves and say that they are the same size as Marilyn when they are obese (what...are we really so blind?). When I was a size 14 I looked NOTHING like Marilyn. But I knew it. I wasn't in denial.

A while back someone had taken some of her dresses and measured them...they were actually the equivalent of today's 4s and 6s.

[channlluv]

You petite girls aren't alone in the challenge of finding pretty, stylish clothes that fit. Try being a size 20/2X and finding something that doesn't look like a tablecloth.

Roxy

[Veronica]

GLC, I don't know how tall you are, but Athleta offers almost all of their pants in petite sizes. They are usually a 28.5 or 29 length... as opposed to a 30 inch length in most of the "regular" clothes I see. .

I wish Athleta did a 30 inch inseam! No, their regular sized stuff has a 32 inch inseam.

In fact most companies seem to have moved to a 32 inch inseam as their regular inseam and tall is a 34.


Average height of a female in the US is slightly under 5'4". I am not sure whom clothing companies are manufacturing for. I guess the assumption is you can always get them tailored.

Veronica

[GLC1968]

Average height of a female in the US is slightly under 5'4". I am not sure whom clothing companies are manufacturing for. I guess the assumption is you can always get them tailored.

I used to complain when I worked for Ralph Lauren about how LONG everything was.... The theory was that all clothing LOOKS better when long, so that's how it's made. At least - for high fashion...and everything else is just a trickledown effect.

I also have heard it repeated often that you can always shorten things, you can't make them longer...which is true, but still a PITA.


Oh, and for the record, at 5'4" I don't really consider myself short at all. I just happen to have short arms and legs which makes buying clothing difficult.

[Zen]

GLC, I don't know how tall you are, but Athleta offers almost all of their pants in petite sizes.

I actually sent them an email regarding petite sizes in skirts and dress. I was told that they do offer petite sized dresses.

Yeah, all two of them.

[GLC1968]

I actually sent them an email regarding petite sizes in skirts and dress. I was told that they do offer petite sized dresses.

Yeah - when they start making petite skirts, I'll be impressed. Petite dresses do me no good. The waists fall at my chest.

What I really need is to find a good tailor. I've had good ones in other places I've lived and they are worth their weight in gold to us non-average body types!

[OakLeaf]

Petite dresses do me no good. The waists fall at my chest.

If I don't buy petite slacks, the waist falls at my chest. If I do buy petite slacks, the legs end above my ankles.

Did I mention I have no waist?

[badger]

I hear you on the size anomalies, I remember once upon a time I was a size 4 at the GAP. Now I'm size 0, and I haven't lost any weight. Granted I haven't shopped there in years, but that's just an example.

As for that poor customer service you received, I would write to the customer service manager of that store. What ever happened to the adage "Customer is Always Right"? especially from a big chain store, that's a pretty deplorable service you received.

Once, I bought this down jacket at Old Navy. I hung onto it for less than 2 weeks, and found the exact thing on even more of a sale. I tried to get a price match, she (also just-out-of-teens-manager) said no way. I then said, can I return it so I can buy the other one? she said an emphatic NO to that. How were they to prevent me? I couldn't understand her logic at all, and how she didn't want to work with me. I just returned the sorry thing and walked out, I was so mad.

[Veronica]

Wikipedia has an interesting height table showing statistics from around the world and it tells how their data was acquired and when.

Data from 2003 - 2006, white and black American females, ages 20 - 39 average height is 5'4'1/2. Mexican American women are two inches shorter. This data was collected through measuring.

Self reported average height in The Netherlands is 5'7".


Veronica - who would make myself taller if I could.

[Veronica]

I read that just after I posted. Interesting that the self-reported countries are the tallest!

Yeah, I thought that was interesting. I wonder how many Americans have the correct height and weight on their drivers' licenses.

My trainer went to the State Fair yesterday and was kind of appalled by the number of obese people there. That and the number of people who just randomly asked her how to look like her. Try several years of extremely hard work and eating almost no sugar - ever! I think the only sugar she eats comes from the 1/2 banana she puts on her oatmeal/egg white pancake.

I'd like to be that disciplined - but I like my ice cream.

Veronica

[Veronica]

Every now and then Garnett Hill will have petite things with a 30 inch inseam. I know that doesn't help the truly petite, but it is nice for us truly average chicks.

Veronica