Supersizing of America & a rant

[blackhillsbiker]

"Large and Extra Large just mean big around" trap, so soon I'll be looking for a new favorite shirt maker.

I'm 5'8.5" and 125 lbs. No boobs. No butt. My daughters got all the curves. I can't even find jeans anymore. Lucky and Silver used to fit, but now they gap by about 2" at the back waist. I have a long torso and long arms. By the time I find something long enough, they assume I'm also big around. I hate skin-tight teeny-bopper shirts, but women's clothes are always too short, or they become shorter and wider with every laundering. Sigh. I hate shapeless guy's shirts – sometimes the only way I can find tees that are long enough.

I used to be a 10. Then an 8. Then a 6. Now a 4. I haven't changed weight in years.

Other pet peeve, while clothes go one way, shoes go another. When you wear a 10.5 or 11, and they run "1/2 to 1 size short, please order the next size up," AND they only go to a size 11 (if you're lucky)... It's almost impossible to find cute shoes.

Deb

[KnottedYet]

I'm 5'8.5" and 125 lbs. No boobs. No butt. My daughters got all the curves. I can't even find jeans anymore. Lucky and Silver used to fit, but now they gap by about 2" at the back waist.

Try shrink to fit Levi button-front 501 again. Seriously! I never thought I'd be wearing them again 25 years later, but really they are magical. Same thing we did in high school: add 1-3 inches to your measurement for the waist (more inches for larger hips) and 3-4 inches for the inseam. Keep washing, keep the faith, until the waist shrinks enough to absorb the gap.

If it weren't for good ol' Levi 501's I'd be buck nekkid right now...

[GLC1968]

Yeah, don't get me started on shoes. I thought I was a 6.5D. They don't make women's shoes in 6.5D (or men's that short), so I have been wearing either 6.5C or 7B my whole life.

Now I have a podiatrist that says I should buy even wider shoes. Dude, really? THEY DON'T EXIST! Oy.

And wow, Oak - those are some long feet for a short woman!!

[maillotpois]

wow - listening to all this, I feel like a GIANT. (and that's way before we get to the size 11 shoes....)

[NoNo]

While I agree that the vanity sizing is ridiculous, I don't see the issue with going to a tailor and getting little issues fixed. I'm a curvy 5'-1" (read: hips meant to birth a cow and an ample bum) so everything is long and I have to buy a size larger than I need just to clear my hips. $10 at the tailor's gets them the proper length and the waist taken in. And don't get me started on these tiny leg openings on shorts that my thunder thighs can't even squeeze through! I can't expect them to account for every whacky body type out there, so I get as close as I can and fine tune it from there.

[Crankin]

I didn't look at this thread when I got home from dinner last night, so to comment on Veronica's question about the 30" pants; when I said "regular" pants, I meant pants not from Athleta, not "regular" sizes, as opposed to petites. Most petite pants are now made in 30" lengths, especially the jeans. Regular sizes are, as you said, 32-33 inches.
GLC, I have a couple of petite sized skirts from Athleta, so they do make them. Not a lot, but some. My bigger gripe is with Title 9. I love their casual clothes, but they have no x-smalls and their smalls are often size 6-8. I noticed in the catalog I got yesterday there were a few more x smalls, mostly from Mountain Hardware (not their own brand), which is a brand that fits me.
I don't mind bringing a pair of nice work or dressy pants to be hemmed, but since I am buying petite sized clothing, I don't think I should have to do this. I certainly don't want to have to pay to get athletic clothes or jeans hemmed!
And yes, my DH has the same problem. He is 5' 7" and weighs 148. He is very muscular. While he has no issues getting pants, since they come in waist/length sizes (although a lot of stores don't have the shorter lengths and smaller waist sizes), his problem is with shirts and jackets. He has to buy all slim fit dress shirts and now, at age 53 has suddenly become a "small" in a lot of brands, when he pretty much was a medium all of his life. And a lot of men's clothes don't even come in smalls anymore... yet they have the 2XL sizes.
What I loved about Spain is that I felt tall compared to everyone there!

[bmccasland]

Another reason to come visit New Orleans - there are a LOT of petite women here, and the stores continue to have pretty decent petite departments. I'm 5'3" and don't feel "short". Around some women in my office, I'm actually tall - I kid you not. The old European, French and Italian mainly, blood lines show, with a little inbreeding perhaps (until H.Katrina New Orleans had a very low out-migration rate). There are some tiny well dressed ladies walking around this city, so the stores continue to carry petite sizes.

Can't help the vanity sizing, or the size difference even among the same manufactorers - tried on a 12 today that was too snug, so I put on a 10 that fit just fine when I was getting dressed for work .

[PamNY]

While I agree that the vanity sizing is ridiculous, I don't see the issue with going to a tailor and getting little issues fixed.

I agree. I've never understood why men consider it perfectly normal (and expected) to have a suit altered when they buy it, but women expect that manufacturers should accommodate every individual in every particular.

Especially with lengths! Making clothing to suit every single inseam simply wouldn't be possible.

Of course, I do wish that women's trousers were made like men's, so altering the waist would be easier.

[Veronica]

Especially with lengths! Making clothing to suit every single inseam simply wouldn't be possible.

Go look a place like LL Bean. Men can get pants in pretty much any length or waist. Obviously when you place your order someone hems the pants to the correct length. Women's pants should be like that.

For $49.50 a guy can get a pair of chinos at the right length. For $39.50 I can get petite, regular or tall. Then I have to take my time to go to a tailor and get them hemmed correctly. I'd rather throw the ten bucks at Bean and just have them arrive at the right length. Plus the women's chinos aren't nearly as well constructed as the men's.

I can understand pants fitting women differently at the hips. Women can have several different butt shapes, which men don't seem to have. But length... we have really should have the same options

Veronica

[shootingstar]

In fact, I would be surprised that many people have alot clothing bought off the rack, that fits perfectly.

Anyone who sews, knows there is always abit of altering the pattern pieces before cutting the fabric. One really starts to understand in greater detail a person's unique body shapes/curves.

I never saw anything wrong cutting off 4-6 inches pant legs. Yes, it's a pain in the neck to do an alteration. Shrug. Yes, it can alter the overall look of a pant. But then...I don't buy the style in the first place. (which is why I won't wear capris. Doesn't complement shorty here.)

Maybe it's because women just tend to buy alot more different garments (?)..I can see it being a hassle for fashionistas who don't sew. Fashionistas who sew alot, would consider it a design/redesign challenge or at best, minor reworking.

[PamNY]

Maybe it's because women just tend to buy alot more different garments (?)...

I think that probably explains the difference in how men's and women's pants are manufactured/marketed.

Plus, perhaps men aren't as particular? Ordering a specific inseam from a catalog doesn't necessarily produce a good fit. You need to try on the pants to see how they hang.

[skhill]

I've been thinking it's time to improve my sewing skills. Following patterns is not my thing...

What really gets me is how much harder it is to find clothes that come anywhere close to fitting me these days. When I wore a size 20, it wasn't so hard-- things might have been frumpy or not to my taste, but I could at least find stuff that basically fit. Now, most places I can afford to shop don't carry anything under a size 4, which is usually huge on me. I'm just thankful for the boy's department; all my shorts come from there, and a lot of shirts too. I just wish boy's jeans were long enough... But it's kinda ridiculous that I'm nearly 40, and stuck dressing like a 12 yr old boy. It's almost enough to make me want to put 50 lbs back on... improving my sewing skills is definitely a better option!

[channlluv]

Yeah, don't get me started on shoes. I thought I was a 6.5D. They don't make women's shoes in 6.5D (or men's that short), so I have been wearing either 6.5C or 7B my whole life.

Now I have a podiatrist that says I should buy even wider shoes. Dude, really? THEY DON'T EXIST! Oy.

I just bought some Keen sandals in a size 8 and I have really wide feet, too, and generally get sized at DD or E. I've had the same challenge as you -- they don't make women's shoes in DD or E. But these Keen sandals fit. They may do for you, too, and they had 7s in stock (I bought some for my daughter, too), so they just may fit you.

Most of the time I wear Birkenstock Arizonas because they have such good arch support and are very wide. If they discontinue that style, I'll be in trouble. Not all of their shoes fit me. I'm glad I tried the Keens.

Roxy

[Thorn]

But men's (unisex) clothing does seem to have the same issues. Have you noticed the change in what a "large" T-shirt is to some manufacturers?

Last year, one of the rides we participated in up-sized their "large". The T-shirts were barely wearable. This year the "large" is a full 1.5" wider in the shoulder than last year's oversized shirt.

I never had to try on T-shirts and sweatshirts. Now, for many T-shirt manufacturers I've gone from being a large to being a medium.

Like shootingstar, I really haven't bought any clothing besides cycling gear for the last several years. I dread the day my current set of jeans wear out...

[zoom-zoom]

I just bought some Keen sandals in a size 8 and I have really wide feet, too, and generally get sized at DD or E. I've had the same challenge as you -- they don't make women's shoes in DD or E. But these Keen sandals fit. They may do for you, too, and they had 7s in stock (I bought some for my daughter, too), so they just may fit you.

Most of the time I wear Birkenstock Arizonas because they have such good arch support and are very wide. If they discontinue that style, I'll be in trouble. Not all of their shoes fit me. I'm glad I tried the Keens.

Roxy

Plus Keens come in kids' sizes, too--and those are also wide. I have a pair of Keen Venice sandals and those seem to run wider than any other model of theirs. I generally wear a 7.5-8.5D, so I loves me some Keens. Dansko clogs are good, too, at least the ones with the more traditional sole, like the Professional model.