Tired of the small sizing....arrrrrg!

[winddance]

I've always been flat chested!

Being 5-7, 132# and 32A/B, I REALLY wish there was a size "smedium"! I need small for my frame & small chest but a medium for length. Forever in between sizes.... I think Owlie's right - no matter what size you are, nothing fits properly.

I totally agree - I don't know who the manufacturers use as fit models, but they have little in common with me! I end up with the shoulders and bust fitting in a small (110#, 32D, thanks mom!) and then tons of excess fabric through my torso. XS are generally too short and can be too tight in the shoulders or bust.

In a fit of frustration, I did get measured for a retailer's size database a couple of times. They were astonished that I was so "curvy." Yes, because ALL women don't have hips, butts, boobs, etc., regardless of dimensions.

I have a shebeest great divide jacket. It accommodates the chest and tapers to the waist. It fit so well that I impulse-bought it at a gear swap and haven't regretted that decision.

[Wasp]

I totally agree - I don't know who the manufacturers use as fit models, but they have little in common with me! I end up with the shoulders and bust fitting in a small (110#, 32D, thanks mom!) and then tons of excess fabric through my torso. XS are generally too short and can be too tight in the shoulders or bust.

In a fit of frustration, I did get measured for a retailer's size database a couple of times. They were astonished that I was so "curvy." Yes, because ALL women don't have hips, butts, boobs, etc., regardless of dimensions.

I have a shebeest great divide jacket. It accommodates the chest and tapers to the waist. It fit so well that I impulse-bought it at a gear swap and haven't regretted that decision.

That jacket is SWEET!!!!!! It's exactly what I'm looking for. Have you worn it in cold weather? Just wondering how warm it would be. I bought the Shebeest winter vibe, love the jacket but not so crazy about How it fits across the chest as its tighter than I like.

[Crankin]

Veronica, the petite pants of late have to be hemmed, even when I am wearing 2 inch heels. I mean clothes that I would wear to work, or out at night. I can sometimes get away with no hemming in my current, ridiculous vanity size, but if I go up to my former normal size, the pants are way too long. Are people getting that much taller?

[OakLeaf]

What I've read is that just as "Misses" are made for women 5'7", Petites are made for women 5'4". Anyone much shorter than that has to have things shortened, but it's easier to shorten clothing than to lengthen it.

Just in general ... mass produced clothes are just that, mass produced. Human bodies ain't. Each of us probably has two or three brands that fits us pretty well, and nothing else even comes close. Hope you find "your" brands soon.

[SadieKate]

I also think that slacks and jean, as in non-clothing clothing, have to run longer because the fashion trend is platform high heels. To paraphrase Oak, you can't make something longer.

[winddance]

That jacket is SWEET!!!!!! It's exactly what I'm looking for. Have you worn it in cold weather? Just wondering how warm it would be. I bought the Shebeest winter vibe, love the jacket but not so crazy about How it fits across the chest as its tighter than I like.

Well -- I live in California, so that depends on your definition of cold. I have worn it on some "colder" mornings (40s,) and some wet, windy days and been really happy with it, but it isn't that cold here and I tend to run hot when I'm riding.

[nuliajuk]

Commercial clothing patterns are drafted for a woman who wears a B cup bra. If you're a D cup or larger you will unfortunately never get a great fit. Unless you're in the plus size range - plus sizes tend to be drafted for a C/D cup.
I have the opposite problem - no matter how fat/thin/fit/flabby I've been in my life, I've always been two sizes bigger in the waist and hips than at the bust. I recently bought a bright orange microfiber jacket off a sale rack at a running store, deeply discounted. It fit in the chest and shoulders but not the hip, so I modified it with contrasting gussets sewn at the sides. It's impossible for mass-produced clothing to be made to fit the entire range of body dimensions, so consider the manufacturers sizing to be a starting point. Buy a jacket that fits your biggest part and have it taken in where it's too big. Any tailor shop or alterationist can do the job quite quickly, and it's not usually very expensive. Unless you're bottom heavy like me - altering around the shoulders is a bit more complicated, so adding fabric is often the answer.

[nuliajuk]

On the subject of vanity sizing, vintage sewing sites like Etsy offer a glimpse of the changes, in the old sewing patterns. A size 14 from the 70s was for a 36" bust, 27" waist, 38" hips. I can remember sewing clothes in high school and using the same size pattern as my off-the-rack clothing size. Some time in the mid-80s, a size 12 pattern became too small while size 12 off the rack was fine. The sizing charts used by the pattern companies remained the same, it was the mass-produced clothing that changed.

[Eden]

Hmmm I think that what the article writer is referring to as vanity sizing may not be what some people mean when they use the term. From my perspective I think there is vanity sizing - why otherwise would we as a population of people who are growing - both getting taller and rounder have added all of the "extra" sizing to the bottom? If the clothing is getting bigger why not add the numbers to the top - I mean numbers actually keep going in that direction and that would also mean if you were a 4, which I was at in high school that you'd still likely be a 4 today instead of being a 00(0!) which is what my mostly the same size body fits in today. I'm just waiting for the day when I have to buy a -4 because adding all those 0's is just getting ridiculous. And why do we do it? IMHO, because as we age and get bigger we don't want to be reminded.

[zoom-zoom]

On the subject of vanity sizing, vintage sewing sites like Etsy offer a glimpse of the changes, in the old sewing patterns. A size 14 from the 70s was for a 36" bust, 27" waist, 38" hips. I can remember sewing clothes in high school and using the same size pattern as my off-the-rack clothing size. Some time in the mid-80s, a size 12 pattern became too small while size 12 off the rack was fine. The sizing charts used by the pattern companies remained the same, it was the mass-produced clothing that changed.

Yeah, in the 70s I would have been a 14...perhaps even a 16. Today I am an 8-10. That's ridiculous. And, as Eden pointed-out, it gets especially crazy for very petite/slim women.

[Catrin]

Yeah, in the 70s I would have been a 14...perhaps even a 16. Today I am an 8-10. That's ridiculous. And, as Eden pointed-out, it gets especially crazy for very petite/slim women.

Yep. I am currently a size 6. There is a part of me that is pretty darn cool with that since I once was a size 22, I know I have this apple shape and boobs. I am probably closer to a true size 12, at least before vanity sizing became so popular. I am pleased and perturbed at the same time as I remember what a size 6 looked like in the late 60's/early 70's and I am not there...

[Wasp]

Commercial clothing patterns are drafted for a woman who wears a B cup bra. If you're a D cup or larger you will unfortunately never get a great fit. Unless you're in the plus size range - plus sizes tend to be drafted for a C/D cup.
I have the opposite problem - no matter how fat/thin/fit/flabby I've been in my life, I've always been two sizes bigger in the waist and hips than at the bust. I recently bought a bright orange microfiber jacket off a sale rack at a running store, deeply discounted. It fit in the chest and shoulders but not the hip, so I modified it with contrasting gussets sewn at the sides. It's impossible for mass-produced clothing to be made to fit the entire range of body dimensions, so consider the manufacturers sizing to be a starting point. Buy a jacket that fits your biggest part and have it taken in where it's too big. Any tailor shop or alterationist can do the job quite quickly, and it's not usually very expensive. Unless you're bottom heavy like me - altering around the shoulders is a bit more complicated, so adding fabric is often the answer.

It's amazing the things you learn at TE. No wonder most regular sized tops/jackets don't fit me if they are based on a B cup. As far as plus sizes, they tend not to fit either as they are to large and baggie around the middle. For years I have been sizing up and then getting the item altered.
I always assumed that smaller framed women had an easier time buying clothing, and I also assumed that it was just me that had fit issues. It's nice to know im not alone and that a lot of women share my frustration.
And yes, I know what happens when one assumes.....it makes an *** outta u and me

[Irulan]

Commercial clothing patterns are drafted for a woman who wears a B cup bra. If you're a D cup or larger you will unfortunately never get a great fit. Unless you're in the plus size range - plus sizes tend to be drafted for a C/D cup.
I have the opposite problem -

This is only correct if the fit model is a B cup, in the base size that everything is graded from. There is zero standardization in women's sizing so it should not be expected. The only standard in women's sizing is the "grade" the calculations made to grade a pattern up into one size form the next. And it's not proportional.

[nuliajuk]

This is only correct if the fit model is a B cup, in the base size that everything is graded from. There is zero standardization in women's sizing so it should not be expected. The only standard in women's sizing is the "grade" the calculations made to grade a pattern up into one size form the next. And it's not proportional.

The patterns are first drafted for dress forms, then tested on a fit model whose measurements come as close as possible to the dress form. The fit model is chosen for her resemblance to the pattern sizing, the patterns are not drafted for the fit model to begin with. Some patterns are started from "slopers", which are base block patterns available to the commercial garment trade.

[lovelygamer]

I struggle with this too and it drives me INSANE. According to most manufacturer charts, in order to get a cycling outfit that first perfectly, I'd have to go into the 3/4X category. 3/4X are you kidding me??????? Nothing against anyone else, but I'd personally commit hari kari if I was really wearing a 4X. And, do you know how few designers make and carry anything that size? Yes, I'm overweight but on top of that, I am curvy. Double Whammy in athletic gear, for sure.