Tired of the small sizing....arrrrrg!

[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.

[ehirsch83]

Try Pearl Izumi for outer wear also.

I live by them and was going to go audition to be a fit model but my chest is too small and waist was too big for my sizing(they want a 34 chest and 26 waist for a small- I measured myself and turns out I have a 32 chest and a 27 waist.. only thing spot on for me was the 36 hips and I am actualy 5'5 and a half so I wasn't going to cut the 5'5 height requirement)
It seems that they run big in the chest for sizing (34 for small, 36 for medium 38 for large)

[Wasp]

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.

I found a really cute cycling jersey at a retail sports store, I tried on the large and it was so small the only thing it fit was my neck, so I tried xl. No joy there either. There was no noticeable difference in size except the sleeves and torso were longer. Bigger sizes are code for longer arms and torso, with no noticeable increase in width. The xxl "fit" across the chest, but the sleeves were about 4inches longer than my fingers, and the torso so long it looked like a short dress. All fixable, but inconvenient.
I know a lot of ladies have posted they find the sizes bigger, Unfortunatley that has not been my experience as I'm finding things fitting very small. My 115lb dtr-in-law usually wears xs or small, and she is finding them often to be to small. I think the trick is not to get hung up on the size of the clothing, and just go with what actually fits. Personally I find the sizing to be all over the map, even from the same manufacturer. These days when I find something that actually fits, I tend to buy it in 2 or 3 different colors.
For someone really petite I know junior sized clothing tends to look teenager-ish, but don't they have basic black cycling shorts? Or tops in basic neutral colors that would fit properly and not look inappropriate?
Just a thought

[Eden]

Cycling gear tends to only come in kids and adults. Kids stuff is usually inferior in design and materials (though it is generally cheaper too). I think this is true for most sporting goods - like I could buy kids 3.5 hiking boots, but women's size 5 will be a whole lot nicer and have more options available, since who wants to buy $$$ gortex hikers for their kid who will probably outgrow them before they get used 3 times.

Some things work in kids. Jeans - good. I can find nice fashionable jeans in kids sizes. Converse sneakers - the selection in kids 3/3.5 is better than adults. OTOH, dress pants - kids don't cut it style or material wise. Same with things like dress boots. Cheaper things that kids wear often are great, but things kids don't use to much or that would be expensive if made well (which means that you wont find them made well in kid size) don't usually cut it for me.

[Crankin]

Yep, there are no junior sizes in cycling clothes.
Not too many basics in juniors, either. I have eyed a few tees, but I rarely shop in stores, mostly on line. I wore junior sizes until I was close to 40, but thankfully petite sizes became more common. I am not as small as Eden, but my mom wore a size 4 shoe; that was OK when my family owned a shoe factory and 4 was the sample size. By the time she was looking for shoes for my wedding that was over, and she was desperately shopping at Nordstroms, where she did find something. She did buy kid's sandals and casual shoes, though. While I wear a size 6 in casual shoes, I wear a 5.5 in dress shoes, with a closed heel and it's tough at times.

[azfiddle]

A group of us just ordered some Capo jerseys. I looked on line and found the measurements, and ordered a medium (the size I usually wear). Ouch! We almost all had to exchange them for the next size- I hope the large fits. The medium made me look like a sausage!

[Jiffer]

I relate to your pain! I'm 5'9" and a very full 34D, (almost a DD, but not quite, which causes all sort of bra shopping challenges as well!) . . . so with my height, I have length issues as well as fitting in the bust issues. My waist is about 28", though, so what fits in my bust (and same width hips) might be loose in my waist. I just tried on a new cycling kit by a friend who made some up to advertise his business. Very nice kits, but the sizing is SO small. He feebly handed me shorts to try on in a large and jersey in an XL! It was a little annoying, especially when the Specialized shorts I wear are a size Small! But I also know sizing can vary widely and he already knew his kits ran very small. And the sizes he gave me fit just fine, so he has a good eye.

When we first joined our cycling club, my husband bought me a club jersey. It was women's sizing. I don't even remember what size it was, but probably a medium, which I think is what some other jerseys I had at the time were. It was hilarious how small it was. I was not only busting out of the zipper, but it was terribly short. My 13 year old daughter ended up with it for the few rides we sucked her into doing on the tandem. It fit her perfectly! I ended up getting a men's medium race cut, and my next order I tried the men's small, which is mostly good, but a tad short.

I hate that the sizing makes me feel like I'm fat when I am not. So, yeah, I relate. As for a jacket, I wear arm warmers instead. I live in So Cal, so I can usually get away with not wearing a jacket.

[GLC1968]

I've been obsessed with body image since I was 10. (Sad, but true). I have some of my body measurements from back then (yes, I was a preteen who knew my waist size and my thigh size and my chest size!). When I am at my happy weight now, none of those measurements are different. Yes, there is a little more sagging and slightly less tightness to my skin, but the circumference is the same. Back then (this would be late 70's/early 80's), I wore a 12 or, if the pants were cut well for me, maybe a 10. Today...again, same body measurements, I wear a 4 or a 6. If that's not vanity sizing, I don't know what is.

Emily - you make a good point. I don't wear LLBean bottoms, so you could be totally right about that! My experience was with coats, tops, sweaters and jammies.


You know what I love shopping for even though I'm a tough fit? Shoes. I wear a 7 (or 6.5 wide). I've worn the same size since 6th grade. It's kind of refreshing if you think about it.

[OakLeaf]

You know what I love shopping for even though I'm a tough fit? Shoes. ... I've worn the same size since 6th grade. It's kind of refreshing if you think about it.

Can I hate you? I'm wearing shoes three sizes longer and two sizes wider than I was when I stopped growing in height. But I think it's mainly because first I stopped wearing shoes that constricted my feet, and then my feet responded to not being constricted. Who knew toes were supposed to stick straight out instead of curling under?!

[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.

[ny biker]

Can I hate you? I'm wearing shoes three sizes longer and two sizes wider than I was when I stopped growing in height. But I think it's mainly because first I stopped wearing shoes that constricted my feet, and then my feet responded to not being constricted. Who knew toes were supposed to stick straight out instead of curling under?!

Your toes curled under? I think the size you wore when you stopped growing was smaller than your correct size.

[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.

[shootingstar]

Since I did sew alot of my wardrobe up until my mid 30's, I would agree that sewing pattern size fit jived with store clothing rack sizes for me.

I haven't sewn (much) in past 2 decades, so I don't know what sewing pattern sizing is like now.

[lph]

What's a fit model? Are they the people you see on the store's web pages modelling the clothing? Like that spooky looking woman for Icebreaker?

[spokewench]

We're about the same size and I concur bra shopping is a pain 34 D; I went shopping and it took me an hour to find two bras in 34 and I know what type bra and model I like. Most of the D cups started at 36! For some reason lately though, I think I am the poster child for fit model for size 4. I found 4 pairs of pants in different makes that fit me; a dress at White and Black on sale that fit like a glove and a beautiful fitted gray leather jacket that looks like they used me as a model? WHo knew putting on a few pounds in your 50's would turn you into a fit model!

spoke