Clothing Brands, Vanity Sizing and Self-Confidence: A SERIOUS WTF!
Vanity sizing is a problem. Not just for small people like me, but basically everyone. And it’s not just the big brands who do this. Even small, local ones do. And I don’t like it. It does nothing to help ANYONE other than tell them they’re a smaller size when they’re not. The only reason why this is done is because of money. People, especially women want to be a “smaller” size.
Unlike a lot of people, I tend to be fairly consistent in sizing. Other than Lululemon, known for their teeny-tiny sizes (at least for women), I tend to be in the XS/0/2 range. I’m not XS in one brand and M in another. But being on the small side, there are some where I’ve been sized out. It’s less of an issue now that I’m older, but for one local Toronto-made brand, ugh……I’m pretty much wearing their pre-pandemic pieces, other than wrap dresses and leggings. XS fits like a M at most mainstream stores. Okay, maybe medium is a bit of an exaggeration, but definitely on the larger side of small. I think it’s because they no longer use professional models, but “community” ones (including their own staff) and base the sizing on them. The only good thing is that they DO use some shorter models, including one who is barely 5’. However, while she’s got a smaller waist, she also has a larger bust and hips. The extra small looks much better on her than it does for someone who is more straight-figured AND has a similar waist size.
Vanity sizing has been an issue across brands for years and yes, back in the late naughts and early 2010s, I was sized out of even mainstream brands - unless they had 00(P) and XXS. There’s a REASON why these brands added such sizes. It’s so that they could sell to people who are very small-framed while keeping their other clientel. Plus they wanted to hit the international market and expand in Asia, where there are more people wearing those sizes (not to mention international students on this side of the Pacific). But people just somehow don’t get it. And even seem offended to see such small numbers. Size 8 now ain’t the same as a size 8 from 1984. They also seem to think everyone who wears a size 8 has the same proportions. Errrrr…don’t they ever take height into consideration? Guess not when they think size 0 is an “impossibly thin” size. Do I look “impossibly thin” to you? If your answer is no, then size 0 isn’t such a size. And really, what number can they use other than 0 if they ARE vanity sizing? Heck, why BOTHER vanity sizing? Why not just let people understand that they’re not the same size they were when they were 20 rather than have them go on and on about “still being an 8” when they’re 45 years old and are now 15 lb heavier (that isn’t all muscle mass)? Why not accept that you might be a 10 or 12 and be okay with it?
I get that many ARE okay, and the example I mentioned above is probably very lucky to only have gained 15 lb in 25 years (let’s just assume that she manages to limit her ultra-processed food intake and has a gym membership she actually uses). Maybe we’d all have better body image if companies didn’t actually assume we didn’t. Heck, maybe we’d even take better care of ourselves (okay, maybe not, because can be a food industry problem (plus a whole lot of other things) that I don’t want to get into at the moment). I mean, realistically speaking, it’s all about how things fit, anyway. The fake person I used as an example above KNOWS that she can’t fit into a size 8 dress she wore 25 years ago, but she can fit into a recently purchased size 8.
What are YOUR thoughts on vanity sizing? Have you noticed this at all? Do you think the general public even UNDERSTANDS vanity sizing?