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[–] CrowAirbrush@lemmy.world 9 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Not just a women problem, my own jeans are 32. My workout pants are M, my work pants are size 50.

Shoes should be standardized, i have pair of converse size 39 and a pair of nike jordan's (possibly fake, not sure got them as a gift from a friend) size 44. I'm usually a 42 or 42,5.

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 2 points 6 days ago

Oh so I know about the shoe one. The sizes are standardised in length but not in width so you can have narrow fit and need a larger length in one shoe, or wide fit and a shorter length in a different shoe.

So the shoes are standardised (sort of, Europe and the US have 2 different standardised systems), but the standard is so confusing it may as well not be a standard.

[–] gerald_eliasweb@reddthat.com 10 points 6 days ago

At this point I'm wondering if the designers just roll dice and put the result on the label.

[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

We all know that the rich wear personally tailored suits and so-on. But, what I think would be amazing is to be rich enough to wear a personally tailored t-shirt, or personally tailored socks. For women, I can't imagine the joy of having a personally tailored bra that was built precisely to fit their exact body. That must exist at some level of wealth, but I just wonder how rich you have to be to justify that kind of spending.

For most people, even when you find something that fits well, there are going to be compromises, like the shoulders might fit perfectly, but it's just a bit too long, or a bit too tight. But, just imagine something simple like a T-shirt where instead of "medium" you get something that takes into account your torso's length, your ribcage's size, your shoulder's width, your arm's circumference, the size of your neck, and so-on.

[–] Fizz@lemmy.nz 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Tailors are pretty affordable. Anyone can take clothes into a tailor and get them tailored to their body shape. Idk if bras are able to be adjusted though.

[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Sure, tailors are affordable, but can anybody really justify spending $80 for a tailored T-shirt? If you're a multi-millionaire maybe you can, and maybe your T-shirts feel absolutely great as a result.

[–] Fizz@lemmy.nz 1 points 6 days ago

Its less than $20 and normally done on dresses, jackets, pants.

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 4 points 6 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Not limited to gender. I'm stronger built than the average man and have to live with too long XXL jeans with too less ass.

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 4 points 6 days ago (1 children)

It's not a women's problem it's just a clothing problem in general.

I was extremely upset the other day to find out that I need an extra large in shirts at this one store. Apparently in Next if you are tall you must also be fat other body types are impossible.

And yes I have also seen the same cut in the same store but two different colours be different sizes for the same declared size.

[–] tankplanker@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Womens clothing tends to be worse as even more expensive clothes are sold by dress size or the generic small/medium large and only a limited number of items offer any build variations for an item. Next typically offer a petite and a tall range for some items, but not for all and they quite rare in high street retailers offering that.

Men you tend to find a waist, length, chest, neck measurement in cm/inches, which is far more useful. A lot, but not all, of trousers with actual measurement on them also offer different lengths, and in some cases different cuts (jeans are very good for this).

Nexts shirts, like a lot of high street fashion, have two broad ranges for men, casual and formal. The former is shit for sizing as its the small/medium rubbish that I wouldn't touch with a barge pole, not least because the arms are always too fucking narrow for my arms. The latter most definitely comes in a range of body fits and actual measurements.

The best clothing is sold by the actual measurements of the garment so you can actually compare against stuff that actually fits you. I typically get stuff tailored from there as I buy larger to fit my chest/shoulders and its too long. Its not expensive (about £15 for a t shirt) if you are not buying endless fast fashion garbage and buy stuff to last instead.

[–] acockworkorange@mander.xyz 5 points 6 days ago

I didn't even know they had gay sizes.

[–] trolololol@lemmy.world 5 points 6 days ago

Just buy in Temu, they put these BS sizes but there's always a chart in cm so if you know your numbers you get it right.

Same thing when I wanted Business shirts. Where I live it's all s m l bulshit. I went to Macy's online and they sell most brands by 3 measures I think, can't remember, it's collar size, arm length in inches. Well worth the international shipping fees for a week's worth of shirts. Now I mostly work from home, I think they'll last until I retire lol

[–] Randelung@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

We're getting jackets as a christmas present from my employer and they had us fill out a size form. "Sizes are as usual."

Made me think of this.

[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 2 points 6 days ago

The last time I went shopping for pants it took a fabric tape measure.

Even as a guy, every pair was six to ten inches larger than listed in the waist.

[–] Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

Always get a size up and wash them hot to shrink to you

[–] shneancy@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago

i am simply too impatient to buy tight or normal fitting clothing - i just buy loose M or L everything and eyeball if it should be M or L, bonus points for drawstrings but i do also own belts so anything will do.

besides, finding a well fitting pair of jeans is borderline impossible for me, because: 1. i'm a guy 2. i'm short 3. i have a big ass. those 3 combined seemingly make me a mythical creature, clothes designers don't seem to even be capable of thinking to make jeans that'd fit me well.

jeans that fit my ass and are short enough? guess i don't get to have pockets (because i'd need to buy in the women's section)

guy design and big ass variant? baggy on the rest of my legs & now i need to cut them to walk

guy design & good lenghts for my legs? my ass doesn't fit

:(

[–] partial_accumen@lemmy.world 140 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (6 children)

This isn't just a problem with women's jeans which have arbitrary size numbers. Even men's jeans which are size by the actual waist and inseam measurement can be wrong. In addition to vanity sizing, cheaper jeans are also made from larger material cuts out of the patterns at the same time to save manufacturing cost sometimes twice as many as shown here:

Those at the top or bottom of the stack may end up a bit smaller or a bit larger than the pattern, but they all get marked with the same size.

Whether it was this manufacturing problem or vanity sizing, this is why I stopped buying Old Navy jeans. I could pick out 3 jeans all labeled with the same size and one would fit okay, one would be too small, and one too large. I have never had this problem with Eddie Bauer jeans.

Edit: I found picture showing the larger stacks (which can introduce the mismatched sizing) I was referring to:

[–] olafurp@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago

Is that then called a jeack?

[–] BingBong@sh.itjust.works 54 points 1 week ago

Holy shit. This man jeans.

[–] Ellvix@lemmy.world 23 points 1 week ago (1 children)

This is fascinating! thanks for the pics, it makes so much sense.

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[–] Harvey656@lemmy.world 14 points 1 week ago

The ultimate jeans post

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[–] Chronographs@lemmy.zip 66 points 1 week ago (11 children)

Even for men’s clothes the sizing seems to only really be consistent within the same item, maybe brand. Even though they’re supposed to be measurements you still have to try everything on.

[–] cm0002@piefed.world 18 points 1 week ago (1 children)

We haven't even talked about kids clothing yet....ohhh boyyy does that one suck

[–] Lightfire228@pawb.social 19 points 1 week ago

Being the kid sucks worse

You're dragged around the store as a living mannequin, while simultaneously being bored out of your mind

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[–] SereneSadie@lemmy.myserv.one 44 points 1 week ago (9 children)

Men's pants too. And at the same store, by the EXACT SAME maker.

I have 34's, 36's and 38's in different colours and materials. They all fit comfortably, and if i get different sizes in those particular styles, they're either too big or too small.

Make it make sense, please.

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[–] limelight79@lemmy.world 36 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I know this is a problem, as I see my wife deal with it frequently.

But understand that men's sizes aren't consistent either. I have a 32" waist...maybe. Some jeans and shorts fit me perfectly, some are way too tight, and some are way too loose. Even within the same brand and product. The jeans I have on today are pretty good for fit. A different pair of jeans I was wearing a few days ago required regular adjustments to keep from falling down. My weight hasn't varied THAT much.

The situation for men isn't as bad as women's sizes, though. I'd love to know how they think they can compress all of the different measurements a woman's body can have into a single number. At least they haven't tried that with men - for example, pants are waist and inseam length, so you can usually get what you need, or at least pretty close (notwithstanding the above issue). If they condensed that into one number, I have no idea how that would work.

[–] Kuma@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago

I'm a size M guy, everything from head to toe is M. If M doesn't fit, I will try S, but most of the time that is too small, so I just skip that fit or brand. Sometimes the size difference is so ridiculous it might as well be two different shirts. One time I tried a polo in M and it looked like an oversized 90s hip‑hop shirt on me so I tried the S and it was so tight it looked like swimwear lol.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Yeah as a trans woman it was bittersweet when my hips stopped fitting in men's jeans. They're sturdier with bigger pockets and way more (but not really) consistently sized.

The problem in men's sizes is tolerances in fabric cutting as they stack more and more sheets per cut. Women's clothes do that while also playing calvinball.

All this means rhat as a long legged skinny girl with thick thighs, biker's calves, and an ass I'd only trade while pant shopping, pant shopping is a long pain in the ass.

Big and Tall brands don't give waistband sizes often anymore in my experience. They just add xs to ls now

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[–] Sir_Gkar@lemmy.world 35 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I really want a law that requires clothes sizes to use actual, verifiable measurements.

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[–] pyre@lemmy.world 35 points 1 week ago (2 children)

i know the author is only familiar with their own experiences and i don't expect them to know the other side but this is definitely not exclusive to women's clothes. every brand just uses their own sizes for everything from hats to pants to shoes.

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[–] CubitOom@infosec.pub 31 points 1 week ago (13 children)

I just want to see more women's clothes with pockets.

[–] Trex202@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago

Big pockets! Bigger than a chapstick

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[–] RisingSwell@lemmy.dbzer0.com 22 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I got two work shirts at the same time. Both size 44, same manufacturer, theoretically identical shirts.

Almost a full letter grade size difference, one is basically a L and the other was almost an XL.

How do they fuck up 2 supposedly identical shirts? Fucked if I know.

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[–] callouscomic@lemmy.zip 19 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (7 children)

This is one of many reasons I don't buy textbook economics of capitalism.

For example, if they'd just put lots of pockets in women's clothing decades ago as standard, they'd have sold SOOOO much.

This idea that capitalism and the free hand of the market will gravitate towards bulk of demand is bullshit.

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[–] TheLowestStone@lemmy.world 16 points 1 week ago (4 children)

It's less extreme but men's clothing is like this too. I found a cut of jeans I liked in a store then ordered 4 mor pairs in different colors. None fit the same and 2 were unwearable.

[–] Kuma@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago

I did the same! It was not jeans but pants that is supposed to look like they are a bit more formal but are more comfortable. From the website did I just pick 3 different colors of the same size but they all fit so differently, and one pair had much thicker fabric, felt more like they went "close enough" and called it a day lol

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[–] Skullgrid@lemmy.world 16 points 1 week ago (4 children)

"outside straight sizes" wat? they have gay sizes too?

Shopping for trousers as a fat kid before elastic waistbands became mainstream on "regular" clothes was an extended humiliation. "The waist is too tight! the legs are too long!" No, I'm just fucking deformed because I'm fat.

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[–] YarrMatey@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 1 week ago (3 children)

No one's mentioned bras and how they are significantly worse? Lets make arbitrary cup and band sizes, but then add in how each bra has a different shape and projection even in the same brand. Are you full on top, full on bottom, average, shallow? What about root width and height? Well you won't know if any bra will fit until you try, even changing cup and band sizes won't make a bra not made for your shape fit properly. Each brand does their own different sizing even in each bra, each global country has their own sizing system, and it is madness.

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[–] yumpsuit@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago (2 children)

If anyone is down for a fascinating video essay about this by a textile historian: Standardized Sizes Ruined our Clothing Quality

Have you ever wondered how we let clothing quality get so bad? It wasn't just desperation for cheaper options- the 18th century consumer would never have been willing to pay so much for such poor quality cloth. And yet, they stayed clothed. Even their cheaper options lasting years of hard wear. But they knew what quality looked like and for the most part, we don't.

When did we forget how to shop for good clothing rather than just trendy? What makes clothing "high quality" is so complex and nearly impossible to track with online shopping. Even in person, it's not a simple answer. But it used to be that more money meant more quality, plain and simple. Where did we mess up this system? Turns out, standardized sizing allowed (and even encouraged) far more than just issues with poor fit and body image.

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[–] outhouseperilous@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 1 week ago (6 children)

For a mechanized process with no customization; the fucking lack of standards is really maddening.

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