January 20th, 2023

Have you ever found that in one store you are a size 4 in jeans, in another you are a 0 in the same style, and in another you are a 8? For women’s clothing, some brands use odd numbers, some use even numbers, some use measurements based on inches or centimeters, and some use sizing like small, medium, and large. Yes, bodies do change over a lifetime, however those changes do not match the fluctuation that is sizing from different stores. This phenomenon, often only in what is considered as women’s fashion, is called vanity sizing.     

Vanity sizing is when clothing companies label and market clothes smaller than the items actual measurements and industry standards are. For instance, if a woman with a 28-inch waist usually wears a size 8, the same garment from a store that practices vanity sizing would label the product as a size 4 or 6. The woman still has the same body shape and measurements, however in some brands they wear a “smaller” size. 

So why would brands do this? There are a couple of reasons. The first being to inflate the customers ego by making them think they fit into a smaller size, inducing them to buy their products over another brand with proper sizing labels. Another reason brands do this is to make shopping for clothes harder, thus increasing return rates when clothes are labeled as a different size and ultimately don’t fit correctly. On the flip side, some brands intentionally don’t vanity size their products to boost sales in other areas of their products like jewelry and makeup; studies have shown that when people, particularly women, buy clothing properly labeled they compensate for the “larger size” by purchasing other products to boost their self-esteem. All in all, brands practice vanity sizing to increase sales or don’t practice it to increase sales in other products. Brands will always win.

The difference between sizing for women and men is that men’s sizing is based on body measurements, for example if a man has a 32 inch waist then their pants size is 32; but women have encoded numbers based on bust, hips, height, and waist, for instance if a woman has a 28 waist in inches then their pants size is usually an 8. For men’s clothing, as long as you know your waist size and leg length you can find any pair of pants across almost all brands; same goes for shirts with neck sizes or following a metric system. However women’s sizes are expressed in even numbers going from 000-18 or over, in odd numbers like 5,7,9,etc. for sizes between the even numbers, or a metric system that follows small, medium, large, etc..

Vanity sizing and the fluctuation of sizes can have serious consequences and negative impacts. It can affect body image and confidence, make shopping for clothes a stressful and daunting experience, and take a toll on a person’s mental health. Size fluctuation can force people to fall down the rabbit hole of trying to fit into a certain size, which can potentially lead to a variety of different body image issues.

When shopping for clothes it is important to remember that clothes are meant to fit you, you are not meant to fit clothes. The size of clothing doesn’t matter, what does is how those clothes make you feel and to transform you into the best version of yourself. 

Categories: Fashion