I finally got inspired to do a little bit of retail therapy yesterday…actually it was out of necessity as I needed something to wear to a function on the weekend, and the weather wasn’t playing nice for my existing wardrobe!

So I headed to my usual stores to see if I could find anything, and ended up buying a couple of items.

But what surprised me was that I ended up buying size 8 clothes!! I am definitely not a size 8…not even close…! I went to another store, and ended up buying a jacket, in a size 12, which is more true to what I would expect to be!

Now its nice to buy clothes and fit into a size..or two… smaller then expected, and it certainly appeals to the “look what I can fit into” voice in my brain, but the reality is that its all an illusion.

Clothing Sizes

Why is there such a difference in sizing? It seems that each label or brand seems to have a sizing chart that is unique to them.

Have we as a population got larger and the sizing “labeling” has got smaller? So what was once a size 12, is now more a size 10 or 8…but then that doesn’t work across all brands….

A quick bit of research came up with the term “vanity sizing”, and that is apparently what it is all about! Vanity Sizing is when designers add centimeters of fabric without changing the tag size. And the scary bit that I read is the smaller the sizing, the more the profits for the label.

I have worked out what my “size” is for a number of different brands, and that now varies from a Size 8 to a Size 14!

That is just ridiculous and to be honest, quite illogical!

So is it best to have true to size, or aim for the vanity in all of us?

Least its easier to work out my shoe size…..