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Saturday, March 20, 2010

Lemons and Vanity Sizing

Random thoughts for the week:

1. I went to Joann to get covered buttons for my blue dress. I spent hours last night putting n the zipper. I just couldn't get it right! Operator error or the fact the fabric is kinda stretchy, it was seriously aggravating. It now looks ok, not even great. But I am done with it.

2. I had thought I would do my blouse pattern next, since I am obsessed with making buttonholes now. There was no fabric that I liked for it. No offense if you like loud, bright geometric prints, but ICK.

3. I saw this fabric and need to decide on a dress to make with it. How cute would that be? Then I'll go back and buy some.
4. Then I went to the mall. All I can wonder is does vanity sizing really make women feel better about themselves? Is anyone really that stupid?

All I can think of is when I was in middle school (maybe 97) I grew out of a 0 and became a 1/3. Now I can honestly say, at the age of 26, I am not thinner than when I was a flat-chested baby middle schooler. I am the same height and I weight maybe 5 lbs more.

So if my weight has remained consistent for the last decade, how is that I now cannot find clothes that fit? Or, they are absurd sizes, like the Express work pants I bought- a 00. Or a 0P (petite) at Banana Republic.

What happens 10 years from now when they have resized clothes again and none of them fit me? I can't sew all my clothes; it's a hobby, not a job. Should I have to dress in Junior's clothes for the rest of my life?

I'm not a martyr and I know other have fit issues.

Any thoughts on clothes that don't fit

or

new clothes for Spring?

8 comments:

  1. I love the lemon fabric. You are so restrained not buying it until you decide on the dress you're going to make, I would've just bought it straight away. Vanity sizing is stupid, it just makes it more difficult to find clothes that fit when you're a different size in every store.

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  2. I feel your pain - there are stores that I am already pretty much sized out of, and I am basically the same size I was 12 years ago... yet I wear 2, sometimes 3 sizes smaller. I have seen the argument that it isn't vanity sizing - that brands are just adjusting to the size of their customer base. I don't know though - I have friends who only buy the vanity sized brands (GAP brands are the worst!) because they wear a smaller size, so there must be something to it! I've decided to just sew the items that never fit me, especially pants, but that is an extreme solution.

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  3. I hear you on the sizing thing. In the 80s I wore a size 8. Now, 20 years later and 20 lbs heavier, I wear a size 2 or 4 or 6 or 8 (depending on the brand - love the inconsistent sizing these days). What gives? If I manage to lose the 14 lbs I put on over the last year, I probably will fit into very few RTW clothes. That is unless I start shopping at the stores geared solely towards tweens and teens, which isn't going to happen. This is the major reason why I started sewing most of my clothes. It's frustrating!

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  4. i only didn't buy it because it was 12.99 a yard. i just want to buy the smallest amount possible!

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  5. llove the fabric with the lemons, once you get a dress made with that fabric you can take a picture with your lemon tree! The issue with the vanity sizing is crazy but I do think that we women who are not so thin like the fact that we found clothes that we think look good or maybe just ok and it is a smaller size than the last time we shopped. 35 pounds ago I would have had a problem with that logic but time and inches has changed me :(

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  6. I hear you re: sizing issues. I used to wear a size 10 or 12 (Aussie sizing) 10 years ago. Now I'm consistently buying size 6. I don't think there even used to be size 6!! If they downsize again they're going to start having to make 4's or I'm going to drop off the bottom end and not be able to buy anything!! I guess the standard distribution of the populations' weight is shifting to the right...

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  7. well, i wish i had your problem, but the grass is always greener! my problem is that my waist is a slender 25" and my bootay is a generous 36". so i fit the boot and have the waist on EVERYTHING taken in. oh well! i LOVE LOVE LOVE the lemon print and you must make something out of it so i can drool! :)

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  8. Re: vanity sizing. 10 years ago I was a size 6 jeans. Now I'm a size 4 at the same store. Plus they make all of the pants super long now. I used to wear a regular length but now it looks like I might have to start buying petites to get pants that don't drag in the dirt. I know people are heavier now but I missed the memo where everyone was 4 inches taller.

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Thanks for your thoughts and feedback!