How many times has a woman struggled to get into a garment that was her normal size in the trial room? Then, she tried a different dimension of clothing. Then voila! It fits. She liked it. She can also wear a larger size. She will most likely choose not to buy it if the size label does not feel right.
How many times has a woman struggled to get into a garment that was her normal size in the trial room? Then, she tried a different dimension of clothing. Then voila! It fits. She liked it. She can also wear a larger size. She will most likely choose not to buy it if the size label does not feel right.
The social media platform has become a place for women to vent about how these situations can affect their emotions, even the most logical and practical of them. They often question their self-worth and self-esteem. The practice of vanity sizing has much to do with these women.
It is a phenomenon whereby clothing that is nominally the same size becomes bigger over time.
Despite all the talk of body positivity, plus-size clothing, and its rise in popularity, our culture still has a fascination with smaller sizes. The media portrays small, thin women as ‘beautiful.’ Disney princesses and runway models constantly promote this image. It has a more powerful impact on fashion. Brands labeling larger cut pieces with a smaller size number to make customers think they are smaller mess up body image issues (O’Connell 2021).
The United States is the origin of vanity sizing, as American women have grown larger over the years. The original 1958 sizing system was continually updated until 1983 when it was completely abandoned. As a result, manufacturers were free to set their sizes. They began to shrink the sizes to flatter consumers. The chart below shows how US Size 8 measurements have changed over the years (Dockterman 2016).
The confusion doesn’t end there. Different brands use different measurement charts for their labels. The graph below compares and contrasts the disparity in Size 8 garment measurement across several brands (Dockterman 2016).
Vanity-sizing does not mean that the sizes are smaller. Brands such as Victoria’s Secret promote brassieres to make women feel they have bigger breasts. The brand makes its brassieres fit up to three sizes more than usual (Jilek, 2021).
How sizes change over time, and brands is a facade to a deeper problem. It leads to an obsessive focus on numbers. Alexis Conason, a clinical psychologist and author of the book The Anti-Diet Plan, has said, “Vanity sizing plays to our insecurities and manipulates us into buying clothing that we may not even like because the tag says a size smaller than you typically wear. When we equate sizing with self-worth, vanity sizing essentially allows us to buy a superficial dose of confidence. We think: I fit into a size 4, I AM good enough! But this is almost always short-lived because true self-esteem doesn’t come from a piece of fabric with a number on it.” (Igneri, 2017).
This issue can be devastating to people struggling with body confidence and eating disorders. Studies show that the constant expectation to fit into a specific size can trigger feelings of depression, anxiety, and social withdrawal (Igneri, 2017).
We are in a society where size matters. If it was not for the media preaching that thin is beautiful and beautiful is thin, women would not be scared of going up or down sizes. The fear that a larger size is not attractive enough creates panic.
Dr. Cristina Castagnini, psychologist and certified eating disorder specialist, says, “The problem really is that our society is obsessed with one size only: thin. Only 5 per cent of the population naturally has this ‘ideal’ body size, so the 95 per cent of the population who don’t are left to feel inadequate and pressured to have that ‘ideal’ body from the cultural norms perpetuated in our society by the barrage of media and advertisements.” (Igneri, 2017)
The issue of vanity sizing is frustrating enough when customers try on the garments in stores. However, currently, clothes worth about $240 billion are purchased online each year. Studies show that 40 percent of what consumers buy online is returned due to sizing issues (Dockterman, 2016).
However, some brands are making an effort to solve this issue. Rational Dress Society sells its jumpsuits in 248 different sizes. The sizes are derived from taking specific measurements and body types, and instead of assigning a numeric size, their sizes are randomly named like ‘delta,”’ alpha,”’ buffy,”’ tango,” etc. This model may not work for all fashion brands, yet it can change the way women feel about size labels and ease their anxiety (Rational Dress Society, 2022).
Machine learning algorithms are also explored by brands for providing sizing solutions to consumers. Online size advisors use machine learning to help shoppers with the right size garment. The algorithms use the information provided by the shopper and compare it to other shoppers purchasing similar items. The data is then aggregated and calculated into a ‘fit score,” and size recommendations are made.
A number of companies, such as True Fit, Le Tote, etc, and designers like Melissa McCarthy are trying to push the boundaries of traditional sizing. Body Labs is creating 3D fit models for the consumers, Gwynnie Bee is offering subscription services for plus-size womenswear, while Fame & Partners is allowing consumers to customize their clothes.
But the question is whether these solutions will solve the issue. The main problem lies with how women feel about accepting a bigger size. Vanity sizing works because, deep down, all women are a little vain. So, the projection of ‘thin equating to beautiful’ needs to be changed, and the message of body positivity and self-love needs to be spread and incorporated into our everyday lives.