If we are talking double digits, its everything. This is not about your paycheck, the number of anytime minutes you have on your phone or the grade you got on your latest paper; I am also referring not to your mini golf score, but the number you want to be lowest of all, your clothing size.
Clothes used to be personally designed for individuals based on their unique measurements. This was the first “couture,” or custom-made clothing, and was only available to royalty or the wealthy, mainly in Europe. As society progressed, there was no longer much of a need for dramatic full-skirt ball gowns or perfectly fitting fur-trimmed robes. We can thank the Industrial Revolution for size standardization in the mass-production of clothing. It was both practical and cost-effective to manufacture clothes fitting in the size range of small, medium and large. Additionally, clothes became simple and uncomplicated as the workforce required it. People found it easy to approximate their body shape into one of those three categories and dress accordingly; but then, people began to change.
I am not going to delve into body image issues here; how models may or may not perpetuate the “thin is beautiful” mentality is a debate to save for a rainy day. But I will tell you that I know better than to have a few glossy photos affect what I eat, and you should too. In Michelle Lee’s book, Fashion Victim, she unveils a number of industry secrets that she discovered through her immersion in the fashion magazine industry. One of these secrets is what she refers to as “vanity sizing,” a fashion psychology concept which has fascinated me and spurred fitting room experiments of my own.
Sample sizes are 0 and 2; the first production of a design will be made in either of these sizes for the designer to fit on a model and better observe how the garment looks on a body. After the samples (requiring only a small amount of fabric) have been produced, the designer either goes back to the drawing board or sends the design to production for the whole spectrum of sizes. This process sounds like a simple idea, except that every clothing brand bases their respective sizes 0 and 2 off of different measurements and fit models. If you were to go to your closet and do some math, is it safe to say that your flattering size 6 work pants do not equal your favorite size 10 jeans?
Vanity sizing is only one of the many ways that clothing companies have a hold on their consumers. People will, in fact, buy clothing not based on how it fits, but what the number on the size tag is. If you think this is crazy, just remember the last time you convinced yourself that since you just started a workout regimen, you were going to “lose a few pounds.” Therefore, you bought the smaller size before the fact, rather than waiting until you actually could fit into the item. Whether or not the clothes ended up fitting you or not does not matter; the mentality of buying for size rather than fit makes women crazily squeeze themselves into jeans, skirts, dresses and even bras that do not fit them.
While I was shopping for a Homecoming court dress this past weekend, I was disappointed to discover that my size started in the double digits and only went higher. I do not consider myself small, medium or large, I am just Hayley. This experience was my final venture into the land of self-pity, threatening my roommates via text message that I was to eat no more pre-Halloween candy or delicious Ritz crackers and cheese. Once I finally found a dress (a medium, mind you), I returned home; I had achieved the size “average” and was content. After enjoying a few fun-size Kit-Kat bars, I picked up Fashion Victim again and realized that I had fallen prey.
When it comes down to it, sizes do not transfer across clothing designers, departments, stores, states or countries. Designers play to what size you think and hope you are rather to what size you actually are. Stretch fabrics especially enable clothing manufacturers to broaden their range of fit for a particular number size. In addition to selling more clothes, the customer also buys peace of mind with their purchase.
You are not the number that is on your tag! You are but a human, who happens to be wearing clothes which abide by a silly and inaccurate numbering system. From now on I vow to not let the number on the tag affect me; I hope that you will now stand informed and will not let yourself be squeezed into size categories either!
— Hayley Umphrey
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