Are you familiar with the concept of vanity sizing? If your clothing size is over 14 (UK, 42 in Europe) the probability is that you have personal experience of this phenomena.
Vanity sizing isn’t a new thang. But only recently it has entered discussions, and more people have started to display the difficulty of finding clothes that actually fit. That reflects the taboo that being bigger than size 8 is in the fashion industry. I’ve previously talked about what a massive booster personal style can be for us to feel more confident.
But I now understand that while it’s easy for us skinny bitches to say that, it’s not so easy for bigger girls (and boys!) to do in practice. When we look back at how vanity sizing became to be, we can clearly see the discriminatory nature of it. And the fashion industry has been able to get away with it for decades.
In this article we take a wee journey through the creation of vanity sizing, the brands that have engaged with this practice most visibly, and how harmful it all is.
I will also give you some pointers on what we can all do to try and fix this situation. Nobody should be left outside when it comes to creating an empowering personal style.
The Big FAIL Of The Fashion Industry – Vanity Sizing
What is Vanity Sizing?
Vanity sizing, in other words size inconsistency, is a practice where clothing sizes are changed by the brand. In practice, this translates to you suddenly being able to fit in a dress that is size 12, even though you used to wear size 14 before.
The earliest example of vanity sizing comes from the 1930’s when a discrepancy was noticed in Sears catalogues. In 1937 the catalogue displayed a size 14 dress that had a bust size of 32 inches. Years later the same bust size was marketed as size 8. That’s quite a drop. But wait, in 2011 that bust size had become size 0. See the pattern?
Vanity sizing has been a problem particularly in the UK and the USA. But when fast fashion brands started spreading globally, the issue landed on all shores around the world. There was a time when clothing brands were using standard sizes, but this practice was abolished in the 1980’s on the eve of fast fashion.
These days each brand has their own sizes, and if I can fit in a dress in size 6 in one store, in another I might have to go for size 10. In a world where our mental health is so dependent on our weight, this only adds to the problem. The problem covers the entire fashion industry, but especially in luxury fashion the size discrimination goes above and beyond.
Brands that practice vanity sizing
Since we don’t have a standard size guide that all brands should follow, it takes some effort from us to find garments that fit. In a minute I will explain why this is such a big problem, but first let’s take a look at some brands. This list comprises of brands that are known for their inconsistent sizing strategy:
- American Apparel
- Zara – I’ve got personal experience with this one, even though I’m tiny af)
- Nike – my experience limits in sneakers: I’ve had everything between (European) size 36 and 39
- Uniqlo
- H&M – on top of vanity sizing, here’s why you shouldn’t shop H&M
- Asos
- Banana Republic – luxury brands in general are guilty of discriminating through size
- GAP
- Free People – this brand is also a professional in greenwashing
Why is all of this so harmful
Vanity sizing is a problem for multiple reasons. From destroying our already fragile confidence, to lying to us in their marketing, all the way to actual, illegal discrimination. Here are some of the biggest concerns that have been expressed in terms of vanity sizing:
Our self worth depends on our clothing size
At the end of the day, starting to play around with the clothing sizes, the fashion industry effectively confused us. None of us know what our actual clothing size is, because it seems to change. It doesn’t, though. You just visit different stores, which have completely different sizes.
Basically, the fashion industry has created a superficial metric, which defines our personal perception of our worth as human beings. Even though that metric has nothing to do with reality!
Whatever your size, it’s wrong!
Of course, the fashion brands will keep telling you that by downgrading bigger sizes, they aim to boost our confidence. We feel better when we fit in a dress that has a smaller number on the tag than normally. What this has effectively taught us over the years is that our worth and happiness depend on external factors. Which, again, is a LIE.
So, vanity sizing has been justified as a confidence booster tactic by the fashion industry. But as we know, we’re not supposed to feel good as we are. And so, certain health authorities have even gone as far as calling vanity sizing out for promoting obesity in the society and making it acceptable.
Basically, whatever you do, you’ll always be perceived as of the wrong size.
Vanity sizing greatly contributes to the fashion waste problem
Especially in regards to online shopping, vanity sizing is a serious problem. You can never know what size you should order, because every brand has completely different measurements. This is seen in the large amounts of clothes ordered online being returned.
Why is this a problem? Because once you return clothes, the brand can’t sell them anymore. Even if you only tried it on quickly, or not at all because it didn’t fit, the garment goes straight to landfill. And as we should be aware of already, landfills everywhere in the world are overflowing with clothing waste.
Read also: Why You Need To Stop Buying Synthetic Polyester Clothes TODAY!
You end up wasting money if you let it affect you
It’s not just the environment that suffers from vanity sizing. It’s also your own wallet. The phrase “compensatory consumption” was established after vanity sizing was recognized as a phenomena.
In practice, it means that when you don’t fit into a size that you’ve fitted in another store, you end up buying other things to drown your sorrow. These items often turn out to be sizeless pieces, such as make-up or accessories. Often in these cases the customer ends up paying much more than they originally meant to.
What can you do about it all?
It doesn’t seem likely that the fashion industry would ever return to the road of standard sizes. So, it’s left on us to make sure we don’t allow a superficial industry to define our worth! Not anymore in 2020.
We’ve got the right to vote, to work, to get educated as far as we like, to not have children, and to build a life WE WANT. Now it’s high time we also took responsibility of our own well-being and didn’t outsource it to an industry that has been built on making us feel bad. Here are couple general tips to start with:
Find out your exact measurements
The easiest way to fight back in terms of vanity sizing, is being completely clear on what size you are. As in, not a number on a piece of clothing’s label, but the actual measurements!
So, get that measuring tape out and measure yourself: bust, waste and hips. Length of your legs and arms too. Keep the measurements in a place where you find them easily when you shop online. This way you avoid ordering something that needs returning because of size issues.
Accept that your size is not your worth!
This is paramount! For too long our self worth has been determined by external factors and other people who have NO RIGHT for an opinion of us. When it comes to looks, commenting on someone else’s should be banned! If people have nothing positive to say, they better shut the actual fuck up.
It is a fact: nobody has a right for an opinion about your looks. Except you yourself! And it works the other way round as well: you have no right to comment on somebody else’s looks. Only your own.
Shop brands that are flexible about sizing
Especially when online shopping, some brands actually want to hear what your size is. This helps them estimate what sizes to make more of, or reorder. For example, if your size is out of stock in an online store, click it anyway.
In knowledgeable online stores you’ll get a box where you can insert your size and contact details. After which the brand can get back to you when they have the size available again. Some sustainable brands even offer custom size services that don’t cost you your left kidney.
Have you encountered vanity sizing? Does the number on the clothing label affect your mood? I’d absolutely love to hear, let’s chat! ♥
