Women of a certain age have always known that some clothing stores use a size chart that caters to only our bracelet-charm-sized sisters. They simply don’t want anyone with a muffin top to pass through their doors. Once we get it, we avoid them. I call them “Tabitha stores” because only my size 0, little sister Tabitha can fit into their stuff. I’m looking at you, Le Chateau.
Where we seethed in relative silence, our younger sisters now have social media with which to spread the disappointing news. A British PhD student’s Facebook post about the teeny tiny sizes and H & M – another store we avoid – has gone viral. She’s a big gal, not a fat gal, who can’t even squeeze into the biggest alleged-size-16 at the retailer that uses Madonna and David Beckham in its ads. I gave up on H & M after one try. You walk in feeling human and walk out feeling like Shrek.
Here’s another illustration posted by a New Jersey woman about the clothing sizes at American Eagle Outfitters. The comparison here is between size 4 and size 10 – a pretty significant difference in everything except these shorts.
The lesson here? A size is just a number on a tag. I might be an XL in one store and a M in another. It’s meaningless. What matters is whether the piece is well made, looks good on me (not whether I look good in it) and if it’s affordable – full stop. Lather, rinse, repeat to yourself, every time you go shopping for clothes.
I have never understood womans clothing sizes and any time I’ve ever had to buy a gift for a female member of my family, I’ve simply sent another woman of the family to do it for me. What the hell is a double zero size? I know, zero curves and zero meat on their bones. This is why no guy should ever shop for a woman, girlfriend or wife unless she’s there. Good intentions aren’t worth the pain.