Clothes and sizing...

**Rue** · 03-21-2009, 07:09 PM

I have a bug about clothing and sizing. I wish the garment industry would get together and standardize sizing...so that a large is a large and and x-small is an x-small. How hard can that be?

Today I took my 13 year old shopping for pseudo-dress cloths. Bought pants in the boys department. They're border-line too short, but men's pants are too big in the waste...

Boys size 18 shirts were too small. Men's small (no x-small available) are way too big - but that's what we had to get...

I've gone through this awkward sizing with all three kids...drove me batty every time.

And then it drives me batty again when it comes to finding clothes for me...

**Wild Turkey** · 03-21-2009, 07:13 PM

Its just that age, i remember being stuck between mens and kids sizes, nothing fits if you find it, and usually you cant. Theres no 26 or 28 waist in kids and finding it in the mens department with the legs the right length when you are 13 is near impossible. He'll grow out of it soon, water him more or dose ferts

**Sharon** · 03-21-2009, 07:13 PM

I know what you mean Rue...I'm petite, and I've tried a size 1 that was too big, and a size 4 that was too small...
I'm getting pretty good at eyeballing ...I can just look at it now, and know whether I should try it, or not.

**Rue** · 03-21-2009, 07:30 PM

Yes...he's in a growth spurt now - finally taller than me (I'm 5'6")...I think he'll be tall and lean like his dad (who's 6'3"). My older son is tall (6'1") too, but has a muscular build (he's not fat at all, but weighs a ton - all muscle). But yeah...trying to get leg-length in combination with a small waste size is nuts! Even for my daughter. She's 5"10 and all leg...needs a 36" inseam...

I'm now the shortest in the family. With the smallest feet.

Sharon: I can eye-ball, but not completely. I'm also the heaviest-set in the family, so I take a L or XL...

...but I get really irked when I try on an XL that should have been sized a 'small'...(mostly in younger shops)...having that large a discrepency makes me feel bad...even though I know sizing is largely arbitrary.

...so how does that make the young girls who are my size feel? The ones who are in the age-category those fashions are designed for?

No wonder so many larger girls are spilling out of their clothes. You can argue that they (and I) shouldn't be overweight - but if you are you should be able to find clothes that fit.

BTW...although I'm too small for the plus-sized shops...I have tried stuff on there in hopes of getting a better fit...but all they do is make the clothes wider...sleeve-length and other areas still don't fit...

**MCHRKiller** · 03-21-2009, 08:15 PM

Im a firm believer that a person's body is the problem with finding clothes that work for them. Sometimes it takes a bit more effort and hey maybe even being adrogynous for the day and shopping in the alternate genders section to find something. I have quite a few pairs of men's jeans for example that just fit awesome. The best thing anyone can do IMO is to not even bother looking at size tags and just concentrate on fit, I have everything from a size 4-8 in my closet and some random mens items.

Have you tried online companies to fit your son better? Sometimes a more wide range of sizes will be offered in some of the popular online places like aeropostale, american eagle, old navy and such.

**Rue** · 03-21-2009, 08:26 PM

In theory, on-line shopping is a good idea.

Practically, living where we do, it's a PITB.

I've tried. I don't have the patience for it.

As soon as he's properly 'man-sized' it will be easier again. For day-day, or school clothes it's not too bad, given the boys around here are still wearing their pants too low and their tops 2-3 sizes too big.

But we're set for next weekend. He'll look okay. I just didn't want him in his jeans...

What I find a little hard to understand is that none of us have unusual body shapes - the kids might be tall and thin, but so are a ton of other kids...and mine aren't the tallest/thinnest extremes either...

I still think it would be nice if the garment industry would get together...that would make on-line shopping less irritating too...if I knew the stuff would fit properly...

**MCHRKiller** · 03-21-2009, 09:38 PM

I understand the tall thin thing, I remember being in like 5th grade and being the height I am now,5'7", and super skinny. My pants were either huge in the waist and the right length or it looked like I was ready to go wading. It could also be that alot of people in your area wear the same sizes your needing thus making it next to impossible to find those sizes to.

**Demi ^_^** · 03-22-2009, 12:35 AM

I can't wear jeans LOL My waist is too small for the length of my legs, so I just don't wear them because they don't fit right.. LOL

**Mith** · 03-23-2009, 10:21 PM

I HATE shopping for clothes! I'll be hitting 50 in the not-to-distant future....if it wasnt for my mother and christmas, I'd be walking around in my undies!!!!

**Algenco** · 03-23-2009, 10:48 PM

Originally Posted by Mith

I HATE shopping for clothes! I'll be hitting 50 in the not-to-distant future....if it wasnt for my mother and christmas, I'd be walking around in my undies!!!!

Me too, the biggest waste of money there is