Yesterday I had a conversation about how frustrating it is to go shopping with people who won't accept their clothes size: those who say airily to the salespeople at the department store, 'Bring me a size 10' when they need a size 18. (An experience I went through with a family member three or four years ago. After two hours, when the sales assistant and I had persuaded her of reality, she then insisted on trying to wear the clothes the wrong way round.)
This, I suppose, is why US clothes sizes have ballooned in the last few years. People can't face reality--the fact that they're overweight--so reality has changed to accommodate their denial.
Which means that now I'm one of those people who goes into a store and says airily, 'Bring me a size 10' and am horribly, embarrassingly wrong.
Last summer I spotted an item I liked in a catalogue (all right: it was a dress; now shut up) and ordered it. I thought, 'Aha! No one can say I don't learn!' and ordered a size 8. It arrived. You could have fit two of me inside it. I sent it back. Got a size 4. It hung off me like a sack. I stared it, thought, 'I am not a size 2, I am not,' decided I hated the dress, and threw away the catalogue.
I associate size 2 with emaciated people, crazy bony people who eat one mung bean and an arugula stalk and call it a meal. Trust me, I really, really am not a size 2. A 6, maybe, sometimes, I can accept that. But not 2. Nuh-uh. Not. So when will the industry standardise their sizes so we can all stop freaking out?
And another thing, when will they start putting real pockets in women's clothes? And what is this shit about having the buttons on the wrong side? And why is the sewing on women's clothes so shoddy? And why are women's clothes so much more expensive than men's? And why do they cost so much more to get cleaned?
I never had these problems when I bought men's clothes from jumble sales and charity shops. They fit. They had pockets. They looked good. They were not size 2.
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I could give you the answers, but I suspect your questions are rhetorical. Working in footwear / outerwear at REI, I find it amazing how many people insist on buying clothes by size rather than fit. (And if you are a voluptuous woman, buying shoes two sizes too small will NOT make you look petite. Sorry.)
ReplyDeleteI read an article with a (M2F) transgendered author a few years ago. She was asked if there was anything she missed about being a man. She thought a moment and said, "Pockets."
I think that vanity is at the root of most of the social problems we have today. I read on Michelle Argyle's blog that writers at conventions look down on self-published writers and insult them. I don't understand this behavior. I never insult anyone. I work in assistive technology with both fat and thin, young and old people and I treat them all in the same manner. I've noticed that particularly vain people look at someone confined in a wheel chair and say, "If that happened to me, I would just kill myself." I ask, "why? There's plenty of value to life after injury." But they insist that they couldn't live like that and I suspect it all has to do with vanity. Anyway, I'm going on about this because your post today made me think that this is yet another example of vanity at work. My brother likes to tell me "You're invisible and always have been so it's no big deal for you to continue being invisible." I guess I don't mind being invisible and still think of myself as an interesting person so I don't understand why it would be horrible to be like me.
ReplyDeleteDianne, pockets--lack thereof--are the bane of my life.
ReplyDeleteMichael, I don't think it's onlyvanity that prompts idiotic statements about wheelchairs and life worth living but, yes, I think it might play a part.
From the larger end of the size spectrum...
ReplyDeleteI spent a weekend in Chicago with my sweetie, celebrating V-Day, B-day and the loss of 40 pounds.
He took me shopping on Chicago's celebrated Miracle Mile (now THAT is a loving spouse!) but after 3 hours and countless stores I was in tears. There was NOTHING for sale in size 16. Really. I counted exactly 4 size 16 pieces total in 10 stores. Most stores didn't have anything larger than an 8. And that's in Chicago, the biggest city in the "biggest" part of the country. The "Womens Sizes" sections of the store were smaller than my office, and everything there was too big.
I still have a long way to go on the weight loss, but if a girl can't find something pretty to wear, this girl's gonna eat.
So forget the pretty things, back to the "Mens" section for me!
Pockets! Buttons that work!
;-)
Caryl
Caryl, I'm so sorry you had such a hard time! But if there are any designers out there: listen to us! We want beautiful clothes that drape perfectly with real buttons and pockets you can fit shit in.
ReplyDeleteCaryl -- I'm 5'11, 155 lbs, so I mostly wear men's clothes and shoes. It was a momentous day a couple weeks ago when I bought three items of WOMEN'S clothing at REI.
ReplyDeleteMichael -- it also has to do with quality of life and your personality. A lot of us are not as mentally and emotionally strong as, say, Nicola.
It is hard for me to find clothes that fit. I'm not HUGE, but I'm big-- 6'4" & 200 lbs-- but because I'm fairly healthy my weight is in my shoulders & chest, not my gut, so European clothes don't fit-- too narrow at the shoulders-- & American clothes don't fit-- too billowy at the waist. Argh.
ReplyDeleteMordicai, I can relate. I have big shoulders, big rib cage, big upper arms, but not big curves. Shirt and t-shirts either hang, or make me feel wrapped like a boa constrictor. Huh.
ReplyDeleteI think you are confused. Men's clothes, not women's, have the buttons on the wrong side. :-P
ReplyDeleteIn all seriousness, I think I can tell you why women's clothing is shoddy and more expensive and has no pockets.
ReplyDeleteWomen are supposed to use clothes to adorn ourselves and buy adorable bags that match our shoes. We are supposed to get bored with clothes quickly and buy the next years' version.
Men are supposed to dress purely to protect themselves from the elements and have something to put their car keys in.
Haddayr, men's buttons = sensible side, the side that works best for us right-handed folk. Other way round = inefficient. Bloody irritating.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that some folks think I dress in men's shirts because I'm butch. I am, to an extent, but the bigger reason is that I have broad shoulders for my height. If I buy XXL women's clothing to accomodate my shoulders, the extra material hangs awkwardly. This is also the reason for my preference for wearing long, flowing skirts with mens' button-up shirts with the sleeves rolled up when I have to dress up - it's all about accomodating the shoulders.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite Anthro professor always referred to skirts without pockets as "girl skirts"; real women need pockets.
We should have a pocket-and-button revolt and take the fashion industry by storm . . .
Jo, absolutely, we need a revolution. Anyone want to get that started? I'm too tired from Hild...
ReplyDeleteThe whole size thing gives me a headache. I have a friend from China who is infuriated that he has to buy boys' clothes in Australia -- none of the men's sizes are small enough. And trying to find clothing if you're fat, but not in typically female ways, is beyond hope -- not to mention the assumption that fat women should always look matronly, if not plain frumpy.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of women wear men's clothing -- fit, durability, pockets! But then, we can get away with it. A lot tougher for a man who wants to wear women's clothing on a regular basis...
Bring on the revolution! Oh, wait ... got to edit that book first.
Anon, yep.
ReplyDeleteWhat's frustrating is having clothes from size 2-10 in my closet - all that fit. I wish the industry would make up its mind. I don't give a shit what the number is - would just like to have some reliability. Takes twice as long to shop! Not a fan of shopping. :[
ReplyDeleteP.S., hi Caryl! :]
I was thinking about this as I was getting dressed this morning. I hate the button thing too. I wear men's T-shirts because I like to wear medium low rise jeans and women's t-shirts are always too short for my tastes But men's t-shirt sleeves are too long.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking that some clothing designer should start an Aud clothing line. Might need to get the book into screenplay and movie first to get enough publicity for it though...
Jennifer, I like the notion of an Aud collection. Any designers out there who want to chat?
ReplyDeleteYeah, exactly. I went shopping after x years and I was so frustrated how clothes for "women" are so insanely frilly, with a lot of nonsense on exterior and almost nothing was practical about them. Aw, pockets are a tabu in women fashion nowadays.
ReplyDeleteAnd about the size, here in Europe you have XS sizes everywhere although even a healthily slim woman can't put it on. I wonder who actually fit into these clothes.
Normal people just shop at a market hall or sometimes buy something in a shopping mall if they are luckily enough to find something normal in right size.
I am used to wear woman apparels (no skirts, bolero or similar stuff due to my taste and a sense of practicality) but I start to wonder if it wouldn't be more practical to shop in men section. But I don't think a cut would fit me.
Michaela, yes! I hate the fussy fiddling bits.
ReplyDelete