Deciphering Size

Maybe you can help me.  I can’t figure this out for the life of me.

Some background… before I got pregnant with Jack Henry, I weighed 152# and wished I’d lose a little weight.  But the Laffy Taffy and the chocolate was just too good to pass up and so… I stayed pretty consistent at 152.  And… I wore a size 12.

Today I weigh 152.5… and a pair of size 12 jeans literally fell of of me today.  So I figure… they were probably a vanity size. They were really a 14.  But size 12 shorts are doing the same thing.

Now I’m confused.  I weigh a 1/2 pound more but wear a smaller size.  Where’s that 1/2 lb hanging out at and where’d the rest of the weight go as well?  My shape is basically the same…. but a tad worse due to being postpartum… and I’m wearing a smaller size in pants.  Makes no sense.

This got me thinking… who is and who isn’t vanity sizing and I discovered that it looks like everyone is.

Today I went and bought a pair of size 10 jeans.  I wore a size 10 in the 80’s…. when I weighed about 110.  Now I weigh 152 and I’m wearing a size 10????   That makes no sense.  So the size 10 of the 1980’s equals what size in this day and age?  Did jean companies just recently do another “across the board” vanity size change?  I got in size 10’s today in brands that I swear I couldn’t have zipped one year ago.  And I’m the same weight and essentially the same shape, but worse.

What’s going on?  I tried to do a google search but what do you search on?  “Hey… I couldn’t squeeze my butt in these jeans 12 months ago but now I can.  What up with that???”  I don’t think that’s going to be very successful.

6 responses

  1. First of all, have you made actual measurements? You could be an inch more here and an inch less there.

    Second, changing fit of stuff you’ve had all along isn’t vanity sizing. Vanity sizing is my size 14 skirt that I bought before I left Florida (so, before 1988) that fits me like a large 8 or small 10 purchased today.

  2. I’m not a fan of vanity sizing, but i don’t run clothing manufacturers so I just have to try everything on. the other thing that could be different is the cut of the pants. I know that pants that i can range 1-2 sizes on either side of my “norm” just because of the cut. Also, weight seems to “shift” I haven’t lost an ounce in a good three months, but my pants are looser because I am slimming down and muscle weighs more than fat. Also everyone gains weight differently. I personally gain weight first in my boobs, then my butt then my tummy, then everywhere else catches up.

  3. I have no thoughts other than this only occurs for women. Even with Baby Girl I have a hard time finding clothes. One size from this store fits great, but at another will be too small. However with my son I can go into a store and buy his size and it will fit. Same for the IO.

  4. I have no idea, but it makes shopping for clothes online nearly impossible. When they make me Queen Of The World*, this is one of those things that will be standardized.

    *Don’t laugh, it could happen.

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