I think Clothes are being Made Bigger Nowadays.

[jane]

This isn't a bonkers reacton to losing weight, nor a boastful swagger.This is a serious observation & I want to know if anyone else has noticed the same thing.
On the other and I may have lost the plot. Either way I'd really like to know other peoples views.

The case for the prosecution:

I'm using M&S as my case study. I know their clothes have alway been generously sized but in my wardrobe I have M&S trousers from 20yrs+ ago, 10+ yrs ago & last week.

1) The 20+ yrs trousers are light cotton jeans type. 2 prs so I know it's not a fluke. Size 14. They will not go over the hips & believe me (for the sake of this post) I've tried. And the legs feel tight even with them only 3/4 of the way up.

2) The 10+ yrs trousers. also 2prs different styles but both lightweight trousers are s18. they fit comfortably around my hips, if anything a little too snug at the waist even though I'm a pear shape not an apple. Also I pr light blue jeans s18. ditto but a little looser hip-wise.

3)the new trousers are s14, & are as follows

i)One pr stretchy denim has had to have waist darts taken in already,but hips just right.

ii)one pr 'jogging trousers' If anything a bit loose on the thigh & I wish I'd got the s12 but my little brain would have exploded at the concept & I can't take em back now as they've got bicycle oil on them.
iii) one pr non-stretch denim. Do up a little tight with a degree of tumy-overhang but nothing that another week or so on CD won't cure.

The inconsistancy in sizing is, to my mind, too great to be just due to 'this seasons style'

My theory is that as the Nation has grown massively & rapidly fatter (& this has really taken off in the last 10-15 yrs) M&S & possibly others have sneaked an extra couple of inches into their garments. If you fool the public that they havent got bigger they're much more likely to comeback & but more of your clothes, & do it at the expense of other shops whose clothes come out smaller . We all know how important the number on the label is to us girlies when we buy clothes.

please Please

 

[wannabeminime]

Totally agree Jane. Last time i was the weight i am now was about ten years ago. I used to have to buy 18-20 clothes, i now have a couple of 14s that fit.

 

[jane]

So it's not just me.--what a relief.

Are you talking M&S here or other brands?

This also makes me reconsider my views on the previously unheard of s8, s6 etc. As these probably only equate to the old s10.

Thinking back to dates & weights The only time in my adult life that I have been a s10 was when I came back from Africa dong a brief mission hospital stint. I think I weighed a touch under 8st. not a good look for a middle aged mother.
But if I'm even contemplating s12 trousers even if they are stretchy & I'm either 11 1/2 or 12st depending on weather you go by my scales or my CDC's scales then some thing's definitely going on!

 

[wannabeminime]

I think all shops have increased their sizes over the years. Evans are still the biggest though.
I think Per una sizes in M and S are bigger than the usual range, which is what i would usually buy. Some of the more 'grannyish' ranges are tiny and short (shirts, jumpers), which may mean the older generation are smaller!

 

[jane]

Curiouser & curiouser.

Well I'd always associated 'designer' ranges with skimpy.
But what you've said makes perfect sense.
the older generation would all be off somewhere else if their reliable clothes brand suddenly no longer fitted.
The younger & more trendy,though,need to be hoodwinked into believing they are not fat.

the fact that Evans sizes are generous sort of goes without saying.

how about the likes of Next, DottyP, monsoon etc any info?

 

[wannabeminime]

I find Next and Dotty p quite roomy. And this is where i shop! I dont shop in Monsoon, too far away and too expensive!

 

[jane]

Agree about monsoon.not that they've ever hadanything I can fit into, but the stuff does look nice.
Ah well. I can dream, & there's alway s the charity shops!!!

 

[jane]

thought I'd BUMP this ...has no-one else noticd this except me & wanabe.....or are we deluded?

 

[KD]

Glad you bumped it. Missed it first time around.

Yep...totally agree. I have some clothes back from the 70's (will get around to sorting my wardrobe some day) The size 16's are still too small, yet 14 fits me comfortably these days.

It's the inches you see. They have grown. It was all part of the decimalisation process in the early 70s. 2 old pence = 1 new pence....1 old inch = 1.5 new inch Or is it the other way around Brain not in gear this morning.

 

[c2b]

Yep I noticed this a while ago.
30 years ago areound the time I got married.....gosh I sound old....I weighed in between 6.5 and 7 stone. I never wore anything lower than a size 12!!!
Last year I started to lose weight and went into Asda to buy some new tee shirts. I was astonished to find I needed a size 14. I was weighing in at 12st 10lbs!!! I was thrilled until I realised the implications.

I do now have a lovely dress or two from Monsoon, both size 12, and I weigh 10 stone. I would just like to point out that they were either from the charity shop or my sister in law so I think even their sizes are larger than they used to be.

I find chain stores tend to be generous in their sizing. Asda, BHS, M&S etc,

 

[jane]

Thanks for adding that.
I was never as light as you but I do remember having a pr of s12 jeans a little loose when I returned from a brief stint working in Africa (& that was 25yrs ago so I'm old too) & weighing barely 8stone.

 

[sonkie]

I think so too......I have not been able to get into jeans for ages so when I ordered a pair in a size I knew just wouldnt fit........I was stunned when they did ....lol.

 

[jane]

Well that's good news a well as being further eveidence of a silent conspiracy!

 

[clairejen]

I remember sewing pattern sizes always had full guides so you knew what to get. And it went something like 10 (B32, W24, H34), 12 (B34, W26, H36), 14 (B36, W28, H38). No way are shop sizes anything like that.

 

[c2b]

I remember that. So long since I did any dressmaking (other than for my 'oss ).
The sizes were very fixed.

 

[Barb]

I've bought a couple of dresses from Monsoon in a 22, which are actually too big. I automatically boguht the biggest size they do but could/should have gone for 18-20!
Miraculous? I wish, no you are right, clothes are bigger!

 

[jane]

I remember sewing pattern sizes always had full guides so you knew what to get. And it went something like 10 (B32, W24, H34), 12 (B34, W26, H36), 14 (B36, W28, H38). No way are shop sizes anything like that.

Of course. I rememebr these now. Shop clothes were supposed to follow the same sizes. I agree theres simply no way that I've got 36" hips even though I got a pr of s12 trews done up in M&S the other day. Not even 38".

I remember that. So long since I did any dressmaking (other than for my 'oss ).
The sizes were very fixed.

Please what is 'oss.
I thought boss, but then why would someaone make dressed for their boss. Then I thought Horse, but the image of the family pony wearing a smart shirt-waister seemed even more absurd.

I've bought a couple of dresses from Monsoon in a 22, which are actually too big. I automatically boguht the biggest size they do but could/should have gone for 18-20!
Miraculous? I wish, no you are right, clothes are bigger!

huh Monsoon. If I could actually afford their clothes I'd have a bone to pick with them.
I remember a couple of years ago needing an outfit. I popped in to our local monsoon only to discover they had nothing above an 18 & however generous the sizing,it was a no-hoper.
A few weeks ago I thought I might treat myself to something & now that I'm in normal clothes again I re-visited the shop.
There were several tops that caught my eye & would have tried them on except for the utterly bizarre situation that they had all sizes up to 22, but nothing smaller than a 16!

Perhaps it's not Monsoons fault. Perhaps my purse has a fairy godmother watching to try & stop me spending money that I don't have!

 

[c2b]

'oss = horse. She is a mature female too so no reason why she shouldn't enjoy fashion . Ok so maybe dresses are a tad an exaggeration.
I make a lot of hi-vis stuff. Just made some bits to go on the bridle to make us even more visible to other road users. I recently made a waterproof ride on saddle cover (out of an old fly sheet from a damaged tent) so my saddle doesn't suffer in all this rain we are having.
If it can be made with fabric I can make it!!!

 

[jane]

'oss = horse. She is a mature female too so no reason why she shouldn't enjoy fashion . Ok so maybe dresses are a tad an exaggeration.
I make a lot of hi-vis stuff. Just made some bits to go on the bridle to make us even more visible to other road users. I recently made a waterproof ride on saddle cover (out of an old fly sheet from a damaged tent) so my saddle doesn't suffer in all this rain we are having.

I love the sound of this. Inventive,economic & practical.
If it can be made with fabric I can make it!!!

So I'll recognise you if you ride by. Horse ( Sorry 'oss & rider in matching High-vis fashion outfits.

 

[jane]

Laura I've just looked at your pics. Wow! would you mind telling me how much you've lost, & how easy/hard you've found it keeping it off?